Love on a plate for your Valentine
This Valentines Day double your chances of success with the adage ‘the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach’ and ‘say it with flowers’.
Edible flowers are having a moment. Organic foods behemoth Whole Foods has predicted these blooms will be one of the top food trends in 2018, with elderflower, rose and hibiscus poised to be more than just gorgeous garnishes in Instagram posts.
You could take this news with a pinch of fleur de sel (that’s fancy flaky sea salt to the non-culinary minded), but if you’re looking for a novel way to say it with flowers this Valentines Day, edible blossoms could be the answer.
Unless you want to risk inadvertently making your beloved sick, it’s a good idea to proceed with caution. Avoid poisonous agapanthus and oleander and opt for spray-free edible flowers such as borage, calendula, camomile, dandelions, day lilies, carnations, lavender, roses, pansies, violets or violas.
Whatever you choose, wash the blooms gently but thoroughly (seeing a tiny caterpillar or spider crawl across a dish is a guaranteed passion-killer) and try to pick them from pet-free zones. If all else fails, gather the flowers into a posy and take your beloved out for coffee instead. It’s the little things that count, right?
Calendula and orange baby cakes with honey cream icing
Makes 10 little cakes Preparation time:
15 minutes Cooking time:
15-20 minutes
Calendula, also known as pot marigold, is a faithful companion plant that attracts all manner of pest insects away from your precious vegetable plants.
Its vibrant golden-orange petals have a strong aroma and a slightly bitter flavour that has earned it a reputation for being ‘‘poor man’s saffron’’. The petals add little flecks of colour and a very subtle flavour to these tender little cakes.
For the cakes:
❚ 100g unsalted butter, softened, plus a little extra for greasing the tins
❚ 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
❚ 2 free range eggs
❚ 2⁄3 cup (70g) ground almonds
❚ 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
❚ Finely grated zest of a small orange
❚ 1⁄4 cup calendula petals
❚ 3⁄4 cup plain flour (can use glutenfree flour) ❚ 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the honey cream icing:
❚ 150g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
❚ 2 generous tablespoons honey
❚ More calendula flowers, for garnishing
Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease 10 holes of a muffin tin with butter and lightly dust with flour.
Beat the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, with a small spoonful of ground almonds (this will stop the mixture from curdling) and beat well after each addition.
Beat in the remaining ground almonds, orange flower water, orange zest and calendula petals. Sift over the flour and baking powder and fold together until smooth.
Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins and lightly smooth the tops.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cakes are golden and just cooked through. Let cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then gently remove to a rack to cool completely.
When you’re ready to ice the cakes, put the cream cheese and honey in a small bowl and beat together until smooth and fluffy (this is easiest with electric beaters, but a wooden spoon and some elbow grease works just as well).
Dollop the icing on to the cold cakes and decorate with calendula petals. Store in a covered container in a cool place for up to two days.
Apricots with blue cheese and borage flowers
Makes 12-16 stuffed apricot halves, serves 4-8 as a canape or as part of a cheese platter Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: nil
In relationship terms, borage is the person you date once and then can’t ever get rid of. While its pretty blue star-shaped flowers are gorgeous (and bees love them), it can take over your garden.
The only way to cope is to use as many of the cucumber flavoured flowers as you can – they look great in cocktails, salads, and on these apricot canapes.
❚ 6-8 ripe apricots, halved and stoned
❚ 1⁄3 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
❚ 50g blue cheese
❚ 1⁄3 cup walnut halves, roughly chopped
❚ 12-36 borage flowers
Put the apricot halves on a serving platter. Drop a few walnut pieces into each apricot cavity and set aside.
Put the cream cheese and blue cheese in a small bowl and mix well. Using two small spoons or a piping bag, mound this mixture into the apricot halves. Scatter over the remaining walnuts and as many borage flowers as your heart desires.
These are best made not long before serving, but can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to a day. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.
❚ More of Lucy’s recipes at thekitchenmaid.com. To see what she’s cooking on a daily basis, find her on Instagram or Facebook.