The Edible Flower: A Modern Guide to Growing, Cooking and Eating Edible Flowers

Bunting and Facer, cofounders of the Edible Flower catering company and supper club, debut with a graceful collection of gardening tips (from Facer) and recipes (from Bunting). After a primer on gardening best practices, each plant variety is treated to an encyclopedia-style listing with instructions for growing and harvesting, as well as each plant’s flowering season, dos and don’ts, and a brief on flavor, followed by recipes using the blossoms, and occasionally other plant parts as well. (Nasturtium seeds, for instance, are pickled into “flavor bombs” that can sub in for capers.) The aesthetics are charming: zucchini blossoms brighten a zucchini and cream cheese puff-pastry tart, and marigold petals transform ribbons of pasta into works of art. Hearty flavors balance the dreamy look: Vietnamese-style spring rolls incorporate pork and shrimp under delicate purple blossoms, and spicy Thai beef is served in tulip petals. Sweets including a Pavlova with rose petals, lilac panna cotta, and a four-layer cake adorned with pressed flowers are highlights. Handy sidebars on subjects such as drying flowers and collecting the seeds of annuals are a thoughtful inclusion and add real utility. Cooking (and especially baking) with flowers is increasingly trendy, and this is a solid introduction to the topic. (Mar.)