Preserving Edible Flowers

In an earlier post I wrote about all the wonderful edible flowers you could use to add fun and flavour to your meals. As well as using them fresh there are all sorts of ways of preserving them: best known are of course crystallising them or freezing in ice cubes but you can also pickle the petals and you can use the seed pods of nasturtium to make poor man’s capers.

Freezing in Ice Cubes

This doesn’t really need any instruction: pick and wash your flowers; put into ice cube trays and fill with water; freeze. Use to decorate your drinks – particularly good for iced water.

I used miniature feijoa (Bambina) flowers which looked very festive with mint; and borage with lemon and cucumber.

: Feijoa Bambina flowers

: Feijoa and mint

: Borage flowers

: Borage flowers with lemon and cucumber

Crystallising Flowers

You will need: flowers, an egg white, caster sugar (preferably superfine)

First choose your edible flowers. Violets, pansies and roses are commonly used but use whatever you have available and/or choose those that match whatever your colour scheme or theme is going to be.

Rinse the flowers in cold water and leave to dry. When dry put them on a flat surface such as a bread board or baking tray.

Beat an egg white until it is foamy. Brush the flowers all over with the egg white using a soft brush.

Sprinkle flowers with caster sugar straight away, the sugar needs to stick to the egg white before it dries.

Leave for several hours until fully set. You can also sit the finished flowers on a baking tray lined with ovenproof paper in a warm oven (switched off). Once they have dried, they will be hard and brittle. Store them carefully in an airtight container.

: Wash in ice cold water

: Dry on paper towel

: Brush with egg white

: Sprinkle with caster sugar

Tips

Try it with a few first before doing your main batch to make sure you’ve got it right.

Smaller flowers are better because the larger petals can get quite heavy and break more easily.

Don’t dip the flowers in the egg white as they get far too wet and soggy, just paint them lightly.

Use a fine sieve to sprinkle the sugar over the flowers.

Use a toothpick or similar to manoeuvre them if you have to when wet rather than using your fingers.

Poor Man’s Capers

Once your nasturtium flowers have died back they leave green seed pods in clusters of three. Gather some handfuls of these and make some ‘capers’. They have a distinct mustardy flavour. To use them, spoon out a few seeds and chop them up finely. You can add them to any dish where you’d typically use traditional capers — pastas, sauces, salads, dressings. A little goes a long way!

I’m not that keen on capers but I thought I’d try making a few to try this out.

This recipe makes about a cup; you can halve, double or triple depending on how many seed pods you have:

2/3 cup nasturtium seed pods (harvest when young and light green)
1/4 cup salt
2 cups water
2/3 cup distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf

Separate the pods into individual seeds, and give them a quick rinse to remove any dirt.

Make a brine by dissolving the salt in the water in a jar. Then add the seed pods. Brining helps mellow out the strong mustardy flavour.

Keep the seed pods submerged (you can put a plastic bag over the top and push it down into the middle) and leave in the brine for a couple of days at room temperature.

Remove seed pods from brine. Soak in cold water for an hour. Drain.

Bring vinegar and sugar to the boil in a small saucepan over a medium-high heat, and boil for 1 minute stirring to dissolve sugar.

Put your seeds in hot, sterilised jar(s). Cover with boiling vinegar and add a bay leaf. Seal.

They will last indefinitely in the fridge.

: Keep seed pods submerged in brine

: Add bay leaf

: Cover with vinegar and seal

Pickled Petals

Flowers and buds of roses, violets, nasturtium, chrysanthemum, calendula, primrose, day-lilies, gladiolus or geraniums (pick in the early morning)

Sugar

White vinegar

Mint springs

Carefully remove sepals and stems from base of flower, and the stamens from the inside of the flowers. Layer flowers in a jar, covering each layer with sugar.

When the jar is filled, pour boiling vinegar to fill. Add a sprig of mint.

Seal. Pickled petals are ready to mix with salads or garnish a relish tray in about 4 to 5 days. Keep refrigerated.

I haven’t made this because I’d rather use fresh flowers, but it could make a pretty gift.

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