Candied Wildflowers

Sugaring flowers are a great way to preserve the color, shape, and fragrance of ephemeral spring flowers. This project allowed me to get outside and enjoy the weather while picking these fragrant flowers :)

You can use these on cakes, cookies, in cocktails, cupcakes, and anything else you'd like to use them for! They instantly add elegance and sophistication to a dessert, but also a refreshing pop of color.

I took a walk around my neighborhood and picked flowers I know are completely edible.

I picked violets, forsythia, cherry blossoms, peony petals, pansies, lilacs, and black locusts!

Then wash and dry your flowers, but be very careful because some of them are very fragile.

Notes:

-I noticed that flowers with bigger and less fragile petals (peonies and pansies) were a lot easier to work with, opposed to flowers with thin and easily rippable petals (like cherry blossoms)

Here is what you'll need:

- Powdered sugar or Granulated sugar (I did both; refer to pictures)

-1 egg white (beat until foamy)

-clean paint brush (smaller is better)

-Parchment paper to set your candied flowers to dry

Note:

If you're nervous about raw eggs, use pasteurized ones instead

Take the egg white that you beat until foamy, and paint a THIN layer of egg white on your flowers, too much will make the sugar clump later on, making the flowers less attractive.

Make sure to get both sides of the flower and all crevices.

Whether you're using powdered or granulated sugar, you want to pour some (about a cup, to start) in a flat and shallow plate.

Sprinkle sugar over the petals, coating them completely, then set them on a parchment to dry for at least a day

Note:

- I found that most people online choose to use superfine sugar, but I thought that using white granulated sugar also gave the flowers a nice crystalline look

Once your flowers are completely dry and stiff you can now use them any way you want:

Cake, cupcakes, cookies, and as a garnish for cocktails. I used mine on a slice of mango cheesecake here.

Also, I saw this idea online, using candied violets to make a bright purple violet sugar, I'll definitely have to try that one out :)

Credit to wikihow for the second picture