Got Bud?

We don’t have a lot of redbud here, but you sure can’t miss the few that we do have. Next to the flowering quince,(Chaenomeles speciosa, which is edible too), it’s the most spectacular thing in bloom right now.


Here in the west, we are blessed with the native species (Cercis occidentalis), while folks in the east get its fraternal twin C. canadensis. The beautiful deep pink color of the redbud flower comes from the presence of large amounts of anthocyanins, which are known to be beneficial antioxidants in humans. Green developing seeds contain proanthocyanides, and high concentrations of the fatty acids linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid, (There is evidence that α-linolenic acid is related to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of epilepsy.)

And luckily, they’re yummy to boot.

Here’s a recipe for redbud-herb muffins for next Sundays brunch.

Redbud-Herb Muffins

2 cups redbuds
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage or rosemary leaves
½ cup sugar or sweetener of your choice.
Minced zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ cups unbleached or all-purpose
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°
In bowl #1, combine redbuds, herb, sugar, zest. Let sit 30 minutes.
In bowl #2 Sift flour, powder, baking soda, salt large bowl.
In bowl #3 Combine egg, yogurt, milk, oil, lemon juice.

Pour #1 into #2 and toss.
Add #3, stirring just dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
Fill your muffin tins 3/4 full.
Combine sugar cinnamon the topping sprinkle some each muffin Bake for 25 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
Remove form muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.

Shrinking Violet? Hardly.

After yesterday' violet sugar recipe, people wrote asking me for the recipes of other things that I had mentioned. So here they are. Some are my mother's original recipes, but some I've modernized...

Violet Jelly
2 cups fresh violets
2 cups boiling water
Juice of one lemon
1 pack pectin OR 3 oz bottle of Certo (Certo makes a clearer, prettier jelly, but it’s more expensive.)
4 cups sugar
Place the violets blossoms in a glass jar and cover them with the boiling water. Put a lid on the jar, and set aside for anywhere between 2-24 hours, depending on your schedule. The water will turn to an aqua blue. Strain and discard the spent flowers. Add the lemon juice and the mix will change to a pretty pink. (After you do this a time or two, you can sort of judge how much lemon juice to add to get a color that ‘suits’ you.) Stir in pectin, and bring to a boil. Add sugar, bring to a boil again, and boil vigorously for one minute. Skim if necessary. Pour into sterile jars and seal. Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups jelly.

Violet Syrup
4 cups Violets
2 cups Boiling water
6 cups Sugar
1 Lemon, juiced
2 cups Water
Place violet flowers in a mason jar and pour boiling water over them. Let sit 24 hours. Strain liquid into a bowl (not aluminum!) squeezing out all the goodness from the flowers.
Place sugar, lemon juice and water in a saucepan and boil into a very thick syrup, near the candy stage. Add violet water and bring to a rolling boil. Boil 10 minutes or until thickened. Pour into sterile bottles.
Allow to cool, then seal and refrigerate. Serve with club soda or as pancake topping, or brush on baked goods.

Blue Violet Herbal Syrup Recipe for respiratory ailments
1 ¼ oz of dried Blue Violet Leaf (Viola odorata)
1 ¼ quarts of distilled water
3 quarts of honey (roughly)

Place the Blue Violet Leaf in a stainless steel or glass pan and cover with 1 ¼ quarts of water. Let it sit overnight. In the morning place the pan on the stove and simmer for 15 minutes, then strain. Measure strained liquid. Take that measurement and add 3 times the amount of honey to the liquid. Heat gently until the liquid and honey incorporate, then pour into sterilized jars and cap. Label and store in a cool place. This has a shelf life of 1 year.

Once a jar is opened for use refrigerate it.

Candied Violets (Or Lilacs or Rose Petals or Rosemary or Lavender…)

There are a couple of ways to do this. If your concerned about salmonella from eggs, you can use one of those meringue powders that they sell. We eat them, use them to decorate cakes and candies and whatever else I can think of.

Recipe #1
1 c sugar + extra ( I use caster sugar, also known as Bakers sugar)
1/2 c water
Fresh violet blossoms
Combine 1 c of sugar plus the water in a saucepan and boil until syrup spins a thread.
Cool to room temperature.
Using tweezers, dip blossoms into syrup and shake off excess syrup.
Dip into granulated sugar.
Place on wax paper and dry thoroughly before using.

Recipe #2
Preheat oven to 150 degrees. You are not cooking the flowers, only drying the sugar coating.
Lightly beat an egg white until just foamy. You don’t want peaks. Dip each flower into the egg white to coat. You can use tweezers . Dip into caster sugar. Place on wax paper atop a wire cooling rack. Place in your extremely low heated oven with the door slightly open Once they dry in the oven, store in an airtight container. Placed in jars in layers separated by waxed paper, they’ll keep for several months.

Recipe #3 (This is the most tedious, but produces the best results…)
1 large egg white
1/3 cup water
superfine (caster) sugar
violets on the stem
Lightly beat together the egg white and water
Put the sugar into a bowl. Working with 1 violet at a time, dip the violet into the egg white mixture, then sprinkle sugar over all the flower, even between the petals. It‘s important that you get the whole surface covered, since sugar is what’s preserving the flower. I‘ve used tweezers, paintbrushes and scissors for all of this and they all get gummed up quickly, requiring a rinse. Lay flower on waxed paper to dry. Allow violets to completely dry at room temperature for several days before storing in airtight containers.