Just add flower

Go wild in the kitchen with edible flowers that add colour and flavour to food and drinks. And they are a piece of cake to grow – ooh, cake!

From summery cocktails to fancy salads, edible flowers are having a real moment this year.

Their pretty, delicate petals are being used to garnish fruity drinks, while others are sprinkled into savoury dishes for their strong, peppery flavour.

The use of edible flowers in culinary exploits was once reserved for the chefs at fine-dining restaurants. But more and more people are starting to make use of them in their own cooking at home.

Whether you want to impress guests this summer or simply spice up your own dishes, edible flowers are an easy way to add some flair.

And you would be surprised by how many of them are already growing in your garden.

They tend to be easy to look after and are fantastic for adding splashes of colour to your beds, borders, pots or even window boxes, before being used as a beautiful garnish.

When choosing which edible flowers you want to use, it is important to double check that they are what you think they are – as some flowers can cause harm if ingested.

As a general rule, edible flowers should be used sparingly in cooking as they can sometimes have a very strong flavour.

If you plan to serve them to guests, take a little nibble yourself first to check how strong the flavour is.

You need to also make sure you rinse the flowers gently under cold water before you use them.

But picking flowers you have grown yourself is the best way to ensure they have not been sprayed with chemical controls such as insecticide that could obviously be harmful.

The often strong flavour of edible flowers makes it important to pair them correctly with food and drink.

Flowers with a sweeter, floral flavour are great in cocktails and baking, while aromatic, herby flavoured blooms are best reserved for salads and savouries.

Strawberry flowers, for example, deliver a mild strawberry taste in the form of pretty white and yellow cup-shaped flowers.

And a tall sprig of lavender makes a lovely purple perfumed addition to fruity drinks.

Elderflowers make a classic sweetly flavoured garnish, and rose and hollyhock petals can also be used to add a dramatic flourish and a lovely floral flavour, especially when crystallised and sprinkled on top of cakes.

Generally speaking, the more fragrant the rose, the better the taste. The deep lilac star-shaped flowers of borage bring a herbal flavour that is fantastic when frozen into ice cubes and used to decorate botanical gin and tonics, or a refreshing jug of cloudy lemonade.

Violas will bring a mild sweetness

A tall sprig of lavender is a lovely, perfumed addition to fruit drinks

and pretty embellishment to any kind of dish, from salads to sweet treats and even sandwiches.

The flowers of herbs such as rosemary can be a great, classic addition to chicken and lamb dishes but can also be used baked into bread and biscuits. And if you grow courgettes, squash or pumpkins, their large flowers can be cooked and stuffed and are perfect for adding colour to easy dishes such as omelettes and pasta.

In fact, many flowers from the vegetable garden can be used. Pea flowers are fantastic because they bring the subtle taste of young peas that is delicious in salads, as well as an accompaniment to fish.

The same can also be said for the blooms of broad beans and runner beans. Try your fennel flowers floating in potato soup for a wonderfully mild hint of anise.

The flowers from any citrus trees add a super twist to stirfries, where their strong, lemony flavour can be offset with a little spice.

And the bright blooms of nasturtium are well known for a peppery flavour that is often likened to watercress.

Use them as a spicy addition to salads and sandwiches – you can also sprinkle the petals of pot marigold for a similar effect.

No doubt you may be growing many of these plants in your garden already, so you can start adding them to your cooking immediately.

If not, they are all fairly common garden plants that are easy to grow and many of the smaller plants, such as violas, are perfect for containers.

So if your outside space is lacking, your culinary embellishments needn’t be. Ask for help at a garden centre if you aren’t sure which plants would be best for your garden.