Today we have a great post from Jan of Maddocks Farm Organics with some great tips on how to create your own wedding favours using edible flowers. There are some truly beautiful ideas that are sure to inspire you to create some fab homemade wedding favours.

Over to Jan to tell us how to create these beauties…

Whilst increasingly popular, wedding favours are yet another expense and can be very pricey if they are not to look cheap and tacky.

An easy way around this is to make your own. Not only do they look much nicer but they also add a personal touch and can be a fraction of the price of commercial alternatives. Here are a few suggestions which are all very straight forward to make so it is job that could be delegate to the future mother-in-law or chief bridesmaid!

Flowerpot Muffins

These are a sweet idea for a rustic themed garden wedding. I used a classic Mary Berry recipe (you can’t improve on Mary perfection!) but any good quality chocolate cake recipe will do or you could use a rich chocolate mousse if you prefer. The mini silicone flower pots are available from Lakeland and other online retailers.

The choice of edible flower is important if you want the ‘plants’ to hold well. Tagetes and Dianthus are particularly good for this but cornflowers also work if you add them at the last minute. We also used springs of rosemary to add to the foliage.

Floral Marshmallows

Marshmallows make a lovely wedding favour and running some edible flower petals through the mix ensures that they are as individual as your wedding.

These floral marshmallows were made by My Mummys Yummy Cupcakes using Maddocks Farm Organics rose petals.

The recipe below for Floral Marshmallow uses our red rose petals but any edible petals could be substituted to compliment your wedding theme. Having said that, the more fragrant the flowers the more intense the flavour.

Floral Marshmallows

(Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Vanilla Marshmallows)

For the rose petals:

• Rose petals
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

Layer the sugar and petals together (this flavours the sugar whilst keeping them whole), leaving aside some flowers/petals for sprinkling over the marshmallow mix before it sets. Leave to one side, over night if possible or longer.

For the marshmallows:

• 2 1/2 tbsp unflavoured gelatin powder
• 1 cup of golden syrup or honey
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
•  Corn flour for sprinkling

 Method:

1. First take the petals out of the sugar mix (don’t worry if some get missed).
2. Combine gelatin, torn petals from the sugar mix and 1/2 a cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Let it stand for 30 minutes.
3. Then combine the infused sugar, golden syrup, salt and 1/2 cup water in a small heavy saucepan. Place the pan over a low heat, and stir until sugar has dissolved. Wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve the sugar crystals.
4. Once dissolved, clip on a sugar thermometer and raise the heat to high. Cook the syrup without stirring until it reaches 244°C (firm-ball stage). Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
5. With a mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully pour the syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase the speed to high, and beat until the mixture is very thick and white and has almost tripled in volume – this will take about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla bean paste and beat to incorporate.
6. Generously dust an 8-by-12-inch baking pan with corn flour. Pour the marshmallow mixture into pan. Wet your hands and pat it to smooth. Tear the remaining petals and sprinkle over the top of the marshmallow. Dust with more corn flour. Leave it to set overnight, uncovered, to dry out.
7. Turn the marshmallow out onto a board that has been generously sprinkled with corn flour, cut the marshmallows with a dry hot knife into 1 1/2-inch squares, and dust with more corn flour to coat each side of the marshmallow – this stops them being sticky. Pop them in an airtight container to let the flavours penetrate even more.
8. They will last up to 10 days if kept airtight in the fridge.

Floral Lollipops

These really are very straightforward to make but you absolutely MUST have a sugar thermometer, or like me, you will use up nearly a kilo of sugar making toffee (which of course, is an alternative idea as a wedding favour and one I became very fond of in the course of practising this recipe, but might not be the best option if your Uncle Cedric has dentures or the bridesmaids have wobbly teeth – particularly the grown up ones!)

You can buy lolly sticks and moulds very cheaply online but just take a little bit of care as the really cheap ones don’t have sufficient depth to ensure that the stick is properly embedded on both sides. They are available in a range of shapes but the heart is sweet for a wedding.

For an authentic floral flavour you can make a floral sugar in advance using perfumed flowers such as lavender or roses or just use a drop of commercial flavouring.

Pour your sugar syrup into the mould and allow it to cool for a few moments to ensure that the heat doesn’t shrivel up the flowers. If it hardens too quickly you can always stick the flowers onto the surface of the lolly and then  seal them over with a small additional amount of warmed syrup. Lollies are pretty forgiving if a little sticky.

These can be made quite a long time in advance and wrapped in clear cellophane with little ribbons tied around.

These primrose floral lollies were made by Forage For – perfect for a spring wedding.

Lavender Chocolate Truffles

These are made with double cream for a luxurious feel but they will need to be kept in the fridge and should be used within 7 to 10 days, so if you are worried about running out of time in the lead up to the big day then either delegate or use a truffle recipe which doesn’t contain cream.

Depending upon which flavoured truffle you would like, you can steep the edible flowers in the cream whilst it is gently warmed and this will infuse the floral flavour into the cream. You can repeat this process several times to get a stronger flavour as you like.

Many people have a love/hate relationship with lavender and I have to admit that I am not a big fan, however, lavender has a strange marriage with chocolate which really works.  It works particularly well with dark chocolate and surprisingly with white chocolate as well. The recipe for these is available on the Maddocks Farm Organics blog.

Floral Chocolates

Floral chocolates are incredibly easy to make. Just chop or place your selected petals into chocolate/butter moulds and pour over melted chocolate. Make sure you tap down the moulds to prevent air bubbles. Again, these will keep for several weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.

Maddocks Farm Organics produces edible flowers from April to October.  We’ve featured on Radio 2, appeared on Sunday Brunch and our flowers have appeared at Chelsea Flower Show. All our flowers are hand picked to order and to your specification and are sent out by overnight courier with chiller to ensure their freshness.

Maddocks Farm Organics are a recommended supplier of The Natural Wedding Company.  Based in Devon, Maddocks Farm Organics produces edible flowers and award winning organic salads using fantastic seasonal blooms, leaves, herbs & wild foragings. They supply a range of edible flowers to decorate wedding cakes & platters/boxes of beautiful floral salad to wow your guests. Visit www.maddocksfarmorganics.co.uk for more details or contact them at maddocksfarmorganics@gmail.com.