Delicious Ways to Use Edible Flowers for Garnish
How to Make Your Dishes Look Really Special with Edible Flowers for Garnish
My passion has become using edible flowers for garnish, which is a versatile and visually stunning way to add colour and a touch of elegance to any dish. And it’s very easy to achieve!
Have you noticed that in the last season of MasterChef, that edible flowers are frequently being used?
I’m so happy that garnishing with flowers is now getting more and more recognition from the popular cooking shows.
On this page I’ll give you some tips and tricks on how you can dress up your plates to look absolutely fabulous.
Create Visual Masterpieces Using Edible Flowers for Garnish
We all know that we eat with our eyes first!
Using edible flowers for garnish provides this special visual impact that people really enjoy. I love seeing the delight on people’s faces when they first see the colour and beauty of a flower on their plate.
Here are some easy ideas you can try which I think will really enjoy doing.
Make an edible flower pizza! This will get people talking!
Or make some floral butter – use it on fresh bread, crackers or on top of veggies. It looks stunning!
Be Creative with Edible Flowers on Your Food
I’ve done a couple of “before and after” photos so that you can see what the visual difference is between garnish and no garnish.
A splash of colour has just brought this plate to life!
These nasturtiums and chives were grown in our garden, and to be able to pop outside and pick a quick garnish for a plate gave me a great deal of satisfaction!
And doesn’t this plate look so much more interesting and enticing with the addition of cute little begonia flowers
Look how easy it is to give an elegant lift to your plate – just add flowers!
Garnishing with flowers is a great way to impress your guests if you’re entertaining too! Put some glamour into a plain looking plate of food and add a touch of floral joy too!
Easy Tips and Techniques Using Edible Flowers for Garnish
Stratgic Placement (or Not)
There are no set rules about how to garnish your food.It is very much an artistic expression which enhances the experience of the person receiving your dish. Sometimes a strategically placed single flower on the top or on the side is enough. Less can be more and will provide a greater impact.
Contrast Creation
Take notice of color and texture of the food and create an interesting contrast with your garnishing flowers. Use brightly colored petals against less colorful dishes. Delicate colored flowers look great with rich, creamy dishes, like soft pink chives with a creamy carbonara.
Using larger bright petals in a salad creates a wonderful contrast with the rest of the salad ingredients. Try nasturtiums (which can be whole or deconstructed), tulip petals, daylily petals or sunflower petals.
Texture Variation
Experiment with different textures by incorporating a variety of preserved edible flowers for texture variation. Use dried or freeze dried flowers or petals, both of which can look stunning.
Flavor Pairings
Be careful with some flower flavours!
Flowers from the Allium family, such as chive flowers, society garlic and garlic chives have a strong oniony flavour, and so are better in savoury dishes. They are excellent in salads, pasta dishes, potato salad, and stir fries.
Selecting the Best Edible Flowers for Savory Dishes
Here are a couple of suggestions to get you going but you can honestly use whatever edible flowers you have available, to decorate something coming out of your kitchen!
Bright and Bold Flowers to Use in Salads
A salad these days is probably one of the most versatile and diverse dishes you can make. Anything goes in a salad if you are consistent with the look and flavours you are wanting to create.
It’s no longer the standard green leaves, a slice or two of cucumber and some tomato! You can add all sorts of fruit, nuts, leaves, and even edible flowers for salads!
Make a colourful statement by adding tulip petals to your salad and mix in with the salad leaves. You can use daylilies, rose petals or sunflower petals in the same way.
Try putting some nasturtium flowers in your next salad, and include some of the leaves for an extra peppery taste. The contrast in shape and texture of the leaf will add an interesting dimension.
Click here to find out all you need to know about nasturtiums and how to use them.
Chicory flowers with their bright cheerful blue color will also make a good salad ingredient giving it a bitter herby flavour.
Salvias are also great in salads. Pineapple salvia is quite fruity, and the blue salvia is spicier. So, depending on what type of salad you’re making you can add in a few of these to add some bright colours.
Borage with its subtle cucumber flavour and calendulas also will brighten up a salad.
Rosemary or parsley flowers are paired well with roast pumpkin salads.
Marigolds and chive flowers will compliment potato and cous cous dishes.
I often let part of my herb garden go to flower so that I can use them to add both flavour and a delightful floral garnish to savoury plates.
Flavorsome Flowers to Use in Pasta Dishes
Add an extra sprinkle of colour to a pasta dish by putting some bright marigold, calendula petals over the top. These flowers are slightly spicy and have a subtle pungent flavor which goes well with most savory dishes. The centers of these flowers can be bitter, so pull off and use the petals only. If the intention is to use the edible flower for garnish only, then you can use the whole flower.
You can also use pink chive flowers or society garlic. The aromatic flavours will add something subtly different to the flavour depending on what type of pasta dish you’ve created.
Subtle Flavored Flowers for Fish Dishes
Begonia flowers can be used in fish dishes as they have a soft lemony soft crunch which is subtle and goes really well with white fish.
Angelica, with its soft celery like flavor is good paired with fish too.
Ginger, both Galangal and Torch compliment fish dishes nicely.
Extravagant Stuffed Flowers for Finger Food
These snacks are one of my favorites! People don’t expect to have stuffed flowers as entrees, or snacks! Most of the time many are not aware that these flowers are even edible!
Daylilies have a fresh, crisp iceberg lettuce type flavour and make a fun and unusual hors d’oeuvres.
Snip off the stamens from the centre of the flower and stuff with herbed whipped cream cheese.
You can use the same recipe to fill Nasturtiums, Chinese Lanterns, Holly Hocks or Gladioli. Simply delicious and they look fabulous.
Or for a sweet delicacy you can stuff the centres with a sweetened mascarpone and cream cheese mix.
Decorate sandwiches by putting some small flowers on the top of sandwiches such as violas, borage or star like pentas clusters. Or decorate a platter with bright blue star like borage flowers. Borage has a subtle cucumber flavor so will be very good with cucumber sandwiches!
Elegant Flowers for Hors d'oeurvres
Look what a difference a little cleverly placed flower will make to the overall appearance of a small hors d’oeurvre or appetizer.
Your food will get a reputation for being classy and innovative!
Fuchsia flowers are particularly stunning and come in a variety of colours. They have a beauty that will enhance any simple looking dish.
Pick a flower that compliments the dish in both flavour and colour.
Decadent Flowers for Cheese Platters and Charcuterie Boards
Cosmos, with its wonderfully decadent bright pink petals, brings an eye catching addition to a cheese platter. The whole flower makes a statement when used as a garnish, and the feathery leaf looks fabulous as a plating garnish.
Butterfly Pea flowers are fabulous as garnishes. They have a pea like flavor and the most stunning bright blue color which makes a platter look so much more interesting.
Small Pretty Flowers for Canapes
Try doing some canapes with edible flowers for garnish, such as a cracker with cream cheese and topped with a small flower. Use flowers such as dianthus, begonia, chamomile or Mexican tarragon or cornflower petals.
Creating Joyful Desserts with Edible Flowers
Pretty edible flowers come into their own with desserts and cakes. The joy of using edible flowers for cakes is undeniable. Studies are also showing that flowers have a tremendous positive effect on our mental state and wellbeing. I will vouch for that!
Many flowers don’t have a strong flavour and so can be used with most dessert dishes. Obviously, those with a strong flavour such as chive, society garlic, and many herbs would not compliment the dessert. So, steer clear of these strong flavours more associated with savoury plates.
Make Ice Cream and Fruit Salad Look Joyful Not Ordinary: Just Add Flowers!
Dessert dishes, such as the simple ice cream scoop can be glamourized and made appealing by the addition of a couple of small petals or flowers.
A scoop of boring ice cream suddenly becomes special and different by dropping in a little crucifix orchid, or a pelargonium flower, or some extravagant looking fuchsias.
Little violas make a delightful addition to fruit salad. Also pentas, and wishbone flowers (Torenia fournieri).
Bee Balm, with its bright scarlet petals will make a plain looking pannecotta look exciting and interesting. Simply sprinkle some petals over the top. Or add it to a fruit salad. It goes particularly well with water melon and strawberries
Delightful Flowers for Cheesecakes and Other Desserts
Decorate dessert plates of mousse, yogurt or cheesecakes with Pansies, snapdragons, cornflowers, impatiens, marigolds, and little miniature roses (which are one of my most favourites) are some flowers that I have in my garden. These are fabulous on cakes and desserts.
Flowers with sweet nectar such as honeysuckle work well with desserts too.
Get Creative and Make Some Edible Art!
If you’re entertaining, doing some simple edible art will get a wow factor reaction from your guests!
- Spread cream cheese onto a flat surface and then sprinkle and arrange your herbs and edible flowers.
Your guests are then faced with this gorgeous unusual sight of a meadow like scene on a platter which they can spread onto herbed bread or gourmet crackers.
- Try making a Focaccia Garden. These can be very beautiful, although the baking of the flowers kills the intensity of the colours.
You can maintain the colours by creating your garden scene just after taking the baked focaccia out of the oven.
Where to Buy Edible Flowers for Garnishing
Many organic edible flower growers take online orders, some of which can be found on this guide to organic edible flower growers in Australia.
If you can’t grow your own edible flowers for garnishing, then there are several places you can look. Your local farmers markets may have a supplier or often a local independent grocer will sell punnets of locally grown edible flowers. Also Instagram can be a good place to source growers.
Master the Art of Garnishing with Edible Flowers
Using edible flowers for garnish is a simple yet elegant way to make your cooking kitchen creations look first class and truly exciting.
By carefully selecting, and incorporating edible flowers into your dishes, you can transform any meal into a visual masterpiece bursting with anticipation and joy. So, embrace creativity, experiment with different techniques, and let your dishes impress and come alive with the joy of edible flowers for garnish!