To most of us, the idea of eating flowers evokes the humorous image of someone biting into a rose, or chomping off the head of a daisy. Yet there was a time not so very long ago that flowers were an integral part of cooking. While most of us are aware that violets can be candied and nasturtiums eaten in salad, there’s a truly amazing variety of flowers that are not only edible, but delicious!
A Candy Flower Garden for Your Sweet Tooth
Violets aren’t the only flower that can be candied! Many of the spring flowers with small, delicate blossoms have a sweet, slightly spicy flavor that is enhanced by dipping in sugar. It goes without saying that any flowers that you gather for eating should not have been sprayed with any pesticide - by growing them yourself, you can be sure that they’re untreated. A Candy Flower Garden that blooms throughout the summer can include:
Violets - of course! Purple, blue or white, violets are among the first flowers to bloom in the spring. They spread easily, and grow readily when transplanted into a garden bed - and you do want to confine them to a bed unless you love the look of a full carpet of blooms spreading across your lawn.
Pansies - A relative of violets, pansies are just as delicately flavored and can be used in most recipes that call for violets. They make beautiful border flowers, with their bright painted faces.
Angelica - These delicate, lacy white flowers can be sprinkled in salads - but the stems and shoots make a delicious traditional candy that tastes a bit like minty licorice.
Roses - yes, roses! Candied rose petals and rose syrup were mainstays in Victorian cooking. Sweet delicately flavored rose syrup gives baklava its characteristic flavor, and is a perfect foil for cardamom in Indian recipes.
To candy flowers from your garden:
Violets and pansies can be candied whole. Roses should be separated into petals. Most recipes for candied flowers call for the use of raw egg whites. Because of the danger of salmonella, I recommend using a confectioner’s powdered egg white instead.
Mix powdered egg white according to package directions (equivalent of one egg white).
Spread a cup of superfine sugar in a flat bottomed pan. Carefully dip each flower into the egg white, then press into the sugar. Use a fork to gently turn the flower so that all surfaces of the petals are covered. Lift out of sugar and lay on a screen or drying rack till completely dry. Apple and cherry blossoms can also be candied the same way.
A Soup, Salad and Savory Flower Garden
When I was growing up, one of the most special treats of early summer was my grandmother’s fried squash blossoms. Dipped in egg and flour, then fried in olive oil with garlic, the blossoms have a sweet, nutty flavor that is like nothing else in this world. Other garden flowers that are delicious in soups and salads include:
Borage - Like the leaves, borage flowers are delicious in salads and cold soups. They have a cool, cucumber like taste that translates well from flower garden to kitchen table.
Carnations - The flavor is as spicy as the scent. Carefully separate the petals from the bitter white of the flower’s base and sprinkle in salads for a surprising touch of color and spice.
Day lilies - Like squash blossoms, day lilies have a mildly sweet, nutty flavor that many people think varies by color. Dredged in flour and dipped in egg, fried daylilies are a succulent vegetable.
Those are just a small sampling of the many edible uses of flowers from your garden. If you’re interested in learning more, you’ll find excellent recipes and information on edible flowers at a number of web sites on the Internet. DO be careful in your taste-testing. If you’re not certain that a flower is edible do NOT eat it.
CHICKEN SALAD LOAF with NASTURTIUMS
10 fresh nasturtium flowers
1 bunch chives
1 bunch watercress
1 cup grated red or green cabbage
3 cups diced cold cooked chicken
2 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
1 tsp. chopped fresh mint
1 pkg. unflavored gelatin
1 cup water
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. sugar
1 large fresh country style loaf of bread
Soft butter
1/2 cup sour cream
Place the nasturtium flower petals in a large mixing bowl, discarding the stems and centers. Add chives, cut into 2 inch lengths. Put the leaves and tips form the watercress, adding this to the mixing bowl along with the grated cabbage. Mix in the chicken, tarragon, and mint. Toss gently.
In a small pan, stir the gelatin into the cold water and heat slowly, when the gelatin is fully dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and stir in salt, pepper, and sugar. Allow the solution to cool.
Cut a 3/4 inch slice from one end of the loaf, butter it and set side. Using your hands, scoop out most of the soft center of the bread and rub the inside of the loaf with butter. Stir the sour cream into the gelatin solution then pour it over the salad ingredients. Toss well to coat thoroughly. Spoon the salad into the loaf, pressing it in firmly. Replace the buttered end slice. Stand the salad loaf on end in the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours or more until gelatin is set. To serve, place the loaf on a cutting board and cut into thick slices.
STUFFED DAY LILY BLOSSOMS
6 open day lily blossoms
2 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast meat, chopped
25 seedless grapes, cut in quarters
1 green sweet onion, diced
1/2 stalk celery, diced
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
2 tbsp. fresh chopped French tarragon
6 borage flowers
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Wash day lily blossoms and remove stamen (be sure to use Hemerocallis fulva - the orange day lilies seen growing wildly, as members of the Lilium family are not edible). Choose only the best open blossoms. Mix chicken, grapes, celery, onion, mayonnaise, parsley, tarragon and pepper together in a bowl. Stuff each blossom with chicken salad and top each with a borage flower.
6 servings
SCENTED HONEY
1 1/4 cups mild golden honey
1 cup fresh fragrant flowers*
Lightly bruise flower petals and stir
into honey in saucepan. Cook over
low heat for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for a week, stirring occasionally. Reheat slightly and strain through cheesecloth into sterile jelly jars and store.
*Such as rose or honeysuckle.
Approx. 4 jars
PANSY HONEY CUSTARD
5 tbsp. honey
3 tbsp. finely minced pansy leaves and flowers
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs, beaten
Combine honey with pansy leaves and flowers. Heat 15 minutes in a double boiler. Place in a clean covered jar and allow to mellow three days. Scald milk. Add prepared pansy honey and salt; heat until honey is dissolved. Beat 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the eggs. Beat this back into the rest of the hot milk and pour into six lightly buttered custard cups. Sprinkle each with freshly grated nutmeg to taste.
6 servings
VIOLET MARMALADE
1/2 lb. violet flowers
1 1/2 lbs. sugar
1/2 cup water
Crush violet flowers with a mortar. Boil sugar and water to a syrup. Add flowers. Bring to a boil six times over low heat, stirring it down with a wooden spoon each time. Pour into sterile jelly jars and seal while hot.
