The flowers are good both cooked and raw and make good wine but remove the white base first and choose buds or young flowers for the honey-like flavour. Don't eat the stems. The flavor of scented geranium flowers ranges from rose, to lemon to nutmeg and can be added to sorbets, ice creams and desserts.

DO NOT CONSUME THE STEM!

Borage, also known as starflower for its appearance, tastes subtly of mint and cucumbers, which some people find similar to oysters. For this reason, some people uses borage primarily with seafood. Utilises the freshness of borage to reconcile the various seafood: fresh crab, sea urchin, salmon roe and Oscietra caviar.

The nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) is a hardy annual that grows by climbing and sprawling. It produces beautiful flowers that can be put to great culinary use, and the leaves are also edible. You can also use nasturtiums in stir-fries, cook them with pasta, and stuff the flowers. More ambitious cooks can try grinding the seeds to use as a pepper substitute and in flavored oils, and pickling the flower buds or immature seedpods to use as a substitute for capers.

The petals are used to garnish salads, ice cream and soups. The dried flowers are also brewed into tea. You’ll be amazed by the mesmerizing appearance of butterfly pea tea, especially when it transforms from blue to purple to red — a real feast for the eyes.

Delicate garden variety can be bland to bitter. Flavors depend on type, color, and soil conditions. Cooking notes : Thanks to their incredibly soft texture and flavour reminiscent of nectarines, edible snapdragons are a true taste sensation. Edible snapdragons are ideal as a garnish and are well paired with aged cheeses.

A pansy is a beautiful flower recognisable by its bright colours. The colours vary from purple and dark blue on the top petals, slightly lilac, blue and yellow on the two outer petals and yellow white on the bottom one. Pansies taste like lettuce, with a mild, slightly sweet flavor.

Flavours range from water chestnut and spicy apple to carrot. Edible dahlia flowers are now finding favor among chefs and caterers, particularly caterers of summer weddings. Dahlia flowers are used to enhance the flavor and visual appeal of foods from salads to desserts, from appetizer trays to wedding cakes and punches.

The sharp, spicy tang of petals punches up the flavor of lettuces in a salad, and the whole flowers, whose substantial texture means they last well and whose wide range of colors lends itself to table decor, are often used to float in beverages and to decorate cakes.

They have a nice flavour that ranges from peppery to bitter, and they add bright yellow, gold, and orange colour to soups and salads. Edible marigold flowers are said to taste either mildly citrusy to subtly spicy to, well, like a marigold. Whatever you think of their flavor, the flowers are indeed edible and if nothing else a feast for the eyes.

Edible miniature roses are ideal for use as decor on special occasion cakes and as garnish when plating desserts. Miniature varieties can garnish ice cream and desserts, or larger petals can be sprinkled on desserts or salads. Freeze them in ice cubes and float them in punches. Petals can be used in syrups, jellies, perfumed butters and sweet spreads.

Note: Be sure to remove the bitter white portion of the petals.

Most dianthus have a pleasant spicy, floral, clove-like taste, especially the more fragrant varieties, and are ideal for decorating or adding to cakes. They'll also make a colourful garnish to soups, stir-fries, seafood, salads and the punch bowl.

Impatiens, one of the most popular bedding plants in the Northern Hemphisphere, is also a tasty edible flower. Use it's sweet petals to flavor desserts, salads, and drinks. Best as a pretty garnish or for candying.

Begonia flowers are edible and in fact very rich in vitamin C. Their pleasant sweet/tart taste comes from the oxalic acid they contain, the same product that gives spinach and rhubarb their flavor. Since oxalic acid can be toxic if consumed in large quantities, it is best to consume begonia flowers in moderation.

Flowers of Torenia fournieri are edible and can be used as salad material, savoury dishes and to garnish your dishes. The well blended mix of colors of these lovely flowers make them truly adorable and charming.

The flowers of Gomphrena globosa 'Thousand Day Red' are steeped in boiling water to make a tea. The tea has a fresh floral fragrance with sweet and mellow taste. It contains vitamin C and E and thought to reduce fatigue and slow aging.

Add grassy-honey flavored heat to culinary masterpieces with the Egyptian star flower, an edible flower with a soft and delicate structure. These five-petaled edible flowers add a layer of satisfying texture and crunch to your creative dishes, along with pleasing floral aroma.

Infusion is another common way of cooking with rose petals. This might be a simple rose petal tea, a sugar-water infusion for a flavoured cocktail syrup, or a more complex infusion for a set-custard, gelatine or opaline. Often though, rose petals are used purely as decoration, as they're both beautiful and food-safe.