By Liz Knight, Herefordshire Forager, founder of Forage Fine Foods, UK
Freezing edible flowers does affect the cell structure of most flowers & when they thaw. They will be more limp than freshly plucked flowers so don’t freeze them if you’re wanting to use them for their look or as a garnish. Freezing most flowers is about flavour rather than prettiness – if you want garnish out of season, then candy or dry flowers.
- Fruit Blossoms: Cherries, blackthorn & wild plums – fruity, hints of the potential fruit hide behind an initial almond hit. From bright pink blossoms to powder pink blousy blooms try them all.
Cherry blossoms are salted & turned into Sakura in Japan, with good reason, salted cherry blossom is stunning. Or try using the blossoms with a syrup made from rowan buds for a celebration of cyanide potential flavours…
Frozen jars of bullace, blackthorn & damson blossom will seal in their overwhelmingly almond, floral scent until you need them – hold onto a packed jar until your sloes are ready to use & add them to epine (blackthorn leaf) & sloe gin based cocktails.
- Fruit Blossom: apple, quince, medlar. Nibble on different varieties of apple blossom & you’ll find a different character hiding in each tree – theses flowers taste of what is to come, you can sprinkle them from frozen into drinks & leave to infuse before chilling with ice. I also pack the blossoms into ice cube trays & fill with water, dissolving them & the flavoured water into cocktails.
