When I was playing around with herb syrups for Part 5 of my Preserving Herbs series, I was in the middle of preserving the last basil from my garden into little tubes of pesto for the freezer. With sugar and lemon verbena on the counter ready for syrup, I thought, why add the liquid? The herbs might preserve better in sugar alone. So I whirred some cleaned and dried leaves in a food processor with a few tablespoons of sugar and made a paste that I rolled into a little log. (I used ¼ c sugar for each cup of verbena leaves, loosely packed in a measuring cup.)

Wrapped in plastic wrap and paper to give them structure and avoid freezer burn (a trick I learned from Margaret Roach), they’re now happily stacked alongside their savory counterparts. I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, but I’m thinking about adding it to fruit poaching liquid, sorbet, scones, and maybe tea.  

Categories: Herbs, PreservingTags: Lemon verbena sugar