Magnolia Madness: From Pickles and Jelly to Cocktails & Vinegars
The end of March Madness delightfully coincides with my other favorite kind of madness – magnolia season! Magnolia flowers are easily in my Top 5 favorite wild foods. In addition to being stunningly beautiful, they are insane flavor bombs of citrusy, gingery, cardamom goodness. And so versatile!
Magnolias work in a wide array of recipes and concoctions – from the classic quick pickles and vinegars to jellies, sugars, tea mixes, shrubs and cocktails.
First and foremost, however, it’s important to note that not all magnolia flowers are created equal. Before you go full ham on a tree, take a flower petal or full bud off and taste it. Every tree will have a slightly different flavor profile, in addition to the numerous varieties of magnolia – white, pink, yellow, purple. Once you find a flower you like, pick about 20 to 30 from that tree and bring them home to experiment.
Depending on the kind you get and your own flavor palette, I recommend taking out the beautiful center of the flower, known as the calyx, for a number of the recipes below (pickles and jelly in particular). That’s where much of the super floral cardamom flavor lies…along with a deep citrusy rind flavor.
But don’t worry and don’t throw that part away – we will use them in our magnolia sugar recipe!
Quick Pickled Magnolias
Recipe:
1. About 20 magnolia flowers, calyx removed.
2. 1 cup rice wine vinegar, or a favorite vinegar of your choosing (I also love Prosecco vinegar, or white balsamic. Get experimental based on what you like)
3. 1 teaspoon of salt.
4. 2 tablespoons of sugar, or sweetener of choice (again, try different combinations and see what you like! You can also use maple syrup, agave or honey)
Rinse and chop the magnolia petals. Pack them into a glass jar.
In a sauté pan, combine 1 cup vinegar of your choosing with 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons sweetener of your choice. Melt all ingredients and allow mixture to cool. That’s the secret to letting the flowers keep their beautiful colors.
Pour the vinegar mix into the jar of flowers and store in the fridge for 24 hours before eating so it can fully infuse. The pickles will keep for up to 4 months. I love them with sushi, on bahn mi sandwiches, as a compliment to spicy foods, or a delightful addition to a cheeseboard.
Magnolia Shrub Drink
For those new to shrubs, they are a delightful drinking vinegar often featured in mocktails and cocktails alike. As delicious as they are, they’re also ridiculously easy to make and good for you. On top of all that, shrubs benefit from using bruised or older fruits, herbs, flowers.
For my recipe, I used strawberry plums that were on sale and about a handful of magnolia flowers. This time, I kept the calyx (center of the flower) in as the vinegar mellows the bitterness. White, yellow, pink and purple magnolias all work and since you are ultimately chucking the flowers after they infuse, you can use bruised ones. You don’t have to include fruit, you can use only magnolia flowers if you want, it’s totally up to you! I love to add various herbs to my shrubs as well.
Recipe:
3 plums, chopped
1 handful whole magnolias (including calyx)
1 cup sugar
Place chopped plums and magnolia flowers in mixing bowl. Add 1 cup sugar to bowl then mash ingredients to create syrup. Cover top of bowl with Saran Wrap and place in fridge for 48 hours, stirring occasionally.
After 48 hours combine syrup mix with equal parts vinegar of your choice (I recommend apple cider vinegar). Strain mixture and refrigerate. Shrub will continue developing flavors and last for up to 6 months in the fridge.
Enjoy as a mocktail by combining 1/4 cup of shrub with 1 cup of your favorite seltzer. Or jazz it up by adding it to your favorite vodka, tequila or gin drink!
Magnolia Jelly
Recipe:
6 cups magnolia flowers, centers removed (save those for the next recipe!)
6 cups of water
7 cups of sugar
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 pack of powdered pectin
Boil 6 cups of water. Bruise the flower petals by massaging for 5 mins in a bowl. Pour petals into boiling water, turn off heat and let steep for 20 mins. Strain flowers and add in 🍋 juice. Bring to boil, add pectin and boil for 1 min. Add sugar, bring to boil for 1 minute stirring continuously. Take off heat and remove any foam. Water can for 10 mins.
Magnolia Sugar
We will now make a sugar mix that will tickle your taste buds using the center of the magnolia flowers, or calyx, that were discarded from our other recipes.
Recipe:
Place magnolia centers in a dehydrator and dry at 105 F degrees for approximately 4 hours.
If you do not own a dehydrator, place magnolia centers on a baking sheet and turn oven to the lowest setting. Dry for 3 hours.
Remove from dehydrator or oven, then grind the centers using a Magic Bullet or coffee grinder.
Use a ratio of approximately 4 tablespoons of magnolia to 1 cup of sugar.
Spread sugar and magnolia mix evenly on wax or parchment paper, then place back in dehydrator or oven at same temperature for another 2 hours.
Use the sugar mix in baking, fancy cocktails, or anything else that needs a sweet, citrus kick!
What’s your favorite way to enjoy magnolias? Share a recipe in the comments below! Want to sample a few of my very own magnolia concoctions? Join me for one of my upcoming April Foraging Walks, where we will be tasting all of the recipes!
[…] recipes are actually quite simple. All of recipes we used for magnolias can be applied the exact same way to May’s floral frenzy. Certain flowers will work better […]