Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Edible Flowers: Pansy

It's not particularly popular in the US to eat flowers, so it's only sense I've started doing some of my own gardening that I discovered the joys of edible flowers.  Pansies are a rather common and basic one, so it'll be a fun one to start off with.

Just a word of caution, do not eat flowers if it's been treated with pesticides!  Growing your own from seed is the safest way since you know for certain where the plant has been.  Also make sure you wash flowers before eating, but that should be common sense.

The entire flower of a pansy is edible, but it's good to be aware that some flowers only the petals may be.  Make sure to look anything up before ingesting it.  Pansies have a mild and somewhat minty flavor and they're great as a garnish.

Ideas on ways to eat pansies:
Fresh in a salad
On a cake
Frozen into ice cubes!

or my favorite, candied!


So how do you go about sugar coating a pansy or any other edible flower?  The first time I did it, it was an intimidating and messy process with more failure than success, but a little practice and you'll get the hang of it for sure.

First gently wash the fresh flowers off (you don't want to bruise them) and pat them dry with a paper towel.  Lay them out on a dry paper towel, which will help pull out excess moisture.

Next you want to prepare an egg wash using whisked egg whites.  Paint the egg whites on with a food safe paint brush (not one you've used for other purposes!)  

Using a fine sugar (not your regular sugar but not as fine as powdered, castor sugar should be fine) you can now sprinkle the flowers.  Shake off any excess and place the pansies somewhere warm to dry for about an hour.

These can last a few days, but I wouldn't wait too long to eat them!

44 comments:

  1. That's awesome! I really like the idea of freezing them in ice!

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  2. Awesome idea! The ice cubed ones are just too cute.

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  3. H--Holy crap. . . I never knew this was possible.
    I'm going to try this now.

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  4. :O I love those ice cubes! Next fancy party, I'm doing this.

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  5. Ohh, that looks so pretty. I really want to do those ice cubes now.

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  6. Those ice cubes look really fun!

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  7. "Just a word of caution, do not eat flowers if it's been treated with pesticides! "

    No really? lol jk cool blog

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  8. I considered making desserts and selling them at cons but it seems that I had to jump through way to many hoops to do it.

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  9. Hobbes02: You wouldn't believe how many idiots either don't care or don't consider the possibility

    spacepuppy: The food situation at cons always sucks, usually because of the center/hotel having their own stupid NO OUTSIDE FOOD RAWR rules

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  10. Not much for the flowers but cupcakes are the shit!

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  11. Those candied ones look amazing!

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  12. I wonder if I ever ate a flower??

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  13. I had no clue they were edible. Thanks for the info, now I'll go dig up my garden for dinner. :P

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  14. sugar coated flowers? sounds weird as hell :P

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  15. Hah, I had no clue. Very interesting.

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  16. I want the candied flowers ...

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  17. those frozen ones look like they would be awesome in mojitos

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  18. Oh my gosh, this is incredible. Pretty AND delicious! I am kind of intimidated, but I am totally finding some flowers to sugar-coat.

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  19. very interesting, i had no idea you could eat them

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  20. I didn't know that you could eat flowers! I'll have to try it sometime haha.

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  21. Wow, didn't know they were edible. Might give em a try sometime

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  22. Those ice cubes are fabulous! Going to go try this when I get home :)

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  23. Never knew that you could eat flowers. Will give it a try if I get really hungry!

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  24. Wow, are you considering selling these?

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  25. that icecube thing is a really good idea..just gotta check for bees first

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  26. Wow, so pretty! Definitely gonna try this!

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  27. Man, chicks are gonna ALL OVER THIS. Haha gonna give it a whirl

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  28. delicious and beautiful. I like your blog!

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  29. I think on Valentine's day I'll give my gf candied flowers instead of candy AND flowers.

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  30. I bet these would go good with my Lavender sodas, no doubt.

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  31. I love this :D Iam a sugar junky:D

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  32. this remind me i went to this really nice small goat farm awhile ago and they had edible flowers made into goat cheese
    it was delicious

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  33. These look interesting, I'd try them!

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    I've saved as a favorite for later!

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