It’s no secret that some flowers are grown for both their beauty and their use in the kitchen. Squash flowers, lilies, chrysanthemums, hibiscus, and lavender are just a few examples of such edible flowers, and you might not even be surprised at those. But did you know that roses are edible, too?
Those who’ve experienced using rose petals in their culinary creations have said that their flavour resembles that of green apples and strawberries, although different varieties won’t taste exactly the same. Given all that, here are a few ideas to help you get started on using rose petals in meals.
Refreshing Salads
Fresh rose petals are a great addition to fruit salads and mixed green salads, bringing with them a light floral fragrance and a hint of sweetness that goes well with tart, tangy, and spicy flavours. They can be added whole, or roughly chopped up and tossed with the other ingredients.
Rose Water
If you want to incorporate the flavour of a rose into a whole dish like a sponge cake or a custard, rose water is a great way to do so. You can add it to the batter or mixture along with any other liquids the recipe calls for.
On the other hand, if you’re unsure about rose-flavoured food, you can also add rose water to beverages you serve with breakfast, lunch, or dinner and you’ll still experience the health benefits attributed to this floral wonder.
Rose Butter
Are you getting tired of plain old butter on waffles, pancakes, or baked goods like biscuits and muffins? Rose butter makes for a lovely change of pace that adds the delicate taste of roses as well as a slight floral fragrance, making dessert just a little more fairy tale-like.
The best part is, you can make rose butter pretty easily. All you have to do is soften butter, then mix in fragrant rose petals that have been chopped up. After that, place the butter in a container and chill it until you need to serve the dish you’ll be adding the rose butter to.
Rose Petal Sauce
Expanding on rose butter, you can add rose petals to a baked dish if the coating or sauce calls for butter. You just have to use a blender to make sure the petals are chopped finely and mixed well with the other sauce or coating ingredients.
Rose Petal Jam
This classic rose dish is a great addition to teatime, or whenever you want to take a break and relax. You can spread this light jam on crackers, biscuits, or cookies for a slight boost of sweetness. You can make rose petal jam the same way you would any fruit-based jam.
Before you start adding rose petals to anything you make, remember that you have to make sure the ones you’re using haven’t been sprayed with any kind of chemical. You’ll also want to avoid blooms with hardly any fragrance.
In most cases, it’s best to use fresh rose petals, which you can gather from your own garden if you grow roses yourself, or in the wild. Dried rose petals will work in a pinch, too, however. If you’re looking for more info, or want to buy dried rose petals to experiment with first, you can visit this page.
