I had a blast with this months Recipe Redux theme: Edible Flowers. There are so many ways to use these lovely blossoms but I couldn’t help but marvel at their beauty for a while before actually putting them to use.

I found it strangely difficult to find edible flowers here in Charleston.

No one at the farmers market had them.

I called several flower shops; none.

Finally, I found them at Whole Foods (go figure). For a minute there I was thinking about plucking some from Hampton Park, giving them a good wash and calling it a day. They’re just flowers, right? I mean, I eat other plant foods all the time.

Needless to say, I nixed that last idea.

The longer I searched for inspiration on how to use these flowers, the more I couldn’t bear to cook them; I didn’t want to see them lose their perky, vibrant demeanor. I’ll just place them delicately atop a summery lemon loaf, I thought. And give it to Piper & Joe!

The weekend I made this loaf was the weekend that our good friends, P & J, were out of town for their wedding anniversary…

We’ve been renting their upstairs apartment (a HUGE help to us at the moment) so the delivery of this loaf was a cinch. It turned out beautifully and I can’t begin to explain the excitement it gave me to leave it on their kitchen counter as a little surprise for them when they came home.

[print_this]

Blossom Topped Lemon-Poppy Seed Loaf

This lemon loaf recipe was adapted from Tasty Kitchen; I added some poppy seeds because lemon and poppy seeds just seem to go together. Honey was substituted for granular sugar and whole wheat flour was used in place of all-purpose to make a little healthier.

For the cake:

• ⅔ cups Olive Oil

• 1 cup Honey (Dad’s homegrown honey, to be exact)

• 3 whole Large Eggs, Lightly Beaten

• ⅔ cups Plain Greek Yogurt

• ½ cups Lemon Juice

• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

• 2 teaspoons Lemon Zest

• ½ teaspoons Lemon Extract

• 1-½ cup Wheat Flour

• ¾ teaspoons Baking Soda

• ½ teaspoons Baking Powder

• ½ teaspoons Salt

• 1 1/2 TBS poppy seeds

For the Icing

• 1 cup Confectioners Sugar (sifted)

• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice (or Maybe 3)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, honey, lightly beaten eggs, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon extract.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture while whisking together until well combined.

Add lemon cake batter to a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean (mine baked in about 52 minutes).

Remove pan from oven and set it on a rack. Let bread cool for 10 minutes then remove it from the loaf pan to a rack to finish cooling.

Once the cake has cooled completely, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a medium sized bowl and pour it over the cake. Let the icing set and then enjoy!

[/print_this]

Interested in seeing other recipes using edible flowers? Check out some more Redux recipes below!