These crystallised flowers and petals are actually made by sugar-coating real flowers and petals. They are a classic decoration for chocolates and cakes.

Please note that due to the natural origin of this product and the harvesting process and production process, small amounts of mostly naturally occurring plant materials may be present. This product may not be available all year round as supply is heavily dependent on the size of the crop and other related factors.

What Are Crystallised Violets?

Real violet petals, harvested and then candied: the flower is coated in sugar syrup and dried until the sugar sets around it, holding both the colour and the shape. Ours are made by Candiflor in France and
come as fragments rather than whole flowers, roughly 15,000 pieces to a kilo, which is what makes them practical to scatter. The recipe is 96% sugar to 2% real violet flower, with gum arabic as the coating agent, and there is no azo colouring anywhere in it.

How to Use Crystallised Violets 

Treat them as a finishing decoration rather than an ingredient. They go on at the last moment, onto a surface that is still tacky - a freshly dipped bonbon, a glazed entremets, a piped rosette - and they set in place on their own. On chocolate, place them while the couverture is still crystallising and they will hold without a piped dot underneath. They work just as well pressed into a macaron shell before baking, scattered over a lemon or blackcurrant tart, or set into a white chocolate bar. Violet is a strong and distinctly floral flavour, so a little goes a long way, and the decoration usually carries the taste as well as the look.

Troubleshooting 

Sugar and water are the two things to watch. On anything wet - a fresh cream, a fruit jelly, an uncovered puree - the sugar coating dissolves and the petal goes translucent and limp, usually within the hour, so on that kind of dessert these are a service-time decoration. Store the closed tub dry and cool; minimum durability is 18 months. Colour varies between crops because the petals are a natural
product, and the specification says so, which means a box paler than the last one is not a fault. The same goes for the small amounts of plant material that come through with the harvest.

Pairings and Ideas 

Violet works with citrus, blackcurrant, dark chocolate and almond. A few ideas to try:

• Scattered over a dark chocolate and blackcurrant tart
• Pressed into macaron shells before baking
• On a white chocolate bar with freeze-dried raspberry
• Finishing a lemon posset or a violet and lemon entremets
• Set on a dipped bonbon while the couverture is still crystallising
• Over a spring or Mother's Day cake with our crystallised roses