Crystallized pansy forms part of a three-course mean in some fine establishments. It’s often used to garnish food presentation for the maximum palate of fresh herbal flavor. A pansy is a type of large-flowered hybrid plant with fabulous color combinations of blue, purple, yellow, orange, violet, rose and lavender. It is among the popular edible flowers used for various cuisine application such as Chamomile, Cornflower, Fuchsia, Lavender, Marigold, Gladiolus among others. All these flowers are safe for human consumption, so they are not just any type of flowers.
Most crystallized flowers are not only good for food presentation and garnishing, they also provide health benefits for medical purposes. An example is Nasturtiums Tropaeolum Majus.
So how does one sugar flowers?
1. Pick Edible Flowers
The first step is to choose edible flowers with thin petals like the pansy flower or cherry blossoms, they are easy to sugar. However, there are other options you can go for, like the ones mentioned above. Ensure you pick your flowers in the morning to reduces chances of wilting and never use flowers that have come in contact with pesticides, it’s advisable that you either buy grow your own flowers or buy from trusted vendors.
2.Trim the flowers
Here, remove any unwanted element from the flower such as dirt or insects. Then, trim off the sharp stems and remove the stamens, you can use tweezers or scissors. Wash and place them in warm areas away from direct sunlight. But if you don’t want to use a full flower, then you can opt to tug apart individual petals and sugar them separately.
3. Apply the egg
Before this, you’d have beat at least one egg, depending on the number or size of flower petals you have. Using a pair of tweezers, hold the edge of the petal carefully, and tenderly apply using a brush, a food brush.
4. Spatter sugar over petals
Before the egg dries up, sprinkle superfine sugar all over the flower and your crystallized pansy or any other flower that you used should be ready for serving. Hold the flower gently, and tap its surface to remove excess sugar granules.
Crystallized pansy like other edible flowers is suitable for cakes and souffles. What a gift to share with your guests or loved ones! You can choose to prepare this early in advance before an occasion, or some few hours to that event. All you need to do is to dry the crystallized flower in order to preserve their natural charming beauty.