Magnolia & Maple Blossom Munchies Mid-March

This week I found Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) in full bloom, its zingy lime-yellow blossoms looking like they’d been dyed with fluorescent marker pen. Maple blossoms, apart from Sycamore, are edible and taste like peas. Yum!

Norway Maple has leaves much larger than our native Field Maple (Acer campestre). Norway Maple has 7 pointed lobes, whilst Field Maple has 5 lobes and they are rounded.

Norway Maple flowers

Norway Maple tree

I made Maple Blossom Pickle and Cinnamon Maple Blossom Fritters. some moan about the taste of maple blossom raw, but I found it quite acceptable. This is possibly due to the fact that I have eaten a great many bitter and astringent things!! So Maple blossom ranks about 3 out of 10 on the bitterness scale…

Maple Blossom Quick Pickle

Me with maple blossom,(I live in bike stuff)…

The texture of the tempura blossoms was amazing, really bubbly. The blossoms hold batter really well. Most recipes call for powdered sugar, which is admittedly nice, but not as healthy as cinnamon. I used 1/2 tsp cinnamon and just a touch of sugar.

Tempura Norway Maple Blossom (I dusted on cinnamon afterward)

Check out my video with both Norway Maple recipes here. Er, like and subscribe!! (If you want, and can be bothered).

Magnolia Flowers

After the excitement of the Maple Blossom, I took my son to his wrestling club and took a stroll in the churchyard. A beautiful Magnolia tree came into sight, with its ginger-scented blooms.

Magnolia blossoms are edible too, and so worth it. Unlike many flowers, they have a strong taste of dessert spice and are fairly substantial. Magnolia comes from an ancient lineage of trees harking back to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Back then, it was fertilised by beetles, as it pre-dates the evolution of bees! This explains why the flowers are so ‘hefty’ as they had to take the weight of large beetle pollinators.

Magnolia open flower

After asking the church warden nicely, I gathered a modest pot of closed Magnolia buds. Back at the boat, I pickled the petals with star anise and a few other spices. It’s a quick pickle, so in a few days, I can make Magnolia Sushi.

Magnolia closed buds

inside part of flower tastes v strong!

The pickle creates not only delicate pickled blossoms tasting of ginger and cardamom, it also provides me with a pink, Magnolia-spiced vinegar I can use as salad dressing (or in sushi). Below is a ‘pic of both pickles’ ready for use in recipes.