Candied flowers - lilac

I remember as a child eating once some candied violets. I thought it was extraordinary to eat a real flower as a candy. 

I love lilac it's perfume is so enchanting to me, my only regret is the flowers don't last long enough and I have to wait another year.

So this week I decided to share with you a recipe of candied flowers.
The recipe is very simple but it takes a little time to be honest with you. But think of the reward of having pretty flowers decorating your desserts. It tastes good too.

You will need :

- Fresh lilac flowers 

( make sure no one used pesticides on them )

- 1 large egg white at room temperature 

( use pasteurized egg white if you prefer )

- Some superfine sugar 

You can find superfine sugar at the store but I just blended some regular sugar in my blender.

- A small paint brush

- Waxed paper 

Rinse the flowers quickly and put them on a waxed paper. You don't want them to be soaked in water. They need to be dry, I rinse the possible dust out of them but you could also not rinse them at all. 

In a small bowl beat the egg until the white shows a few bubbles. Place the sugar in a small bowl. Pick a flower hold it with your fingers, with the paint brush cover evenly the flower on both sides with egg white, not excessively. Hold the flower over the sugar and sprinkle sugar evenly all over on both sides. Place the flower on a waxed paper to dry and keep going with the rest of the flowers. 

It is meticulous but quite easy. 

Let the flowers dry until they are hard. Try to find a place where it's not humid.
Keep them in a container  in the dark, you can keep them up to a year but I would recommend to consume them sooner. 

You can use this recipe for any other edible flower.