Candied Violets

Violets pop up all over my yard every year at this time, and I’m always extremely excited when they do. Violets are edible, and though picking them can be a little painstaking, I really enjoy eating and making things with the delicate purple beauties. Yesterday, I made candied violets.

As I mentioned above, violets are delicate…fragile. If your lawn is similarly dotted, and you’d like to use them in a recipe, plan to do so right after you pick them (otherwise they will wilt).

I decided to make just a small amount of sugared violets, so I didn’t pick that many flowers. If you want to make lots of candied flowers, or perhaps a syrup or jelly with your violets, you’ll need to pick quite a few.

To make candied/sugared violets, all you need is the flowers, some sugar (I used organic sugar), and something to get the sugar to adhere to the flowers. Generally, I would use beaten egg white, but since I wanted these candied violets to be vegan, I used a slurry of flax seeds and water: approximately 1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons water. The mixture was somewhat thick so I did add a little more water as I was working.

Superfine sugar is the best type of sugar to use for candied flowers: you can whir regular (or organic) sugar in a food processor to make it finer, if you like.

Use a tiny paintbrush to paint each flower with the binder (egg white or vegan egg substitute), then dip the flower into the sugar.

I didn’t paint both sides of each flower (I think I will do so next time, though). I found it easiest to deal with each flower by placing them on one of my fingers for the painting/sugar dipping.

I didn’t leave the stems attached to all my violets when I plucked them but you can certainly do that, then snip them off after the flowers are fully dry.

I was in a bit of a hurry when I was making these, and not terribly concerned about coating the whole surface with binder/sugar. So maybe you could say my violets are “crystallized” rather than candied because they’re dusted with less sugar.

In any case, once the flower is coated with the amount of binder/sugar that you want, place it on a piece of parchment paper. Put the candied flowers in an out-of-the-way place so they can dry overnight, or speed the drying by placing the parchment paper on a baking tray in a 200 degree F. oven for 13-15 minutes or so. Don’t over-dry the candied flowers or they’ll become brittle and may break apart when you use them.

Candied violets make a beautiful decoration for cakes, cupcakes, and other pastries. Other ways to use violets: make a floral butter or pesto, or add to salads or beverages.