Helen Witty

Crystallized Violets

Preparation info
    • Difficulty

      Medium

Appears in
Better Than Store-Bought: Authoritative recipes that most people never knew they could make at home
Better Than Store-Bought

By Helen Witty and Elizabeth Schneider

Published 1979

  • About

Any kind of violets, wild or from the garden, may be candied, but scented ones (if you can find them—violet scent is going the way of the fragrant rose) will taste the best. Any will be beautiful to look at, whether on a plate of confections or used as decorations on small cakes.

Ingredients

  • Freshly picked violets, with their stems left on
  • 1 egg white, at room temperature
  • Few drops of water, if needed

Method

  1. Unless violets are dusty—unlikely in the fresh springtime—don’t wash them. Leave the stems on for the time being (you’ll clip them off later). Assemble a saucer on which to paint the flowers and one for the egg white, a small paint brush, a thin skewer or a cake tester, a plate for the sugar, and a cake rack covered with waxed paper.
  2. Beat the egg white in a sau