Candied edible flowers without egg white!

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake (see my recipe!) with candied cosmos, blue porterweed, pentas & mint leaves

I finally experimented again using meringue powder in place of raw egg white, and vodka instead of water. It was a success!

1. Using vodka instead of water greatly speeds up the drying process, and the alcohol evaporates, so you don't taste it. i realize this may disappoint some. ;-)​
2. Meringue powder can be found online and in cooking/baking/craft stores.
3. superfine sugar works better than regular granulated sugar because it's lighter weight and flower won't collapse. it's not sold in many stores, but i found it in Publix here in Florida, and hear it's also sold in Walmart. You can also make your own putting regular granulated sugar in a food processor.
4. flowers dry better on a drying rack, which allows air flow on all sides. Coat lightly with vegetable oil so they don't stick.
5. For larger flowers, use the petals only, as the stems, stamen/pistil (flower center) and sepals (on underside) can taste bitter.
6. The cake pictured here is my Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

​Make sure you use flowers that are safe to eat! Not all flowers and leaves are edible. Please do your research before feeding plants to anyone. :-) They should be organic/ and pesticide-free. 
The seeds I use are mainly from Botanical Interests. They have a lot of edible and organic varieties. 

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tools:

• sheet pan with drying rack coated with vegetable oil (I use EVOO).
• a food-safe, super-soft paintbrush
• tweezers

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ingredients:

• 1-2 dozen freshly-picked, edible pesticide-free flowers or herb leaves
• superfine sugar. if you don't have any, process granulated sugar in the food processor.
• 1 tsp meringue powder
• 1 Tbsp vodka, room temperature

method:

1. mix meringue powder and vodka.
2. paint a thin layer of the solution on all sides of the flower/leaf. with sturdier blossoms,  you can dip the blossom into the solution, and gently shook off the excess. this seems to have worked, but caused more delicate petals to collapse. Noelle Carter recommends using a spray bottle, which i plan to try sometime.
3. sprinkle all sides of the flower completely with sugar. 
4. Place on the prepared drying rack.
5. Sprinkle with more sugar, but do not try to pick up or more flowers, as they are delicate while wet.
6. Air dry for 12-24 hours, until hardened.
7. Once dry, carefully snip off the stems and remove sepals (green parts on the back of the flowers) 
8. use as edible decorations!
9. store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature, in a cool dark place. Some flowers can last this way for several weeks. Shelf life varies.