How to Make Candied Edible Flowers

Candied flowers are great decorations because they’re easy to make, and you can store them for quite a long time. To make candied flowers, just paint the flowers with a little egg white, dip them in sugar, and let them dry. It’s really that easy!

Which flowers are edible?

There are quite a few different types of flowers that are edible, but for desserts I usually try to stick to flowers that have a milder flavor. You can find books about edible flowers or check a trusted online source to find out which flowers you can eat. In the video below I’m candying “johnny jump up” violas and some pink dianthus.

If you’re wondering where to get edible flowers, you can sometimes find them at specialty grocery stores or farmers markets. Or you can do what I do and grow them yourself! Most of the edible flowers I know of are really easy to grow so I think it’s a win-win; you get pretty flowers outside and pretty flowers for cake decorating.

And just a side note/disclaimer here, it’s really important that you know the flowers you have are actually edible, so please just make sure you do your research. ALSO don’t ever put flowers from the grocery store or the florist on your cakes, because they’re almost always treated with pesticides that aren’t food safe. 

Another reason I like to grow my own flowers, that way I know exactly what’s on them!

Preparation to candy flowers

Wash the flowers

Once you have your edible flowers, you’ll want to give them a good wash. Put your flowers in a bowl with a little splash of white vinegar and then cover them with cold water. Let the flowers soak for 20-30 minutes like this, then drain the flowers and lay them out on a towel to dry.

Candying whole flowers vs. petals

Depending on the type of flowers you have, you may want to candy them whole or you may want to pull them apart and candy individual petals.

Small flowers like these violets are fairly flat and don’t have much of a center, so I like to leave them whole.

These dianthus are a bit bigger and I don’t really want this middle part where they connect, so I like to pull them apart and candy each individual petal.

Supplies

Egg Whites

To attach the sugar to your flowers it’s typical to use some form of egg white. This could be fresh egg white, a little bit of meringue powder mixed with water, or pasteurized egg whites in a carton.

Whichever type of egg white you decide to use, you only need a tablespoon or two. If you use fresh egg white, whisk it a bit to break the egg white up.

Sugar

You’ll also need a little bit of sugar. You can use regular granulated sugar, but this is also a good time to use superfine or caster sugar, since the smaller granules make a thinner coating on the flowers.

Tools

You’ll need a small paintbrush and a tray lined with parchment or wax paper. I also like to have an extra plate to work on as well as tweezers to hold the flowers.

How to candy/crystallize edible flowers

Once you’ve gatherd your supplies, the first step is to whisk up your egg whites a bit. You want them to be broken up enough that they’re easy to paint with. If you used meringue powder just mix it with water until the powder dissolves.

Now the basic process is coat your flower in egg white, then in sugar. You only want a very thin layer of egg white, but you do want to make sure you get every petal coated. So what I like to do is dip the whole flower into the egg white, then use my paint brush to wipe away all the excess.

Then I use a similar technique for the sugar. I like to dip the whole flower into the sugar, swirl it around a bit to make sure it’s well coated, then tap away the excess sugar. If you see any clumps of sugar, make sure to scrape those away.

Then set the flower on your tray to dry, and that’s it!

It might seem a little tedious, but if you get an assembly line going, the whole process actually goes pretty quickly. Instead of doing just one flower at a time, dip them all in the eggs, then all in the sugar, so on and so forth.

After all your flowers are sugared and set out, the final step is to let the flowers sit out until they dry completely. I usually let them sit out overnight.

How long do candied/crystallized flowers last?

Once the flowers are completely dry, you can move them to a container and they’ll keep for months, as long as they stay dry. You can have them ready to go any time you want to fancy up a dessert!

How do you use candied edible flowers?

Candied flowers are really versatile decorations, they look good on just about any dessert. Try using them on cakes, cupcakes and sugar cookies. You could even jazz up some cream puffs or fancy donuts!

If you’re looking for a little varitety, this method also works well on herbs like mint and basil.