Pickled Magnolia Flowers

This Pickled Magnolia Flower Recipe is not only delicious, it is also a beautiful addition to your preserving collection. There is no doubt I LOVE edible flowers in the garden but this one took me by surprise... Magnolia petals are edible! I just had to have a play, and I have to say that I'm stoked with the results. We are on a shady side of a hill so our flowers are just starting to come into full bloom now, but I have been admiring others trees for a couple of weeks already.

Such a beautiful start to Spring and you could get a few jars potted to give as Christmas gifts for the foodies in your life.

It turns out that the bark and flowers of magnolia are super medicinal for all sorts of things from reducing anxiety and stress to maintaining a healthy liver and provides relief from menstrual cramps. Chinese medicine has used magnolia bark and flowers for thousands of years providing powerful health benefits to humans, while other benefits have been revealed through modern research into the precise chemical components. They are also said to improve respiratory health, detoxify the body, stimulate appetite even improve cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease.

Their taste raw is nice but not outstanding, pickle them however and you get a lovely rose tasting pretty pink coloured liquid and the petals have a similar taste to pickled ginger with floral notes that also imparts flavour into the pickling liquid.

The bees love these flowers also and seem to get stuck right into them, so give them a little shake if you are picking whole flowers from the tree, you can also foraging the fallen petals from underneath larger trees.

PICKLED MAGNOLIA FLOWERS RECIPE

~New Recipe~

Great as an alternative to pickled ginger for sushi or as a condiment for burgers, sandwiches, grissini or in a salad; pickled magnolia flowers are a spring time delight. The blanching helps retain the colour in the petals.

Vegan | Gluten-free

Makes 1x300ml jar

Sterilise jar/s in the oven at 150°C, leave it in the oven to keep warm while you make the recipe.

Gather:

4 c (lightly packed) magnolia petals

Bring a large pot of water to the boil add:

1 tsp salt

Add the petals to the pot and blanche for 30 seconds. Drain through a colander and cool quickly under a cold running tap. Gently squeeze out the excess water.

Add the following ingredients into a pot:

1 c apple cider vinegar

1/2 c unrefined cane sugar

1 tsp salt

2cm piece fresh ginger, sliced thinly (optional)

Bring to the boil then simmer until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Place the leaves into the warm jar and top with the hot pickling liquid and seal with the lid. Sealed this pickle will last for a long time, once opened store in the fridge.

NOTE - Magnolia Flowers are unsafe to consume while you are pregnant.