I made these in honor of the Irises I smelled last week that smelled just like pound cake! They were growing in a landscape client's garden, so I couldn't harvest them for cooking. But I've come up with another option that I think will suit just fine - a blend of fresh wildflowers that are blooming at the moment:
Honeysuckle, Elder, and Rose.
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| Eating flowers serves to soothe the soul three times: first, when you harvest in the sun with the pollinators flitting about, harvesting along with you, then when you are enchanted with the exquisite taste, and last once you digest and incorporate these fleeting floral gems of medicine into your body make-up. |
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| ...and native Serviceberries (Juneberries) are also ripening. |
I only have a little bit of Wild Rose to use, the native Rosa virginiana, because I don't want to take all or even a quarter of the flowers from my two small patches. So, I have substituted a Rose I have trellised on the art studio. The invasive Multiflora Rose would also be a great one to use, but it just finished blooming here. You can use any fragrant Rose.
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| Notice the large spider bottom middle left of rock. :) |
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| The mixed batter before folding in the wild goodness. |
Preheat oven 350.
Mix:
2 c. flour (I used sprouted Red Fife, a type of heirloom wheat, but use whatever you want).
1/2 tspn. salt
1 tspn. baking powder
Then add to the above:
1/2 c. hemp seeds
1 c. finely chopped cashews (measure before chopping, practically make a powder)
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| A *local* Super food! - and that really makes it Super! |
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| I wish you could scratch and sniff this. Sweet, heady, powerful, yet gentle. |
In a separate bowl mix:
1 c. sugar (organic raw cane is ideal, I try to use organic everything all the time - not only is it healthy, but it supports farming that supports life: the bees, the water, the air, us...).
3 Tbspn. butter/ghee/or a mild oil like avocado or walnut
2 eggs (please get yours from happy chickens, not from a factory)
1/2 c. hemp milk
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| Be sure to chop or cut the flowers into smaller pieces. |
Then mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Once mixed well, fold into it the flowers and berries. You can substitute any other edible flowers or berries you wish. This is what I used:
2 c. Elder flowers, Honeysuckle flowers, and Rose petals (about equal parts each)
1 c. Serviceberries
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| Looks like Magic? It is. |
Do not over mix, pour into greased baking dish (about 9" x 13"), spread evenly to sides. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool - if you can wait - and cut into squares. Makes about 24 cake bars.
Then Bliss Out. These flowers are cooling and relaxing - perfect for June's heat and activity. Enjoy one, or two, while watching the clouds roll by...
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| Nom nom. Late Spring in edible form. |
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| “In every grain of wheat there lies hidden the soul of a star.”
- Arthur Machen 'The Great God Pan.' |
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| A catbird was harvesting those just out of my reach; I'm happy to share - they need to eat too. You have to get to these coveted berries quick; like many of the wild delectables, they don't linger long. |
