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Lady Violette

The Romantic Lifestyle

Posts Tagged ‘Edible Flowers’

Violet Ice Cream Recipe! A Lady Violette Dream Desert

Saturday, April 7th, 2012

Violet Ice Cream ~ A Lady Violette Dream Desert

I am dedicated to all things Violet and sharing them and found this Recipe for Violet Ice Cream  on Meera Freeman’s blog yesterday. I’m trying to get organized to make it this weekend. I literally have thousands of violets blooming in my yard. They are scattered throughout the grass as well as the flower beds which is alright with me!

Here is what she says:

After quite a bit of thought and fiddling around, I finally came up with a violet ice-cream recipe.  Not too much colour… very subtle flavour, most of it coming as an after-taste, like most perfumes  (think truffle, jasmine… an ethereal waft that floats between the nostrils and the tip of your tongue).

Violet Ice-cream

4 egg yolks
135g sugar
400 ml full cream milk
100 ml heavy cream, chilled
1 tbsp Monin violet syrup
1 tbsp violet liqueur (Creme de Violettes)
2 drops pink food colouring
2 drops blue food colouring

Heat the milk with half the sugar taking care not to let it boil.
Beat the yolks with the remaining sugar until the mixture is thick and white.
Slowly pour the heated milk over the yolk mixture, beating well.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and simmer, whisking continuously, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon.
Make sure it doesn’t boil.  If you have a candy thermometer, the temperature of the mixture should reach 85°C.  Remove from the heat immediately. Stir well and add the chilled cream. Flavour with the violet syrup and liqueur and tint with the food colouring.
Cool completely and churn in an ice-cream churn.
Garnish with fresh or crystallised violets.

This is almost a frozen Violette Cocktail as it is flavored with violet liquor! It sounds so delicious!

I am grateful to Meera Freeman who is a cooking teacher and cookbook writer and photographer for coming up with this elegant recipe as it  sounds pretty grand to me! Thanks Meera!

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Beautiful Violet Cocktail ~ A Toast to the First Day of Spring!

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

A Beautiful Lady Violette Cocktail Garnished with an Edible Pansy

I love garnishing things with flowers – in fact I eat flowers every day, really! You can decorate anything you want to eat or drink with an edible flower.

I propose a toast to spring with a flower cocktail. Today is the first day!

Why not give a welcoming spring cocktail party ~ for a chance to wear your vintage clothes and gloves and enjoy some flowery drinks!

You can garnish any cocktail with a flower or make up one of the popular ones using floral liquors such as Creme de Violet or Parfait Amour.

 

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Lavender in Cocktails – Herbs and Spices in the Cocktail Mixology

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

If you enjoy using herbs and flowers, as I do, in cocktails, I highly recommend this book, Herbs and Spices in Cocktail Mixology by bartender Humberto Marques, whose Paulita Cocktail Recipe I shared yesterday.

Lavender Herb Photograph

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Recipe for the Divine Paulista Cocktail Using Lavender Syrup & Blueberries ~ Lady Violette Approved!

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

I’m always on the lookout for cocktail recipes using lavender or violets. This one, the Paulista , created by Humberto Marques, who tends bar at Oloruso in Edinburgh, Scotland is great!Paulista Cocktail - Humberto Marques - Oloroso, Edinburgh Scotland

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A Good Looking & Thorough Candied Violet Tutorial & a Recipe for a Feminine Rose Shaped Lemon Poppyseed Cake Garnished with Real Violets

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Sweet Candied Violets & Lemon Poppyseed Cake Done in a Rose Shaped Cake Mold! A True Example of The Feminine Arts!

I have found this tutorial for crystallized violets which looks very complete! Complete with a pretty cake recipe decorated with the lovely little real flowers. The writer, Diane Levinson, on her blog 2 Stews suggests it for Mother’s Day which is a very good idea! I must read everything she has written on food as it looks fascinating! Another good discovery dug up when resourcing how to sugar violets. Plant hunting pays off! I include looking for ways to eat edible flowers and collecting recipes for cooking with them as a sub category of plant hunting!

Personally I don’t always like cakes covered with thick sugary frosting and this manner of decorating looks like a pretty tasty alternative. Lower in calories too! This is an old fashioned homemade looking cake which is also appealing in it’s way! It seems to go with the old fashioned flower itself. I’m going to try it! It looks like a sweet blend of the feminine arts of baking and flower preserving and decorating. It is baked in a rose shaped cake mold as well. That actually makes it a rose violet cake! Just adorable! Merci Diane for sharing your recipe, methods for preparing sugared violets and great photos! Sweet Candied Violets and Lemon Poppyseed Cake .

Step One: Diane preparing to sugar the violet flowers!

Diane has beautiful step by step instructions with photos illustrating the making of sugared violets. These were the best instructions I found on the web for making them! I recommend them. I have made them before and she does a very nice job showing the steps and the patience involved!

Her explanations are complete, detailed and beautifully photographed. Lady Violette de Courcy approves! I love good photographs! This little bouquet has me smelling the scent of violets in my office. It is very cold outside where I am, in Seattle, WA and this has cheered me up today! When I see violets blooming even though it is nearly freezing out I know that spring is in the air! There is hope! It will eventually get warmer!

 

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