This one came out of nowhere, but I’m all in. There have been wild violets growing in my garden and around the yard for years, and I’ve known they were edible. But when I saw a recipe for violet syrup, a light bulb went off. Any time I see syrup or powder, I think marshmallows.
So I got out there immediately and started gathering violet blossoms. Anywhere in our yard is up for grabs, since we don’t use pesticides or herbicides anywhere; not even our lawn. I spent an hour or so intently surveying the ground and at the end of it had gathered about ½ cup of violet blossoms.
This was turned into violet syrup. The super cool thing about this process is that the syrup starts out more blue. But watch out! Add a couple drops of lemon juice, and the magical transformation to purple takes place. I’m anticipating that the syrup will lend that pale purple hue to the finished marshmallows, which start out as a brilliant white canvas. And that delicate violet flavor.
But I can’t help feeling like it’d be missing something. So I went out again a couple days later and gathered up the new wild violet flowers. These ones, they’re going to be dried, crushed, and sprinkled into the marshmallow mixture as it whips within the Kitchen-Aid mixer.
It’s really the second half of the equation, right? Yes, there’s the flavor, from something authentic and home-grown, but the second side of that coin is visual. We eat with our eyes. I’m envisioning pale purple violet marshmallows with the beautiful addition of dried petals throughout. If I’m right, you’ll see a new flavor variant added to the store (a very limited edition).