Sweet Lilac Bloom Rolls

Sweet Lilac Bloom Rolls are made with a light, buttery, biscuit-like dough and rolled tightly with sugar and lilac petals. The sugar melts and begins to caramelize, while the petals infuse and permeate the rolls with a fresh fragrance and a mild lemony flavour. Drizzled with a lilac syrup icing, these are absolutely delicious and gorgeous too!

It’s time for another one of my favourite recipes. This time, it’s these simple and rustic, no-fuss Sweet Lilac Bloom Rolls. These are essentially a traditional Newfoundland-style cinnamon roll without the cinnamon! Now, I can’t speak for the present, but you could search the island over and not find a cinnamon roll topped with icing when I was growing up there in the 80s and 90s.

Maybe there’s a family or two that make them drizzled with icing now, but I would wager to guess that it’s still not that popular. In fact, according to their website, Cinnabon still does not have a franchise in Newfoundland, and I blame them for the icing craze anyway. As far as I’m concerned if your cinnamon roll was made properly, it wouldn’t need gobs of icing to get people to eat it. But, with that said, these rolls are so delicately sweet, that they can handle the lilac-flavoured glaze, so in this case, go for it!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

You will need Lilac Infused Sugar and Lilac Syrup to make these rolls. You can make the rolls with regular sugar and you can even substitute the syrup with extract, but the end result won’t be quite right. The rolls will still taste delicious, but it won’t have that strong, aromatic lilac scent and flavour I mentioned in the introduction. The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

DOUGH INGREDIENTS:

• Butter – The butter must be softened and completely at room temperature. You can use salted or unsalted butter. If you use salted butter, halve the amount of added salt further down this list.
• Lilac Infused Sugar – Making your own lilac sugar is easy to do. I have the instructions right here. It does take five days to make lilac sugar, so you can use regular granulated sugar if you must. The scone will still be delicious, but will not be as flavourful nor as scented as it should be.
• Egg – This is used to bind the dough.
• Milk – Like the egg, this is used to bind and moisten the dough.
• Lilac Syrup – Lilac syrup is very easy to make at home. Click here for the instructions. It only takes a few minutes to make and a few hours to steep and cool. If you don’t have any lilac syrup, you can vanilla extract. The lilac flavour and scent will be less than it should be, but the scone will still be delicious!
• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder – There seems like a lot of this, and there is, but it is needed and it works!
• Salt

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

• Butter – Yes, more butter! In this case, the butter is the glue that holds the other filling ingredients in place. When it melts in the oven, it melts the sugar and creates a sticky, sweet center.
• Sugar – This is where the sweetness comes from.
• Lilac Petals – Read the next section on how to collect and clean lilac petals.

GLAZE INGREDIENTS:

• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It is used in frostings quite often. 
• Lilac Syrup – Use the lilac syrup to make a fragrant glaze. You can also use lemon juice or water.

HOW TO MAKE SWEET LILAC BLOOM ROLLS:

As previously mentioned, there are three steps to this recipe. I’ve broken each step down into its own section so that the instructions are clear and concise.

PREPARING THE DOUGH

The first thing you will want to do is to prepare the dough. To do this, using only the amounts found in the dough ingredient list, add the butter and lilac sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with a mixer until well combined. Add the egg and beat into the butter and sugar. Next, add the milk and lilac syrup and beat those in too.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and beat well to combine. When a dough is formed, pat it into a ball and place the dough into the fridge to cool for 15 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside. While the dough is cooling, measure out the butter and lilac sugar. Also, prepare the lilac petals so that they are ready to go. Set those aside for now.

ROLLING AND SLICING – THE FUN PART!

Once the dough has cooled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to 1/16th of an inch thick. Try to get the dough into a square shape – it won’t be perfect! Use a pastry brush to brush the butter over the surface of the rolled dough. Sprinkle over the lilac sugar and top that with the lilac petals. Carefully lift the dough slightly from one end and begin rolling the dough into a long cylinder, working your way down the side of the rolled dough. Try to roll as tightly as possible without breaking or tearing the dough.

Once rolled, use a sharp knife to slice the rolled dough into 1/3-inch slices. Place onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving two inches of space between each roll. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

ICING DRIZZLE

The icing drizzle that you see on top of these Sweet Lilac Bloom Rolls is completely optional. When it comes to icing drizzle, I’m a huge fan of it. I know that there are some others who are not. So, you do whatever suits your personal tastes. One thing is for sure, these rolls are not overly sweet at all, so the icing drizzle adds just enough sweetness.

Preparing icing drizzle is quite easy. All you need is confectioner’s sugar and lilac syrup. You want to make it so that the icing is not too thick or too thin. If it’s too thick, it’s hard to get a nice consistent drizzle and the end result will look rather messy. If you make it too thin, it just basically spreads out all over the roll. It will still taste great, but it won’t look great.

When you prepare the icing, scoop some up with a spoon and let it pour back down into the bowl. The ribbon-like pour should cascade onto the bowl of icing and the ribbons should be visible for at least 8-10 seconds before they start to disappear back into the bowl of icing. That’s what you know it’s ready! Alternatively, you can use lemon juice rather than lilac syrup for a pop of fresh flavour!

HOW TO GATHER LILACS

Use pruning sheers to snip clumps of lilacs from your tree. Fill your kitchen sink with cold water and dunk the lilac branches, one at a time. Gently shake the branch under the water and then lift it straight out. Do this several times. Transfer the branch and/or clump to a salad spinner and spin out the excess water. The lilacs may still be a bit damp, but they won’t be impossible to work with. Don’t be tempted to overwash and over-spin in the salad spinner. Lilacs are delicate, so treat them as such.

Here are the suggestions that I have followed. These are suggestions that I have read over the past few years from others who have prepared lilacs to eat. First, only use lilac petals from a tree that you know 100% has not been sprayed or treated with chemicals. Secondly, pick petals from trees that are not close to busy streets or highways. Those petals will be dirty with gas and diesel residue.

Please use pruning shears. Don’t break the branches with your hands or saw at them with a knife. This will damage the tree and you will want the tree to stay healthy for years to come. Oh, it’s also best to harvest the lilacs in the morning before it gets too hot. The petals have more moisture content in the morning.

SEPARATING THE PETALS FROM THE STEMS

So, I know that lilacs look gorgeous spilling out of large vases. And, every year, I have at least two large vases filled with them. But, they are great for baking too! Once you have cut and washed your lilacs, now comes the tedious part. Removing the petals from the stems is certainly not hard work, but it’s tedious! This is how I do it.

With all of my washed lilac bunches in a large bowl, and a smaller bowl for collecting petals close by, I find a nice shady spot on our back deck. Next, I fetch a cold drink and get ready to harvest. Working with one bunch of lilacs at a time, hold the top of the petal and pull. The purplish-pink petal should release from the stem. The idea is to leave behind all traces of green. If you get a few bits of green, it won’t do any harm. But, too much will throw off the taste of your recipe.

This process is long and labourious. To make this recipe, you will need two cups of lilac petals. That doesn’t seem like much, but it takes some time. You should learn from my mistakes too, because the first time I did this, I did not sit in the shade. I ended up getting a sunburn! When all is said and done, these Sweet Lilac Bloom Rolls are beautifully fragrant and sweet.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most baked goods like these rolls, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. They will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one or two, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Sweet Lilac Bloom Rolls, you certainly can! Once they are completely cooled, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

If you iced the rolls, and you need to stack them in your container, lay a sheet of parchment between each layer to prevent sticking. Also, the icing should be completely hardened before you pile them into the container. You can freeze these for up to three months.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!