Eco-Baby Birthday: Edible Flowers

Here's a birthday cake fit for our five year old Girliest of Girls: purple frosting with pink dragee lettering and edible flowers! I broke my April Buy Nothing Challenge when I got some viola seedlings at the farmer's market. But the results were spectacular, our plants are blooming again so I can make more...and I'll teach you how to make candied flowers, too, as penance.

EGirl wanted a chocolate cake with purple frosting. This was easily accomplished with items we had in the house. And by that I mean I scavenged around for what we had, trying not to buy anything, aside from indulging my flower obsession. (I decided that using up what we had trumped fair-trade chocolate issues or the strange verbiage on the India Tree sprinkles website indicating that they were for decoration only despite being glittery and made of 90% sugar, and that the colors I have in my possession are not available for purchase in the health-conscious state of California - WTF?!). We had both cocoa powder and purple frosting tint, the faaancy kind with the most artificial of dyes, in the house from failed prior frosting rose creation efforts. La-la-la-la...that is me blocking out all but making my kid a birthday cake and trying not to waste too many resources.

The coolest part was, of course, the edible flowers! They were super easy. (And no, I don't recommend dropping $40 for 25 flowers.) First, choose a flower to grow (or buy some seedlings like me, just make doubly sure they are organic). Then, whip up some meringue powder (again, you can find this at a highbrow baking store) unless you have your own chickens and have no fear of salmonella. If you are trying to steer clear of raw egg whites then meringue powder or milk are the way to go. Follow the meringue instruction and use it or some milk to moisten your flower. Dip the flower in some superfine sugar. If you are lazy frugal like me, you can just send your sugar through the food processor for a bit. I might recommend using parchment paper instead of foil; ours stuck to the foil which made for difficult flower removal. Anyhoo, put your oven on the lowest heat you can and let the flowers dry for about 20 minutes. They should keep for a bit (tightly covered during this, ant invasion season) in a cool, dark place. Some recipes say they'll keep for up to a year! We candied mostly violas, and a couple chive flowers that had just come out in our window herb boxes (onion cake, anyone?).

Here's a couple recipes for candied flowers and lists of edible flowers for your reference. Maybe for Mother's Day?!