When shopping for flowers online, you most likely search for the best-looking bouquets. As for edible flowers, the visual aspect is also important but it’s also about the taste. If you have not yet included flowers in your spring or summer dishes, here are some great tips to help you do just that.

1) Floral ice cubes

This is such a simple concept and all you need is an ice tray and a selection of fresh edible flowers. Place a flower in each cube, add water and freeze! You can make several of these if you want to stock up. Just empty your ice cubes out into a container or freezer bag and refill your ice tray.

2) Fresh floral salads

Edible flowers can also give salads that extra special exotic look that will make them even more appetizing. Just like you would add any other ingredient to your salad, so too can you sprinkle some colourful flowers on top. Look for flowers with a flavour that will complement the salad. Marigolds are known for their citrus yet peppery flavour while chive flowers are tangy. Chrysanthemums have a sweet and somewhat grassy flavour. Take your pick according to the rest of the ingredients in your salad and experiment with various flowers until you find your favourite.

3) Elegant cocktails

Nothing makes a cocktail look more exotic than when it is topped with a gorgeous flower. You can even include edible flowers just as you would mint in a mojito. There are plenty of fabulous cocktail recipes out there that call for edible blooms and they are really easy to make – even if you don’t have much experience mixing drinks.

4) Something sweet

Edible flowers even have their place at the dessert table. You can include them in biscuit recipes, decorate cakes and they can be used to garnish a wide variety of sweet dishes. Remember to make sure that you choose flowers with the right flavour and colour.

There you have a four creative ways of including edible flowers in your drinks and food. The next time you want to give your food a bright and appealing new look, consider adding some blooms. Just remember, you should only use edible flowers and they should always be washed thoroughly before you use them.