Making your own candied violets is easy and fun. The finished violets are sweet and crunchy with a faint, delicious floral scent. They look beautiful on cakes and cupcakes or garnishing anything from mini tarts and parfaits to your fruit and cheese board. And the magic ingredient that makes the sugar stick to the flower? Egg white! Even better if it’s an egg from your own hens. This method works on all edible flowers.

You’ll need:

wild violets – I generally do ½ cup at a time
1 egg white (I put the yolk in a small dish, surrounded by kosher salt, to cure – see Salt Cured Egg Yolks)
fine tipped paintbrush
sugar or fine granulated sugar
tray covered with waxed or parchment paper

Wild violets grow in amazing amounts all around my farm. I collect them in a berry colander so I can easily give them a quick rinse before using them. Spring is my favorite season for foraging and violets are one of the first things I collect. Once you have about ½ a cup you can rinse them gently and lay them out on a towel to dry a bit. They refrigerate well in case you don’t have time to use them right away.

This rest of the process is not difficult but is definitely a bit time consuming. It’s a great time to listen to your favorite podcast episodes as you work!

Dip your paintbrush in the egg white and “paint” all surfaces of the violet. While it’s still wet, sprinkle sugar all over the violet and then set it on the tray to dry. Repeat until you have the desired amount of candied violets. Once they’re dry – usually in 24 hours – you can snip off the stems if they still have any and use them wherever you want a touch of color or sparkly sweetness. Enjoy!