Cherry Blossom

They look stunning against the blue spring sky & their aesthetic beauty is only part of their magic, for sakura blossoms hide a tasty secret...

The season is short, maybe a couple of weeks and, as is the case with certain other wild edibles, blink and you miss it. The stage at which to gather is prior to the full blooming of the blossoms, when they are in their 'waking' phase (not as pictured on the right, these are too advanced for salt preserving but are perfect for making cherry blossom syrup, more on that later.

I prefer to pick the awakening buds (as with fully opened blossoms), on a warm, dry, sunny afternoon when the buds and blossoms have been gently warmed by the suns rays. Once gathered it's imperative you get them home and process them as quick as possible - no accidentally leaving them out on the kitchen work top in your basket!

The Cherry Blossom, along with, Crysanthemum is the national flower of Japan and preserving the blossoms is an ancient, cultural and traditional past-time. The tradition of Hanami in Japan is the welcoming of Spring and is also known as the, cherry blossom festival. This annual celebration is about appreciating the temporal beauty of nature and the people gather under blossoming cherry trees to enjoy food, drink, songs, companionship and the beauty of Sakura.

Preserved sakura blossoms are delicious! They are sweet, salty & tangy and the process of making them is lovely in it's own right.

Trees in the Prunus genus contain  cyanogenic glycosides (a cyanide molecule attached to a sugar molecule) which gives them that marzipan, bitter almond aroma. Drying decreases the quantities of CG's. You would generally have to consume a significant amount to cause you adverse affects. Advice is to consume small quantities.

How to salt preserve sakura:                                                         

Gather your still waking blossoms on a warm, dry, sunny afternoon and gather a few of the young, not fully opened leaves too.

Sprinkle a thin layer of quality sea salt on the bottom of clean baking tray (cover with grease proof paper if you so desire) and place your cherry blossoms on the layer of salt. Sprinkle more sea salt on top of the blossoms, place another baking tray of the same size on top and weight it down - I use a small wine brewing bucket filled with water. Leave the blossoms to stand for 2 days.

Remove the weight and place your salt pressed blossoms in a sieve, you will notice a distinct fragrance of marzipan or almonds, spend a short while breathing in the aroma before continuing. Give the salted blossoms a very brief and gently rinse in cold spring water to remove excess salt then pop your blossoms in a salad spinner to remove excess liquid.

Place blossoms in a clean glass bowl or jug, add a quantity of Ume Shiso Seasoning (enough to cover the blossoms) and leave them to steep for 3-4 days. Ume Shiso Seasoning is available from specialist health food stores.

After 3-4 days, strain the blossoms through a sieve, retaining the shiso seasoning for future use. Then, gently, very gently (to avoid damaging them), press the blossoms to remove excess liquid. Lay the blossoms on baking parchment, on a wire cooling rack in full sunshine (indoors or outdoors) until they are dried well enough for storing. Alternatively you can pop them into a dehydrator or oven on low setting.



Cherry Blossom Syrup

Pick young but fully opened blossoms on a warm, dry, sunny afternoon, taking only the petals as this saves time later on - you don't want any green bits, just petals.

Once home, make a sugar syrup ie 500g of water to 500g of sugar. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar and then bring to the boil and boil for several minutes. Remove from heat and allow liquid to cool to approx 90 degrees. Add your blossom petals, it's best doing this a handful at a time as the petals initially float and tumble out the pan if its not big enough. Stir the blossoms thoroughly and gently into the syrup. It may be necessary to sporadically reheat the syrup slightly as you perform this task, take it back to approx 90 degrees if necessary. Cover and leave overnight. Next day remove the pan lid and inhale deeply, what a delicious aroma! Strain through clean muslin cloth, squeezing to extract all that delightful liqud. Pour into clean sterilised bottles and pop in the fridge. You may wish to freeze some in ice cube trays, great added to cold drinks.

This syrup makes an excellent sorbet! Myself & Josh Whitehead poured dry ice onto cherry blossom syrup at a pop up several years ago, serving it with a roast pear puree, sweet woodruff milk mousse and a crumb, a truly stunning dessert!

You can use as a cordial and add to cocktails too. I've got a plan to infuse the petals into hot milk and cream next year and make an ice cream.