Have Your Flowers and Eat Them Too
When food looks great, it tastes even better. Proper plating is the key to instantly elevating a dish and wowing dinner guests, naturally.
Yet many of us fearfully leave the aesthetic visions and plating techniques to the pros with years of culinary craftsmanship. So we’ll let you in on a plating secret. To give your meals a creative boost, consider topping them with delicate decorations and skip all the fuss.
Cue the edible flowers. They add a touch of whimsy, decadence and elegance to dishes, desserts and drinks. Dating back centuries, these delicious decorations have adorned cookies, cakes, cocktails and more. The key is to keep the dish simple so as not to overpower the delicate floral flavors or the dish itself.
Recipe developer and baking blogger Jenn Davis incorporates edible flowers as a garnish in The Southern Baking Cookbook. Use them to decorate Whole Lemon Cake (pg. 70). Aside from desserts, sprinkle edible flowers in green salads for a splash of color and taste. Tryt freezing whole small flowers into ice rings or cubes for a pretty addition to punch. Or infuse them into oils, vinaigrettes, jellies and marinades.
Flowers are almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Be sure to share how you adorn your cooking creations with us so we can see you spread the magic.
