spring Archives

I love adding unexpected flavours like herbs and flowers to desserts. Rosemary chocolate cake, bay leaf custard, basil ice cream, lavender muffins, the list goes on. There’s something special about the combination of garden bounty with rich desserts that reminds me of my home on Vancouver Island, and it’s deep hippie roots. These little wholegrain shortbreads are just the type of thing you’d see in any gulf island farmers market or hippie dippy wholegrain cafe. They are rich and “buttery” (use equal amounts of dairy butter if desired), and melt in your mouth. For best results when using vegan (dairy free) butter, look for brands like Miyoko’s or ones that aren’t made out of palm shortening (which besides being environmentally unfriendly, leave for greasy cookies).

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Now that spring is in the air (at least here in Vancouver), my mind is turning to the garden. One of my favourite things to do this time of year is start planning what veggies to grow and what flowers to plant, especially the edible varieties. In and amongst the kale plants and squash, I always love to grow a good supply to edible flowers to use as simple, yet impressive garnishes for cakes and pies, as or flavouring for my spring and summer baking. These are a few of my favourites and how to use them!

How to come by edible flowers

Try to find flowers that have been grown without the use of pesticides – that is, don’t use those roses you buy at the grocery store to flavour your baklava. Instead, look for edible varieties at local farmers markets, the herb section of the grocery store, or grow them yourselves. There can be confusion and miss identification for those unfamiliar with edible flowers, so I suggest talking to your local farmer to confirm that the flowers are edible, or buy seeds sold as edible flowers and grow them alongside your herbs and other veggies, and away from toxic flowers….