Roses Galore!

On my recent honey- moon, I was happy to come across lots of flower foods. In Greece, on the island of Rhodes, they make a lot of rose products. I brought several home. First, there's Rose Flavored Greek Delight. They are square jelly candies covered in powered sugar. They are incredible. The rose flavor is excellent, the texture is nice and the powered sugar add the perfect finishing touch. Next, there's "Rose Caramels." While I expected them to be rose flavored caramels, they're actually little rose flavored hard candies. Once again, they have a really nice rose flavor. I also got a rose product whose name I don't know. (The writing was all in Greek.) It's basically a really dense rose fudge that comes in a little tub. The flavor is really rosey. I also bought some rose jam which I didn't care for. It was very sweet and it didn't have a strong rose flavor. I prefer the rose jams from France. They also had lots of rose and rose-honey liqueurs which I didn't get since I already have some from France. It Italy, I found some more of the aforementioned rose cookies. I also got some "crema di rosa canina." I was rather disappointed. It tasted more like fruit than roses. Oh well.

Back at home, I was very excited to come across Langford Foods' Petals Shortbread. They come in three flavors: Lemon, Cranberry and Orange. Sadly, I was disappointed. The flowers are really just decorative and do not impart any flower flavor to the shortbread. The shortbread itself was very bland and natural tasting, not rich and buttery as shortbread should be. They also make a bark of grains, granola and petals.


Lastly, while searching the internet for flower foods, I came across Charssi spoon fudge in White Chocolate Rose and Chocolate Lavender. The white chocolate rose was somewhat disappointing. Although it had a nice flavor, I couldn't really taste any rose. The chocolate lavender however was amazing. It has a rich milk chocolate base with a wonderful lavender flavor. You can order them at http://www.charssi.com/.

I found a website for a store in France called that has the most incredible selection of flower foods. They have lots of sweets, such as white chocolate with rose or violet, nougat with rose or violet, flower jelly candies, jams, syrups, liqueurs and many other wonderful things. They also have flower recipes, but they're in French. I have not ordered anything yet (the shipping costs more than the products.) The site is: http://www.confiserieflorian.co.uk/

Orange Blossom Cream Ale

» Buffalo Bill Brewery brings to you this Orange Blossom Cream Ale. When I saw this at Ralph's (So Cal Supermarket chain) I could not resist, of course. And I don't even like beer. (With the exception of Ethiopia's Hakim Stout - the best brew I've ever had.)

It's actually not bad, even refreshing. It's hard for me to detect the orange blossom, though I can certainly taste the orange peel. It's sort of like a lite beer with and orange cream soda flavor.

Available at select supermarkets.

Bovetti White Chocolate with Violet Sugar

I've been waiting for another flower-related product to blog about! Funny, Miss Judy and I were just talking about some of her recent finds. (To be blogged about very soon I hope!)

Anyway, when I stopped by a local bakery to get a blended coffee thing, I spied some purplish candy out of the corner of my eye. (I think I have candy radar - cay-dar? Ok, lame.) There was a pretty display of imported chocolates and I zeroed in on the White Chocolate with Violet Sugar. Zing!

$8.50 for a candy bar is not cheap. It's a big candy bar, but still. Of course, I had to get it anyway. I mean, it's still cheaper than flying to France.

So, I'm kinda particular about my white chocolate. I'm not some white chocolate aficionado, but you know how sometimes white chocolate can have that weird artificial taste? Bovetti's white chocolate is pretty good, I think. I mean, it does have a strong, distinct white chocolate taste. But I felt that this taste overpowered the violet a bit. I know, violet can be so delicate, but I really want to taste the violet more than the white chocolate.

White chocolate should just be the vehicle for the violet flavor, IMHO.

» bovetti.com

Flowers Can Heal Too

Perhaps this is a very good example of the placebo effect but there's something about these elderflower-flavored pastilles that set me at ease. I'm not about to go into a long explanation of flower essences and how, according to some, they have healing properties because I'm sure I'll screw up some details. You can find a lot of info online and in books about this branch of homeopathy.

For these pastilles, please visit: » Bach Rescue Pastilles.

And I wanted to thank those who have commented on this blog! Regarding your questions about recipes, I can only, at the moment, refer to those that are listed in the right-side of the page. A lavender sugared-rim (on a Lavender Mojito, for example) is probably a mixture of fine sugar and dried lavender flowers...beyond that, I'm not sure! I haven't done a lot of experimenting lately, making candy and such. If anyone has any good links they'd like to share, please leave a comment. :)

Herb-Scented Summer Fruit Sorbet

How else can I convince myself that we're having a balmy summer?



Sorbet. Of course.

Herb-Scented Summer Fruit Sorbet

1 lb canteloupe, seeded, rind removed and cut into pieces
2 white peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into pieces
1 ataulfo mango, peeled, pitted and cut into pieces
2 T vodka*
1 T lemon juice

Syrup

1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. water
1 tea bag, chamomile flowers
1 tea bag, peppermint leaves

Optional Garnish
Candied flower petals (Shown: Lilacs) or fresh edible flowers

Mix sugar and water in a small pot. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat. Place tea bags in syrup. Let cool to room temperature. Move syrup to the refrigerator to chill. Remove tea bags.

In a food processor, add fruit, vodka and lemon juice. Puree until smooth.
Strain mixture into a large mixing bowl. Discard pulp. Stir in syrup. Pour this
mixture into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.

Scoop sorbet into an airtight plastic container and freeze for a couple of hours, until sorbet has firmed up a bit. Keep up to 1 week.

To Serve

If the sorbet has been in the freezer for several hours, let container thaw on counter for 5-10 minutes. Scoop into bowls and garnish with candied petals.

*Vodka is used to keep the sorbet from freezing too hard. This ingredient can be omitted.

Lavender Mojito

What could be more pleasurable than a spontaneous trip out to the wine country for dinner? How about a delightful flower-infused drink?

The Girl & the Fig -- probably the most adorable restaurant name EVER -- is a low-key, brasserie that has friendly service and good food. Located in Sonoma, you'll find Frenchy-inspired tartines, entrees and dessert.

I wasn't in the mood for wine (I know, I know - it's the WINE country, I get it!), or plain old water. What did my little eye spy on their lengthy list of libations? Lavender Mojito! I couldn't help but squeal just a little. It wasn't a hard decision to make.

Lavender and rose-infused simple syrup and a lovely lavender sugar rim are what make this drink so special. And yes, it was delicious!

Lots of Flowery Treats

This is a very nice rose-lavender tea made by Shonfelds. You can really taste both flowers. It comes in a pretty glass canister as well!

I came across this Valentine's day tea by Harney and Sons. It's chocolate with rose petals. The rose flavor is subtle, but overall the tea is quite good. Plus, it comes in a nice little tin.

On a now not so recent trip to England, I discovered some wonderful flower foods. First were these delicious Italian rose cookies: Biscotto Di Frolla Ricca alla rosa. They were rich butter cookies with a strong rose flavor. They were buttery, almost like shortbread. They were delicious!

While shopping the in oh-so-posh Harrods department store in London, I was very happy to discover that they had opened a location of the aforementioned Laduree in the store. After having a fancy rose pastry there, I took some violet tea home. The flavor is delicate, but nice.

Bi-Rite Creamery

If you live in SF, get your sweet little buns over to Bi-Rite Creamery, at 18th and Dolores, near the Park.

Have yourself a scoop each of the Honey Lavender and Chocolate ice creams. You won't be sorry. These frozen confections are so creamy and good, you won't notice that your hands have grown numb. (From the ice cream or the fog. Err, probably both.)


Even on a typical grey weekend day, you'll see a line out the door. For added enjoyment, take your scoops across the street and watch the dogs on their play-dates.

» Bi-Rite Creamery

Dry Lavender Soda

We spent a GORGEOUS day in Yountville this weekend, walking through the mustard flowers and dining at Bouchon. When inquiring about non-alcoholic beverages (I was drunk on the sunshine already), the waiter ticked off a list of ho-hum, been-there-done-that drinks until I heard the words "Dry Lavender Soda." If I were a cat, my ears would have perked up. Instead my bum bounced in its bistro-style seat and an "Ooo!" came out of my mouth.

I expected the lavender flavor to be stronger but as I sipped it, I found it's subtlety refreshing, especially on such a HOT March afternoon.

» Dry Soda.com

Cornmeal Violet Macaroons

I discovered » Chocolate & Zucchini sweetly by accidently last year, looking for recipes.

In short: this blog is written by Parisan Clotilde Dusoulier, an amazing and imaginative chef who is kind enough to share her witty banter and fabulous recipes.

Or they at least sound and look fabulous - I have yet to try out one but I plan to soon. How about » Macarons Maïs Violette?