Cherry Blossom

By Mel Evans

Pink Cherry Blossom against a blue sky really is one of the most beautiful sights. I noticed today, while driving to the supermarket, how many gardens boast them. The different shades of pink look so striking right now. Our ancestors must have been just as taken with the blossom as April’s ‘Pink’ full moon was named after the it.

The fruit on these ornamental and wild Cherry Trees is always a bit of a let down and often best left for the birds. You can, however, make a delicious syrup from the blooms. You simply fill a bowl with flowers and pour on hot water to cover them. After 24 hours you strain out the flowers and make a 50/50 syrup. You do this by measuring the liquid and adding the equivalent of sugar. For example we had 400 ml of liquid so we added 400 g of sugar. Then the mixture was gently warmed in a sauce pan until the sugar had dissolved, before being poured into a sterilised bottle.

The finished product is delicious drizzled over pancakes or ice cream and added to drinks. How about adapting your favourite Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe to use Cherry Blossom Syrup?

If you are not lucky enough to have one of these beautiful trees in the garden, you could try making your own. We found a small broken branch when out for a walk. We brought it home and decorated it with tissue paper blossom. We cut circles from old tissue paper and layered these together before gluing them on with PVA glue. We have hung the bees and butterflies we made for our Easter Tree onto the branches. You can find the Easter Tree post here.