Spring and summer are the best seasons for gathering edible flowers and herbs for your soups, salads and desserts! We used edible flowers and herbs courtesy of Woolly Goat Farm and the Ginger and Baker Farm – violets, pansies, violet mustard flowers, pink geranium, arugula flowers, chocolate mint, lemon balm, nanking cherry blossoms, corn flowers, chrysanthemums, pea tendrils, lavender, heather flowers and grape hyacinth. Make sure to use organic flowers and herbs, which haven’t been treated with pesticides. (originally published on May 25, 2019)
Candied Flowers
Whisk together 1 egg white* plus 1 teaspoon water. Use a small paintbrush to coat the flowers and herbs with egg mixture, then sprinkle with granulated sugar and shake off excess. Allow to dry for at least an hour and then garnish your desserts!
*If preferred, pasteurized egg whites are available in the egg section at most grocery stores.
Chocolate Almond Tart
1 par baked tart shell (recipe below)
Almond Cream
- ¼ cup almond flour, toasted
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread almond flour on a baking sheet and toast to a medium golden brown color. Allow to cool completely before using.
In a Kitchenaid bowl fitted with paddle attachment, mix softened butter, almond flour, sugar and salt. Mix until homogenous. Stream in eggs and mix to form a loose paste. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottle of bowl often. Do not overmix! This will cause the mixture to break and separate. Toasting the almond flour too dark will also cause the mixture to separate. By toasting the flour you are baking off some of the moisture, leaving only the almond meal and essential oils. Mixing a fat (butter) with more fat (oil from almonds) creates an unstable mixture that will separate easily.
Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 pound dark chocolate (72%)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate and salt. Stir until a homogenous emulsion forms.
To assemble tart: Fill the par baked tart shell ¾ of the way with almond cream. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until the almond cream is set and golden brown.
Allow to cool completely. Pour ganache over top of baked almond cream and allow to set in refrigerator. Garnish with whipped cream and candied flowers and herbs from the garden.
Tart Dough
- 1 pound butter, room temp
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups cake flour
Cream together butter, salt and powdered sugar. Slowly mix in eggs till homogeneous. Mix in flours on low speed until just combined. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour before using.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough out thinly and line a 9-inch fluted tart pan with dough. Par bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes or until golden in color.
