Here’s how to make candied rose petals—and the technique couldn’t be easier. It’s essentially just sugared rose petals and requires only egg white, sugar, and a little patience.
These candied rose petals are exactly what your cakes and cupcakes and Pavlovas have been missing all these years. Equally adept atop wedding cakes and cupcakes, these lovely sugared rose petals are incredibly easy to execute at home, even for us non pastry chef types. Here’s how to make them. And whether you source your rose petals from your garden or someplace online, just be certain they’re free of pesticides and other chemicals.–Renee Schettler Rossi
Candied Rose Petals
Equipment
- New soft bristle paintbrush (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 unsprayed edible rose bloom
- 1 large egg white
- 1/2 cup superfine sugar (or just blitz granulated sugar in a blender until finely ground but not powdery)
Directions
- Very carefully pluck the individual edible petals from the rose bloom.
- Gently wash the rose petals, trying not to bruise them. Place the petals on kitchen towels or paper towels and let them be until they’re completely dry. You may wish to dab the petals with a clean, dry towel to ensure they’re completely dry.
- Place a wire cooling rack on a baking sheet. Crack the egg white into a small bowl and whisk it with a fork. Dump the superfine sugar into a shallow bowl or onto a plate.
- Gently paint a rose petal with the egg white using a new soft bristle paintbrush or instead simply dip the petal in the egg white, turning to coat both sides and allowing any extra to drop off, and then place the petal in the bowl of superfine sugar, turning to coat both sides and sprinkling on extra, if necessary, so the petals are completely coated with sugar.
- Space the candied rose petals apart on a wire cooling rack and leave until dry and hardened.
- Use the candied rose petals the same day as they'll become soft and wet if left too long (even if stored in a sealed container).
Notes
Raw Egg Reminder
A gentle reminder that this candied rose petals recipe contains raw egg. Please be aware of this if you’re making the recipe for anyone for whom that’s a potential food safety no-no, including the very young, the very old, the very pregnant, and the very compromised in terms of immunity. All the rest of you, go ahead and nibble these little lovelies with not a care in the world.Show Nutrition
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
These candied rose petals were the perfect topper to plain vanilla frosted cupcakes. Even though these were simple to prepare, they gave an ordinary frosted cupcake an elegant look. I think they would look nice, too, alongside a plain cake, either on top or on the side. The petals had a nice, subtle flavor which tasted mostly like sugar at first taste but then a nice rose flavor came out at the end.
The longest part of preparing this recipe was waiting for the petals to dry after rinsing them and waiting for them to dry once the sugar was applied. It took about 20 minutes for the petals to dry on paper towels. I wound up dabbing off any extra beads of water. Painting the petals with the egg white was a bit cumbersome. I found that I missed spots on the petals using the paint brush. I wound up dipping the petal in the egg white and brushing the excess off with the brush. The superfine sugar adhered better with a thicker coat of egg white, using the dip method as opposed to the painting method.
I used 1 rose which yielded about 20 usable petals. The petals were pretty sturdy and held up well to washing and the application of the egg white and sugar.
Originally published August 26, 2016
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Are all rose varieties edible?
KK, most varieties should be edible but you may want to check the specific variety you have. If you make them, please let us know how they turn out.
Can we beat the egg white over some boiling water for few seconds with a few drops of lemon juice …wouldn’t that cook them and make it safer…it’s not advisable to consume uncooked egg because of salmonella poisoning….just asking!
Yes, Monica, you can try pasteurizing the egg whites with a little acid over boiling water, although it may be difficult to determine if you’ve reached an appropriate temperature. You can also buy pasteurized egg whites in liquid or dried forms that can be safely used in place of the raw egg white. I hope that helps!
I have found that using a product called Just Whites works well and relieves the fear of raw eggs.
Brilliant and perfect, marty, thank you!