What We're Making: Infused Dried Flower Salt

To preserve the memories of her summer wedding, our Lead Beekeeper, Emily, made this beautiful dried flower salt that can be enjoyed year-round. Check our her other delicious DIY infusion: raw honey with cacao nibs! 

Words by: Emily Schmiedel

This past spring, I grew a garden full of flowers (mostly edible!) to use at my wedding in June; a labor of love I’m grateful to have shared with our guests. When the party was over and the fresh flowers had their chance to shine, I knew I wanted to preserve them and their summer colors somehow.

I decided to infuse flake salt with the dried edible flowers–partially for the memories, but also to give them a second purpose. 

Salt has the amazing ability to preserve contents because it reduces water activity and microbial growth. Combined with salt, spring and summer blooms can enliven the dinner table and inspire joy, year-round.

Making an infused dried flower salt is easy, but there are a few key things to keep in mind.

1. Know Before You Eat (or Sprinkle) 

Before eating any new plant or flower, do your research. Additionally, not all parts of the flower are edible. For this batch, I used the flower petals exclusively since they are vibrant and generally the safest part of edible plants. 

There are many available references, so be sure to read up. Edible Flowers: How, Why, and When We Eat Flowers by Monica Nelson was a great reference for me.

Some flowers used in this salt: 

• Borage 
• German Camomile 
• Bachelor buttons 
• Nasturtium
• Rose  
• Marigold 
• Zinnia
• Lavender 
  
  

2. Prep & Dry Your Flowers

It is important to thoroughly clean flowers before drying them to make sure there are no bugs or other debris present. To clean, use a wet cloth and give the blooms a quick wipe. Never use edible flowers that have been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides.  

The most common way to dry flowers is by hanging them as bouquets upside down in a cool, dark place. 

What You’ll Need: 

• Fresh edible flowers  
• Butchers twine 
• Floral tape 

Simply bind the stems together with twine and tape, then remove the leaves. Your flowers will be completely dry within about 2-3 weeks. You can test them by crunching the petals between your fingers—when they are really crispy, they are ready!  

Hot Tip: Not everyone has access to a garden full of flowers. Fortunately, many grocery stores offer small clamshell containers of fresh edible flowers year-round. These flowers will most likely be removed from their stems, so I suggest opting to oven-dry them. With oven drying, you can have dried flowers ready in just a few hours!  

To oven dry, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake the flowers at 200° for about 2 hours, then let them sit out to cool completely.

I recommend choosing vibrant colored flowers, as some of the colors will be muted after heating. 

3. Assemble Your Infused Dried Flower Salt 

Once you have your dried flowers, crumble the petals into a bowl of flake salt. The ratio can vary depending on how strong you want the floral flavor.

Mix them gently then store them in a jar with a tightly closed lid. Store the jar in a cool, dark place until you’re ready to gift or enjoy! Properly stored jars can stay fresh for up to a year.  

What should you use your infused dried flower salt on? Pretty much everything that you want to make lovely! 

Alice Waters famously said that, “Beauty is the language of love.” Preparing food for others and making it beautiful is love. 

The uses for this beautiful salt are endless: garnish a salad, sprinkle it on a charcuterie board with honey, finish a blended fall soup or desserts (think a pop of color on a shortbread cookie!) or use it on the rim of a cocktail. 

Keep in mind that depending on which flowers you use, some blossoms have a slightly bitter or peppery taste!