Magic of edible flowers

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Edible flowers

As you all know that I love baking and cake is no doubt one of my favourite things to bake. It is the wedding season which means lots of baking with summer flavours. And what better way to bring the cakes to life than adding some edible flowers to it.

It is no doubt a little tricky to get hold of fresh and beautiful edible flowers, which always seem to be a problem for me. But I have teamed up with Sainsbury’s who have just launched their edible flower range, which makes to just so convenient. For home bakers and cooks like it now so easy to get hold of these now to use in everyday cooking and food for special occasions like this wedding cake.

No only are these flowers great for a wedding cake but they are great for soups, salads, tarts, pasta, pudding and much more. Here I am sharing my recipes for quick and easy cooking brought to life with the use of these stunning flowers.

It is all very summery, light and colourful and great for entertaining. You can start with the watermelon gazpacho, then have the courgette tart for mains and move to the choice of 3 cakes for the pudding.

Watermelon and cucumber gazpacho
(serves 6)

500 gms cubed watermelon
125 gms cucumber, peeled and chopped
125 gms red pepper, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic cloves, peeled
juice of 1 lime
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin

edible flowers to serve

Put all the ingredients in a mixer and blend it until smooth.

Pour it into soup bowls or glasses with some ice. Finish by pairing the beautiful red gazpacho with the equally vibrant flowers on top.

Courgette and red onion tart
(serves 6)

For the pastry
300 gms plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp paprika powder
150 gms salted butter, diced
2 egg yolks
4-5 tbsp cold water

For the filling
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salted butter
3 red onions, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ tsp salt
½ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium sized courgettes
½ tsp salt

100 ml double cream
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
100 gms mild cheddar
½ tsp black pepper

Edible flowers to serve

Mix the flour, salt and paprika in a large bowl. Add the butter and coat it in the flour. With your fingertips rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and mix and then add just enough water to bring the dough together. Gently knead the dough for a few seconds and shape it into a ball. Wrap it in cling film and leave it in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

Heat the oven to 180 C. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a thickness of a pound coin. Line a 23 cm loose bottom tart tin with the pastry. Leave the extra pastry hanging over the edge. Line it with baking parchment, fill it with baking beans and bake for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the paper and beans and bake for another 15 minutes until the pastry looks dry and crisp. With a sharp knife trim away the extra pastry from the edge. Leave it to cool.

In a pan heat the oil and butter and add the onions and garlic. Cook on low to medium heat until the onions have softened and then add the salt, chilli and cumin. Mix it all well and leave it aside.

Slice the courgettes thinly, roughly ½ cm and put them in a sieve and sprinkle the salt on top. Leave it aside for 15 minutes. Now rinse the courgettes and place them on a plate with some kitchen roll to get rid of all the moisture. Heat some oil in a flat pan or skillet and fry the courgette slices for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove them on a plate.

Now mix the cream, eggs and cheese in a jug.

Place the onions on the ready pastry and press them a little. Now pour the egg mix on top, then carefully arrange the cooked courgettes on the egg mix. Bake for 30-35 minutes until cooked.

Leave it to rest for 5-10 minutes before removing it from the tin.

Cut them into slices and carefully place the colourful flowers on top of the very summery tart slices before serving.

Coconut and lemon cake

350 gms caster sugar
350 gms self raising flour
6 large eggs
300 gms unsalted softened butter
1 ½ tsp baking powder
zest of 2 lemons
75 gms coconut cream
75 gms desiccated coconut

Heat the oven to 180 C. Grease and line 1 x 10 inch cake tin.

Mix all the cake ingredients in a big bowl or a stand mixer and whisk for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is light and creamy.

Pour this into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave it in the tin for 10 minutes before taking it out and serving.

Rose and pistachio cake

225 gms caster sugar
225 gms self raising flour
225 gms unsalted softened butter
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
½ tsp rose water
2 tbsp milk
100 gms pistachio finely chopped

Heat the oven to 180 C. Grease and line 2 x 8 inch cake tins.

In a bowl mix all the cake ingredients except the pistachios. You can also use the stand mixer if you like. Whisk it all for 2 minutes until it is light and creamy.

Add the pistachios to this and fold them all in. Pour the mixture equally into both the prepared tins and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave it in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and then serve.

Almond and blueberry cake

115 gms caster sugar
115 gms unsalted softened butter
85 gms self raising flour
30 gms ground almonds
½ tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
50 gms blueberries

Heat the oven to 180 C. Grease and line 2 x 6 inch cake tins.

In a bowl or stand mixer combine all the ingredients except the blueberries. Whisk it for 2 minutes until light and creamy.

Now add the blueberries and fold them all in. Pour the mixture equally into the 2 prepared tins and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and then serve.

Wedding cake assembly

This is my favourite bit where I put the cake together. The bottom 2 tiers are layered and covered with butter cream and set in the fridge. I have used 3 different ways to decorate all the 3 tiers. The bottom tier has beautiful and intricate royal icing design and then decorated with flowers which are carefully placed in the design.

The middle tier is covered with shaded icing and then decorated with flowers in waterfall effect.

The top tier is a naked cake with the top covered in flowers.

Watch the short video of how to put the wedding cake together on my Youtube channel.

 

You can use the cut offs of the cakes to make delicious trifles with some extra summer berries and finish them with flowers as well. You can use these to also make some cake pops and dip them in chocolate which is great for family and friends.

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