ciao! cooks
Rachel Nedelec Flour and Flower Though cake and flowers are natural adornments to celebrations, they are not typically combined for the dessert course. That is, until Flour and Flower appeared on Winnipeg’ s food scene, selling sweet floral creations made of beautiful edible, organic flowers and herbs. Baker owner Rachel Nedelec is passionate about making beautiful desserts that don’ t sacrifice marvelous taste. She meticulously sources flowers for year-round supply, but home bakers may wish to develop a green thumb and plant a few edible varieties this summer to add flair to your next sweet batch.
Shortbread
Redefine shortbread season with beautifully garnished cookies perfect for a special occasion.
INGREDIENTS Shortbread 1 cup salted butter 1 / 2 cup brown sugar 2 1 / 2 cups flour
Royal icing 1 cup icing sugar 1 Tbsp meringue powder 1 Tbsp rosewater( or 1 tsp vanilla) 1-2 Tbsp water
Pressed Flowers 2 microwavable plates paper towel fresh edible / culinary safe flowers microwave
METHOD Shortbread 1. Preheat oven to 350 ° F. 2. Cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add flour and mix until combined. 3. Line a sheet pan with parchment. 4. Roll out dough until 1 / 8” thick. Cut out desired shape. 5. Bake for 8 minutes or until edges are slightly golden.
Royal icing 1. Whisk icing sugar and meringue powder. 2. Add liquids and whisk until desired consistency is reached.
Pressed Flowers 1. Select 100 % edible flowers. Our favourites include violas, pansies and cosmos. 2. Place paper towel on top of a dinner plate. 3. Place flowers face down on paper towel. Make sure they are not touching each other. 4. Place a second paper towel on top of the flowers. 5. Stack your second plate on top of paper towel to press flowers down. 6. Microwave in 30 second intervals until flowers are dry.
Cookie Assembly 1. Allow cookies to cool. 2.“ Flood” cookies with royal icing using a piping bag or ziplock bag. 3. Arrange pressed flowers into the icing. Enjoy!
Yield 24 cookies
20 ciao! / apr / may / two thousand twenty-five