Edible Flowers – Crystallizing Primroses for Cakes and Desserts

Though most people think of flowers as ornaments for the home or garden, many of them are in fact edible. Lavender buds can be pressed into cookies, the essence of roses is used to make Turkish Delight, and Nasturtiums brighten up a summer salad with their peppery orange blossoms. There are dozens of edible flowers to choose from and when used fresh they add a beautiful and colourful element to both sweet and savoury dishes. But if you’d like to preserve the flowers for longer, one of the prettiest ways to do so is to crystallise them in sugar.

Primroses are one of the most common and beautiful spring flowers and they also happen to fall into the edible category. Though personally I don’t think they taste like much on their own, when coated with sugar they transform into a beautifully sweet and natural decoration that can be used on desserts and cakes.

Primroses are low-growing plants with rough, tongue-like leaves. The colour of the flowers may vary but they’ll likely be a creamy yellow with a darker yellow centre if you find them growing wild in the countryside. You may well have them growing in your garden as well and in that case they can be pink, purple, white, or a range of other colours. All colours of primrose are edible.

4. Once hardened, use the flowers to decorate cakes, cupcakes, and desserts. You can also crystalise Primroses well in advance since they can last for up to a year if stored in a dark, dry place. These flowers are also so pretty that they’re perfect for decorating a spring cake or even being packaged up in tissue paper and given to a friend as a gift.