There is nothing like colorful organic flowers to jazz up a plain-looking cake and if you can eat them, so much the better. In Botanical Baking, Juliet Sear guides the reader on where to source edible flowers 🌺 and lists different kinds of flowers as well as details of each flower’s flavor. ( Alyssum, candytuft, Apple blossom, Dahlia, and more). She offers tips on how to store and preserve edible flowers for later use.

She provides the baking basics starting with basic instructions to guide the reader on how to bake layer cakes 🍰. She also suggests sizes and layer number for making the cakes in this book.

In the first section of this book, the author presents recipes that are used throughout the book. For instance, the layer cakes and cupcakes call for the simple sponge recipe; she uses vanilla buttercream recipe for frosting and base for her chocolate ganache buttercream. Using easy-to-follow instructions, she guides you on how to layer and fill a cake,🍰 as well as present decorating tips.

Using a variety of edible flowers, she presents a handcrafted selection of baked goods including lavender meringue lollies, ganache trio, ganache and cake tails accompanied by gorgeous photos. Other treats include lavender biscuits, iced rings, macarons and more.

The book concludes with templates and a list of suppliers in the UK for future reference.

Botanical baking is filled with so many treats that will motivate hobbyists and seasoned bakers to create edible decorations. I highly recommend.

Thank you to Juliet Sear, SewandSo, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are so many plants and flowers that I never would have thought could be incorporated into baking. This book is really interesting. I'm not sure if I would actually make any of these, but it was a interesting read and cool to look at the different things that could be made.

A beautiful cookery book.
Ever since we went to dinner with a friend who used real flowers to decorate his creations, I have been fascinated by the use of flowers in cookery. For me, this is the perfect book. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, with impressive photographs of delicious cakes.

There is a useful section listing the flowers that have been used in the recipes, some of which I have easy access to, but had not realised were edible: Rose petals, primrose and apple blossom, for example.
This is followed by methods for preserving the flowers for use out of season, including cordials, crystalising and pressing. Some of these look like they might take some practice.
After the basic cake baking recipes that are used throughout the book, the author launches into the main part of the book - the recipes that make this collection so appealing.
Where shall I start? Lavender biscuits and macaroons, Meringues and sugar lollies with flowers immersed in their depths.

I think many of these recipes are pretty complicated and definitely time consuming, but for an experienced cook there are some beautiful ideas and great opportunities to stun your guests. I am totally sold by the idea of Gin and Tonic cake and impressed to find that the collection also caters for vegans with a chocolate fudge cake.
Enough book reviewing, I'm off to the kitchen....

A beautiful book which tells you step by step how to cook with flowers. This is a fascinating recipe book. I have often thought about using flowers in my baking and I have never been brave enough to try it. Maybe now I will.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The concept of this book was new to me: adding plants to cakes for decorating. I have been decorating cakes for a few years, so I already have the basic skill set but this book still covers stuff like crumb coat, and using marzipan etc. It is a UK title so some of the terminology was a little different but i caught on quickly enough.

One great thing is that because this is a decorating book not a baking book, there is a simple recipe that you reuse for must of the bases and just tweak if you want to. The book focuses on decorations. There is a glossary of the types of edible flowers and their flavor. This is great information, i haven't tasted a lot of flowers!

Rounding it out there are some other sweet treats included biscuits (cookies), chocolate bark, lollipops, and tons of gorgeous pictures.
Recommended for anyone wanting to try their hand at adding natural elements to their decorated sweets, or just enjoy looking at the pictures.

This cookbook is filled with delicious looking recipes, but has costly, special ingredients and is not for novices. I would totally purchase this for my friend who is a professional baker, but would be unable to use most of this book myself.

This is a gorgeous book for skilled bakers who want to use edible flowers and flower petals for decorating fancy cakes and baked goods.

We cook with a lot of edible flowers and I was really excited to get more flower recipes, but this isn't really that kind of book. While there is a recipe for elderflower syrup (commonly used to flavor cakes, drinks, etc.), most of the flowers are garden flowers that you grow or purchase from organic florists and are used as pressed decorations or sprinkled dried confetti. The flowers are used for pretty decorations, rather than flavors. I love baking and cooking with flowers but most of the ones I cook with are foraged like elderflowers, dandelions and violets, none of which are included (other than the elderflower syrup). I also like to do fun things with the kids with edible flowers like tulips (fun to fill with mousse as little cups), nasturtiums (spicy but a beautiful edible garnish) and other common garden flowers, but these were not included either.

There is a wonderful photo spread that shows the author's favorite edible flowers and tells what they each taste like, which I loved. I would disagree with her on what flowers are best for baking, but I'm assuming she's coming from the perspective of a professional chef in England who purchases her flowers, not an American mom who gardens and forages with her kids.

The recipes tend towards fancy professional sorts. She mentioned that one of the recipes was featured in Martha Stewart's wedding magazine, to give you an idea of the level of sophistication. She also calls for things like printing butterflies on edible paper and says she has a printer that prints in edible ink, so the home cook may have to creatively rework some of the recipes.

There are beautiful color photos of every recipe.

I don't think that I'll end up trying any of the recipes. I would have to adapt them as we're a gluten free family and no gluten free recipes are included (one vegan recipe is included), but I'm pretty good at that. Ultimately, most of the recipes are just basic fancy baked goods that have dried flowers pressed or sprinkled on them, though. Her basic cake recipe is a standard one of self rising flour, butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla paste, and her buttercream frosting is butter, powdered sugar, vanilla paste and a bit of boiling water. The recipes tend towards wedding cakes and elaborate showstoppers for parties, using those basic recipes and pressed and scattered flowers in various applications. While they're utterly gorgeous, I think I'd probably remove the flowers and then eat them. The flowers themselves don't look tasty. I'm really looking for something that really uses the flowers, and uses ones that taste good. All that said, it was beautiful to look through and definitely serves as fantastic decorating inspiration.

My rating system:
1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost

I read a temporary digital ARC of the book for the purpose of review.

I love to bake and I love plants and flowers so when I saw this book, Botanical Banning, I had to check it out! The baked goods in this book are decorated using edible flyers and herbs. Sear begins with an introduction to sourcing and using edible flowers and offers a nice section on flower flavors. This was especially interesting to me since I have no sense of smell. Another nice touch was including directions for vegan-friendly crystallising (often done using egg whites). The recipes themselves are not vegan so of this is a concern, know that you will need to do some substitution and may need to play around with recipes a bit on your own. Flower pressing and drying technique are also covered as are baking and decorating basics such as icing and assembling layer cakes and covering with sugarpaste or marzipan. clear photo tutorials are included, making this book more accessible for beginners. Many recipes incorporate botanicals into the baked good as well as the decoration. These recipes would make a lovely addition to a Spring or Summer party.

Thank you to F+W Media and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This had a lot of cute recipes and interesting information on what flowers are edible, and how to utilize both real and artificial flowers in baking. Some of the recipes are above my skill level, but I feel like I'm able to attempt a fair amount of these recipes if and when I have an occasion to try them. Really interesting to read through!

This is such a fab book and the bakes are amazing. I didn't know anything about edible flowers before and really enjoyed that there is a full section of this book dedicated to different edible flowers, how to use them and what they taste like etc.

The recipes are all very well laid out and seem easy enough to follow. the photography is stunning.

Perhaps i will give baking with edible flowers a try!

In my imagination, I'm a fabulous baker who makes decadent treats - sweet and savory - with perfect results every time. In reality, I have little time for baking, and the closest I get to perfect results is thumbing through gorgeous cookbooks like this one. Okay, there was that time I made my 2-tiered wedding cake, which was yummy...and, come to think of it, this book would have been perfect for that project!

Juliet Sear has loaded her cookbook with gorgeous photography and recipes for treats that look delicious and beautiful. You can't beat fresh flowers for decorating pretty much anything, but who knew so many of them were edible and, thus, perfect adornments for cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and so on? Juliet Sear did, and she proved it here. I particularly enjoyed the section describing each edible flower, which tells the reader what the flower tastes like and how it might be used. Who knew that snapdragons don't have much taste but are edible?

Sear provides information on determining the amount of cake batter needed for a cake that is smaller or larger than the one in her book, and also provides fundamental instruction on baking, icing, crumb-coating, and so on. She shares a recipe for a basic vanilla cake and a vanilla buttercream, both of which will stand up to flavor additions. She also shares information on preserving flowers, on sugaring them, and on selecting good blossoms.

One thing to mention: Sears specifies that her recipes are written for baking in an oven with a fan (convection) setting. Readers who don't have a convection oven will need to research how to convert the baking time and temperature for a non-fan oven.

I'll also mention that I read this as an e-book and as an ARC, so the formatting was wonky at times. All that did, though, was make me wish for a print copy to call my own. It's lovely, and whether you read it for the recipes or just for the pictures, I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to review this beautiful book!

I received this arc from NetGalley for an honest review. I haven't thought much about using flowers in baking, but when I see it, I think it is so beautiful. This book is an excellent first step into using flowers in desserts and I'm excited to try it for the first time. There's lots of great information and pictures to go along with easy to use recipes.

Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this book from NetGallery in exchange for a fair and honest review.

THIS BOOK IS EXQUISITE!!! (and yes, I am shouting)

My daughter bakes many gorgeous cakes, etc. and this will be on her Christmas gift list for this year.

I knew there were several flowers and herbs you could include in cooking and baking, but I had no idea how many.

The photographs in this volume are breathtaking and almost make me wonderful if I would have the nerve to cut into some of these works of art.

My only caveat is that I have not specifically followed the directions/recipes, but this is definitely a five star book in my opinion.

What an absolutely gorgeous and inspiring book! I actually found myself sighing out loud as I went through page after page of amazing pastries decorated with natural botanicals. This book is advanced, for sure, but for those of us who are content to emulate a fraction of what Juliet Sear displayed, I think her ideas could be used at different levels with beautiful results. For the more advanced baker, this book is packed with pictures and detailed explanations that will guide and inspire. And for anyone looking for wedding ideas... I would start here.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book From NetGalley and F+W Media in exchange for an honest review!

I have been seeing this new trend in cooking and baking where you use edible plants and flowers. The pictures of these earthly creations are gorgeous and surprisingly accessible to make! Juliet Shear, supplies readers with tips and tools for how to get into botanical baking. The recipes are very well written and clear, especially in terms of giving you the exact baking tools you need to create her cakes and desserts. Shear gives photos and text information about different plants and flowers to look for when choosing something edible. With each plant, she describes the flavors and how to effortlessly pair them with other foods. Shear also gives tips on how to find these edible flowers, and the obvious warning that just because it's found in nature does not mean it is edible! She also provides tips on various ways you can preserve the flowers to keep them tasting and looking fresh.

Some of the recipes seem daunting to make but the book has step by step pictures to help you through the creation process! You can see exactly how it is supposed to be made which helped me a lot when I didn't recognize some of the tools she was saying to use (cake shapers and ribbon cutters for example). I also appreciated how she gives measurements in both grams and ounces! As someone who moved from a country  using ounces to one of the gram-using countries, converting can be a pain when baking. Shear made it so much easier for me by providing both (the international/expat community thanks you). 

I'm most excited to try and make the ice lollies with beautiful flowers inside them, as well as her macaroons (they're my favorite dessert of all time). The one negative thing I'd say about this book is that the celebration cakes get very complicated and I'd be nervous to try them since most 'normies' can't make a three tier cake with ribbon cutters, marzipan, and dowels (or maybe it's just me.)

I loved seeing the process and final pictures of the delicious cakes, ice lollies, and loafs in a creative baking style. This book peaked my interest in trying my hand in botanical baking and learning more about how everyday flowers can be made edible (not the ones in the park though-don't eat those).

A lovely book, that takes you by the hand and guides you through the world of edible flowers and gives you lovely recipes to follow. I have been looking for a book like this for so long. I can't wait to get baking.

Historically flowers have been used for centuries in cooking to flavor baked goods. This beautiful book projects an array of possible choices beyond the familiar flavors of rose, violet and lemon verbena. From pressing flowers that can be used to adorn a macaron to creating floral syrups, there are many novel ways to bring the garden into the kitchen. The baking recipes are somewhat difficult for the average home baker but for those of us who have been binge watching several seasons of the Great British Baking Show we may feel up to the challenge.

'Botanical Baking' had me flipping the pages, just looking at all the wonderful cakes and desserts before i went back to the beginning. I was left thinking 'how could i eat them, as i wouldn't want to spoil them?' I have never seen such a book before! I do enjoy cake making and when i next have company, i hope to surprise them with one of these beautiful creations. Don't even ask me which one, as they all look so pretty. I do have some of the flowers growing in my garden, which would be useful. Highly recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review.

I was fascinated by this book as I find the idea of using flower for food really fascinating.
I appreciated the explanations, the clear recipes and the amazing pictures.
This book is really useful if you want to cook using flowers.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is an inspirational book. It is inspirational from an artistic perspective and from a baking perspective. I am looking forward to trying out many of the recipes. I hope with the step-by-step guidance of author Juliet Sear I will soon be creating pretty edible decorations for all my family’s celebrations.
The first part of this book provides an alphabetized list of the edible botanicals used in the cake decorations. Names, photos, taste and best uses are covered. The second part of this book provides methods to incorporate botanicals into your kitchen repertoire. The third part of this book presents delectable sweet treat recipes and decorating tips.