Do you know that some flowers do not just belong to your garden but also to your kitchen? The best example of these is freeze dried flowers. Freeze drying has become a popular phenomenon lately, however if dive deep in history, we will realize that it has existed for centuries.  So, what exactly are freeze dried flowers?

Freeze dried flowers are flowers whose vacuum has been slowly extracted from them. It all starts with fresh flowers that are flash frozen. After that they are loaded into a freeze drier and sealed for as long as 10 to 15 days. This helps the flowers preserve their original shape even when they are completely dried. In order to preserve the color of the flowers, chemical enhancements are also added with time. As a result, the flowers retain their flavor and beauty as if they are frozen in time.

These incredible freeze-dried flowers are, in fact, edible and can be used creatively in culinary delights.  So, lets get straight into it and explore some incredible ways you can use freeze-dried flowers to make the most out of your culinary treats.

Cake Decorations

If you are a sweet tooth and love baking cakes, edible flowers can be you go-to decoration. Gone are the days when piping cream was the only option to decorate a cake, now you can use colorful flowers to make your cakes look beautiful and one-of-a-kind. For best results, keep the flowers attached to their stems for as long as possible and store them in the fridge with their stems in water. When its time to decorate, cut the stem but leave a small part attached. Then stick the flowers into the frosting, making sure that the petals do not touch the frosting as they tend to wilt faster in this case. Don’t let the frosting set before you place the flowers otherwise it could become difficult for the flowers to sit in place.

Floral Taste

The best thing about edible freeze-dried flowers is that they do not only add visual appeal to your treats but can also add an incredible floral taste to them. Some of these tastes sweet like honey while others are more citrusy and spicier. You can add these flavors to your baked goods and other culinary treats using a few methods.

The most popular method is infusing the liquid in the recipe, e.g., milk, cream etc., with flowers. To do that put the edible flowers in the liquid and heat them gently and then let them sit in room temperature for a while. This will infuse the floral flavor in the liquid over time. Another way to do this is by chopping the flowers into fine pieces and then putting them in a food processor to create sugar-like texture. Use this sugar instead of regular sugar and give your treats a floral taste.

Baking Flowers

Now you know that freeze-dried flowers can be used as decorations and to add a floral flavor to your baked good, but did you know that you could directly bake them into your treats too? The process is very simple, all you need to do is decide when exactly in the baking process are you going to add the flower. For instance, if you are baking a flatbread, you need to wait until the bread is out of the oven to add flowers. While the bread is still hot, use your fingers to stick the flower into the bread and they will stick right into it due to the heat. Whereas, if you’re baking a shortbread, you can simply add the flower midway through baking.

Freeze drying has completely evolved the food industry. Freeze dried edible flowers are an amazing example of this. Check out 40 Below for some delicious freeze-dried munchies, snacks, fruits, flowers and much more.