viola

Crystallised flowers

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cyrstallising edible flowers

This blog is on making crystallised edible flowers. Awhile back I wrote a post on Using edible flowers . Recently I have learn how to sugar (crystallise) edible flowers. It is an old Victorian art and it takes sometime to perfect it. This is because different types of flowers behave differently. Making sugared edible flowers is … Read more

Using edible flowers

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Using edible flowers

This is my harvest from garden today. I found some edible flowers that are in bloom. They are the borage, then recently I acquired some dwarf marigold seeds and viola plants.

Marigold
I planted the dwarf marigold as I was getting bitten badly by mosquitoes during the hot summer season. I found that marigolds can help to prevent mosquitoes from getting bitten by mosquitoes while sitting or being in the garden. The marigolds are also good for preventing diseases in tomato plants in the garden. Marigolds however in general have perculiar taste to them which is not everyone likes. But they are edible. Another marigold family plant is Peruvian mint marigold here is the link to it Growing and harvesting tagetes minuta

Borage

I have got borage growing in the garden as well. With it’s blue colour flowers it’s a good starting point of a conversation. Here is a link on how grow borage Edible flowers – Borage

Viola
Viola flowers don’t last very long after harvesting as a result one don’t find them in shops. However, good news is that they are easy to grow, don’t need much care and relatively disease free.Using edible flowers Using edible flowers in dishes
I like adding edible flowers to a dish or recipes as they add texture and colours to your food. My 4 year old doesn’t need much convincing to eat them which a bonus and good news for me. By having mild tastes on borage and viola they can be added to salads. Also with the alpine strawberries as well. The leafy greens are chard, little gem lettuce and baby pak choi which I am growing in my garden at the moment.

using edible flowers in salad

Decorative purposes
As these edible flowers look good in pictures as blogger I find it great to post on social media sites. They look good as well in cocktails. There are many other types of edible flowers around like nasturtiums, callendula, roses, lavender and bellis daisy.
One can crystallize the flowers, first by covering them in whisked egg white. After that, put the egg white covered flowers in caster sugar. Finally leave them to dry for 24 hours. They are good to use in cake decorating or desserts.