Candied Violets & Pansies

A few days ago I went in search of violets since I knew I had a cake to bake for my friend Elena. One of the first cakes I remember as a child had white frosting and was decorated with candied violets and miniature carved wooden animals going around in a circle like a merry-go-round. When each child's slice was cut, they got a little wooden animal sitting on top! Since violets are in season, I decided I would candy as many as I could for future cakes.

Candied Violet Recipe Variations:

The simplest way to candy violets is to dip them into egg white, and then cover them with sugar. It's easier if you whip the egg whites a little, but then there's more of a clean-up. I just took the whole head of violet, and dunked it into the egg white while holding onto the base of the stem. Swirl the violet around until it's completely covered and swipe it out of the bowl to remove any excess. I used my pinky finger to reopen any petals that may have gotten closed. If you select violets that are in full bloom (as to partially closed), you can develop a technique of swiping so that the violet comes out completely open.

Have a bowl of sugar ready and use a spoon to pour the sugar over the entire violet flower. Snap off the stem and place to dry on a sheet of wax paper. Repeat with however many violets you have the patience for! It takes a good 24+ hours for them to dry before you can store them in an air-tight container in a cool dark place. If the flowers are still wet in a few places on the second day, you can sprinkle on more sugar before allowing them to continue drying. After storing, the colors will fade a little bit, but are nonetheless very pretty!

For Elena's cake I also made some candied pansies. I used paintbrush to paint on the eggwhite, working back to front before sprinkling them with tons of sugar. Medium-sized pansies that were just starting to wilt were the easiest to work with and produced the best results.