Crystallised Rose Petals

It is early summer, the roses are blooming and it is time to make Crystallised Rose Petals! I love using edible flowers in my cooking and roses are one of my favourites as they smell wonderful and come in some many fantastic colours – ruby red, crimson, shell pink, soft yellow, pure white…. There is something very romantic and decadent about strewing rose petals over your home-made cake or dessert!

These sugary petals are really easy to make providing you have access to flowers that you know have not been treated with any chemicals. If you have roses in your garden, or have a kind friend or neighbour who does, you are all set! Don’t use roses that are sold as cut flowers as they probably will have been chemically treated.

You can crystallise any kind of edible flower. It has the effect of both preserving the petals – if you don’t do this, they wilt very quickly – and also making them taste sweet and sugary!

It is very easy to make Crystallised Rose petals, in fact it is a great activity to do with children. However, if you are planning on using them to decorate a cake or pudding, you do need to make them the day before to allow them time to dry.

Equipment:

Pastry brush, cake rack

Crystallised flowers — Crystallised Rose Petals

Crystallised Rose Petals

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 10
Total Time: 10 minutes
Category: Baking ingredients
Cuisine: English

Print Recipe

Description

Sugary Crystallised Rose Petals look beautiful as a decoration on cakes and puddings and add a delicious rose flavour.

Ingredients

Scale

Petals from 3–4 roses
1 egg white
Caster sugar

Instructions

Wash the rose petals and dry gently using kitchen paper.
Paint each petal with egg white and then dip it into the caster sugar.
Place on the cake rack to dry and harden. This will take about 24 hours.
Use to decorate cakes or puddings.

Notes

Make sure that you use rose petals that have not been treated with any chemicals. The best place is from your garden as you will know what has been used on the roses. Don’t use shop-bought roses unless they are specifically designated as being for culinary use.

The flavour will be better if you use strongly scented roses.

Keywords: crystallised rose petals

Strawberry and Rose Geranium Jam

Easy-to-make Strawberry and Rose Geranium Jam has all the fruity loveliness of strawberries but with a floral boost provided by the addition of Rose Geranium leaves. This recipe is based on one in Sarah Raven’s Food for Friends and Family which is one of my favourite cookery books. It is really easy to make and is fantastic on crusty bread or as an ingredient in cakes and puddings. If you don’t have access to Rose Geraniums, you can add a little rosewater to the jam to add a floral accent.

I grow strawberries in my garden but they are not yet ready for picking. Therefore, as it is half-term this week, I took two of my adolescent children with me to Primrose Vale Pick-Your-Own farm which is about a half hour drive from where I live. My two gaming-addicted companions were somewhat reluctant at the prospect of this outing but actually enjoyed it a lot (and picked more strawberries than they ate!). It is a good spot for a family outing, with a playground for younger children, an excellent farm shop and a cafe serving drinks and snacks and wonderful, locally-produced Winstones ice-cream.

About Rose Geraniums

There are a number of scented varieties of Rose Geranium (which are actually technically pelargoniums) and all have leaves that smell of rose – I think they actually smell a bit like Turkish Delight! I have two varieties – Angels Perfume and Attar of Roses – which I bought from Herbal Haven which is a specialist herb nursery.

Rose Geranium leaves can be used in lots of puddings and desserts to add a subtle rose flavour. I think this is a better way than using rose-petals as you only need a few leaves whereas you need loads of petals (and, really, who wants to destroy their roses?).

Equipment

Heavy pan and a large sterilised jam jar (There are various ways of sterilising jars. I think the easiest is to wash in soapy water and then put in an oven at 120 C for 15 minutes)

Ready for jam — Strawberries and Rose Geranium leaves