Recipes Featuring the Common Blue Violet ~ Viola Sororia

Not only are wild violets the host plant for a butterfly like creature called a fritillary and they are edible.  There are so many reasons to keep this plant growing in your lawn and gardens if you find it popping up. I’ve gathered a few of my favorite recipes that you are going to want to pin!

 

Violet Sugar

You can flavor sugar to use in recipes as a substitute for granulated sugar with any of your favorite edible flowers.  Dandelions are my current favorite flower to make sugar out of.  I love the buttery yellow color of the sugar and the slight earthy taste it imparts.

Some edible flowers include: Pansies and Violas, Chamomile, Lavendar, Lilac, Calendula, Roses

I like to use a 2:1 ratio. For however much the recipe calls for, I grab half that in flowers. For example, my last recipe used ½ cup of granulated sugar.  I picked and plucked enough dandelion petals to fill ¼ cup.  You can certainly use more but any less really wouldn’t have any impact.

NOTE: Always forage in a place you know is safe from sprays and animals.  I love to forage in my own backyard where I know pesticides and herbicides have not been used.  Feel free to rinse and dry any florals before proceeding with the recipe.

 

Ingredients

Edible floral petals

Granulated Sugar 

Directions

1. Remove petals from the base and any green parts.  You can do this by plucking, gently twisting or using a knife.
2. Measure and add sugar and flower petals to a food processor.  Blend until thoroughly mixed.
3. Pour sugar until a baking sheet and bake at your oven’s lowest temperature fir 20-30 mins.  It’s typically around 170 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove and allow to cool completely.
4. If you have any clumps you can gently break them apart with the back of a spoon.
5. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place.

 

 

Dandelion and Violet Shortbread

A crumbly buttery cookie perfect for any spring event.  Floral sugar elevates these cookies ever so slighlty and is a perfect conversation starter.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup floral sugar (I used dandelions)

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Violet petals

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Add the butter and floral sugar to a food processor until creamed. 
3. Add the vanilla extract and slowly add flour ½ cup at a time.  Dough will be thick.
4. Remove the dough and place on lightly floured surface.  Roll out until approximately ¼-1/3   inch thick.  Using your favorite 2 inch cutter, cut out cookies and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes until they are just turning golden on the edges.  Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet.  These are a very crumbly cookie and will fall apart if you attempt to move them while hot.  Press whole violets or petals of the flowers on the cookies as they cool.
6. Store cookies in an airtight container.

*If you cannot bake the dough immediately you can roll the dough into a log and wrap tightly with plastic or beewax wrap.  Refrigerate until ready to bake.  You will need to allow the dough to warm up to room temperature before slicing the cookies and baking as normal.

 

Violet Syrup

Making a violet infusion is an easy and fun way to make a colorful sweetened syrup to add to lemonade and kombucha.

Ingredients

Fresh picked violets

Granulated Sugar

Directions

1. Pick enough violets to fill a quart mason jar.  It’s ok to leave the little calyx or green part of the violet on the end but remove as much stem as possible. 
2. Boil water and pour to the top of the violets covering them all.  Gently stir and leave your infusion in a cool dark place for 24 hours.  You can give it a shake every once in a while.
3. Strain the liquid with a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into another mason jar. 
4. From here you can either make a syrup or use unsweetened.
5. To make a syrup, measure the amount of violet liquid you’ve made into a small saucepan.  The ratio for sugar is 1:2. So if you have 2 cups of violet liquid you’ll want one cup of sugar. You can certainly make this less sweet if needed. 
6. Stir gently as you bring to a boil making sure all sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.  Store in a refrigerator and use within a few days.

 

Violet Lemonade

This is a new favorite in our house.  My children love to pick the violets and when it's time to pour the syrup they are mystified by the chemical reaction of the violet syrup and lemons. 

Ingredients

6 cups water

1-2 cups violet syrup (we don’t do much sugar around here so we always err on the less side, but you may find 1 cup of syrup too tart)

4 large lemons

Directions

1. Pour 6 cups of cold water into a large pitcher
2. Squeeze the juice of 4 large lemons into the water and stir well.
3. Slowly pour the violet lemonade into the lemon water and watch the magic happen!
4. Serve over ice and feel free to add lemon slices and fresh picked violets to garnish!

 

How does it turn Purple? Science behind the magic...

Violet lemonade is really a magical drink.  You’d never guess when you mix the blue violet syrup with the yellow lemonade you get PURPLE!

Violets are a natural pH indicator. Do you remember testing pH in high school science with little strips?  Or maybe you’ve tested the pH of pool water. 

pH is a scale that measures how acidic or basic a substance is.  Acidic substances like lemon, vinegar rate lower on the scale.  Basic items like baking soda and bleach rate higher.

Violets are sensitive to pH balance and are natural pH indicators.  When you make violet syrup and add it to different liquids, it will indicate the pH of that liquid!

 I have the best glasses for serving violet lemonade.  Check them out here!