Herb of the Month: Rose

By Laura Coffee, Marketing & Owner Services Manager, Co-op Owner

When most people think of roses they think of bouquets, table centerpieces, parade floats, and all sorts of other beautiful, but purely decorative, things. But there is so much more to these lovely flowers! Rose petals can be candied, rose water can be used to flavor creamy drinks like lassi, they can be made into a sweet syrup, or the dried petals can be made into a pleasant tea. Some cultures use them in savory dishes, or pluck the fresh petals for use in salads.

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Lemon Rose Bites

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup plain Greek or Icelandic yogurt
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp dried rose petals
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Lemon Glaze

• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 Tbsp dried rose petals
• 1 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
• 1 tsp lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 325F. Spray or grease* a non-stick mini muffin tin and set aside. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and 2 Tbsp dried rose petals. Set aside. In a small mixing bowl combine the egg, yogurt, and 1 Tbsp lemon zest and stir well. Set aside. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan. Add the water and bring to a boil. Pour the hot liquid into the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Add the wet mixture and 1 Tbsp lemon juice and stir until smooth. Scoop the batter into mini muffin tins, filling each cup nearly to the top. Place the pan into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes, until they are lightly golden on the edges and spring back in the center when touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes then tip out and place upside down on a cooling rack. Allow the little cakes to cool completely before glazing. (Put the whole rack in the fridge if you are feeling impatient.)

When you are ready to glaze your cakes, combine the ingredients in the small saucepan you used for the butter/water mixture, or in a microwave safe bowl. Stir until very smooth. If using the saucepan, warm the glaze slightly until thinned. If using a microwaveable bowl, heat the glaze for 10-15 seconds until thinned. Place wax paper, parchment paper, or a cutting board under the cooling rack to catch dripping glaze. (There will be dripping glaze.) Dip the bottom/round side of each little cake in the glaze and place top/flat side down on the cooling rack. Allow the cakes to sit until the glaze is fully hardened before storing. (I carefully placed my rack and drip catcher in the microwave to let them sit overnight. On the counter should be fine if you do not have children/partners/pets who may not be as patient as you are.) Makes 24-30 little cakes. Delicious!

*I didn’t have any cooking spray so I brushed my tins with oil. This made the cakes a bit difficult to remove from the tin, still delicious, though! If you have cooking spray I definitely recommend using that. Also, I had a bit of extra batter and just poured it into a regular size muffin tin rather than waste it. If you have a second tin on hand you may want to prep that as well just in case.