I started to add this to my thread where I talked about the redbud flower jelly. But I decided that was off topic, because that is the "hard winter" thread about all the things that didn't come back and I don't know how the redbud jelly got in there in the first place.
So: On a different note, the redbud flower jelly came out very nice. The infusion is a gorgeous purple-pink, but by the time you add lemon juice and a lot of sugar, it tames down to rosy pink, but still very pretty. Very interesting taste. All the flower jellies come out a bit similar, because of the fruit pectin, which adds its own tart/fruity flavor, but the redbud has interesting notes of its own.
I make lots of different herb and flower jellies. The process is the same for all of them. Pour boiling water over the flowers and let them steep (don't boil them, just steep). After a few hours to over night, strain all the flowers back out. Bring the infusion to a boil, add a bunch of sugar and bring to rolling boil. Add fruit pectin and boil hard for one minute. Decant in to sterilized jars. One of my favorites is purple basil jelly, which is also a beautiful color, but the redbud flower jelly was a big hit and people ate it up fast. I might have to go get more redbud flowers quick before they are done!
You can make syrup instead of jelly just by leaving out the pectin and just boiling down a little to thicken.
Lilacs are in bloom now, so I made lilac ice cream. It's a similar process but with a milk infusion, not a water infusion. Steep the lilac flowers in warmed milk, strain them out, turn the infused milk into custard by adding egg yolks and sugar. Chill and pour into ice cream maker. I added a little bit of vanilla. It is very interesting, probably will not be my favorite, but good. The lilac has a unique flavor all its own, a little bit flowery and a little bit vegetable. It was a little disappointing though, that the lilac infusion has no color. My lilac flowers are not deep purple to start with, and the color just disappeared. I'm sure I could have added food coloring, but I didn't want to cheat like that.