Bring the garden to your plate and brightness to your table with our selection of pretty-as-a-picture layer cakes, rippled nougat and botanical cocktails garnished with edible flowers. With delicate floral flavours to match, try our recipes with rose water, orange blossom, lavender and seasonal elderflower to serve at your next tea party for friends.

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Now discover our best floral flavoured gins to try and then try more recipes with elderflower.


Lemon and elderflower almond cake

Serve up a pretty, seasonal bake with elderflower cordial soaked almond sponges, a creamy lemon curd filling and edible flowers to decorate.

Lemon and elderflower layer cake topped with icing and edible flowers

Chocolate gâteau with raspberry and rose

Flavours of raspberry, rose and vanilla give this showstopping chocolate gâteau a grown-up twist. Perfect for entertaining, and surprisingly easy to prepare.

Chocolate gâteau with raspberry, rose and vanilla cream

Mezcal and elderflower highball

Mix up this fragrant mezcal highball, topped with grapefruit soda and rose water and garnished with edible flowers for a floral finish.

Highball glass filled with mezcal and elderflower cocktail and rose garnish

Elderflower, thyme and lemon ice lollies

If you're after an elderflower cordial recipe, follow this and just reduce the water to 750ml, then strain into sterilised jars. Otherwise, use your cream-coloured blooms to make these grown-up ice lollies.

Thyme, elderflower & lemon ice lollies

Rose ripple and lemon nougat

Inspired by Italian torrone, this citrussy nougat recipe is dotted with roasted almonds and pistachios, and drizzled with sweet rose syrup.

Squares of rose ripple and lemon nougat on a board with a pink background

Hibiscus, pomegranate and rose shrub

Experiment with hibiscus powder to make this delightful summery shrub – think of it as a sweetly acidic, grown-up cordial.

A glass of bright red liquid with ice and a slice of orange on a white stone coaster

Lemon curd layer cake

A showstopping, lemon sponge layer cake with a delicious lemon curd icing and beautiful edible crystallised violets and primroses on top.

Lemon curd layer cake decorated with edible flowers

Blood orange sticky iced buns

These are a more refined version of that cake shop staple, topped with a zesty blood orange icing and pretty edible flowers.

Orange Sticky Buns Recipe

Elderflower cordial

Make the most of the short elderflower season by making this fresh cordial – serve it with sparkling water, mix with gin over ice or toss with fruit for a salad.

Elderflower cordial in a bottle as well as two glasses

Turkish delight

Gently perfumed with floral rose water, these squares of turkish delight make a beautiful edible gift or sweet party nibble.

A black plate topped with cubes of pink Turkish delight dusted with icing sugar

Rows of roses

When the rosé comes out, we know that summer has started. While a chilled glass is perfect on a hot day, the seriously fruity characteristics of this style of wine make it great for cocktails too. Try it in this fantastic, refreshing cognac-based cocktail from Hawksmoor Spitalfields.

rows-of-roses

Rose and almond choux buns

Bite-sized rosewater cream buns, designed to impress. A new way to use choux pastry, these crumble-topped treats are a doddle once you've mastered the choux.

Rose and almond choux buns

Sherbati

This rose-flavoured almond drink is served to mark the first month of the Islamic new year. Drink ice-cold as you would a milkshake, topped with chopped pistachios.

Sherbati (rose, chia and almond milkshake) in two small glasses with a jug in the background

Firni

This refined cousin of rice pudding scented with cardamom and pandan is made for special occasions. Served chilled scattered with rose petals and pistachios.

Ground rice pudding with cardamom (firni) in a bowl with a spoon

Doogh ice lollies

Salty and tangy, we’ve translated this classic savoury Persian yogurt drink into a refreshing ice lolly. Mint adds freshness and we’ve added honey for a little sweetness.

Four doogh ice lollies with pink dried petals at the bottom

Persian love cake

Recreate this beautiful Persian love cake for mum. It's wonderfully fragrant thanks to cardamom, nutmeg and pistachios.

Persian love cake on a yellow plate with a slice cut out on a plate to the right

Rose baklava

Check out this simple baklava recipe with rose. This easy baklava is super sweet and crunchy, and makes for a great afternoon treat.

Rose Baklava Recipe

Lavender and vanilla profiteroles

You can buy dried lavender in a jar by Bart Spices (available in most good supermarkets, or online at bartspices.com). Or use Waitrose Cook’s Ingredients lavender sugar instead of the lavender and sugar, just weigh out 30g. Make the profiteroles ahead and keep for 1-2 days in an airtight box.

Lavender and 
vanilla profiteroles

Strawberries in rose syrup

Strawberries and rose are flavours that work really well together. This recipe for strawberries in rose syrup is just 112 calories on its own if you fancy something light but sweet, or it works really well served with waffles and yogurt for a more substantial dessert.

Strawberries in rose syrup

Gulab jamun

Gulab jamun is an Indian sweet dessert of cake-like doughnuts soaked in a rose-cardamom syrup. Enjoy chilled with tea or warm with ice cream.

Bowl of gulab jamun

Orange blossom and yoghurt cake

An easy, bung-it-in-the-oven type of cake that everyone will love and you will make time and time again because it's so easy. The orange flower water in the syrup is worth buying if you can find it, it gives the cake a delicious Middle Eastern twist. Allow time for the syrup to soak in, for a cake that makes the perfect teatime treat or even dinner-party pud.

Orange blossom yoghurt cake with a slice cut out on a plate and yogurt on the side

Raspberry and rose chocolate wafers

Freeze-dried raspberries are available online or from good health food shops, while crystallised rose petals are available from good cookshops and online.

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Raspberry and rose chocolate wafers

Rose and pomegranate meringues

Ruby-red pomegranate seeds and fragrant rose water are the stars in this festive meringue dessert, served with a sprig of fresh mint and real rose petals.

Several meringues on serving plates with a bright red sauce on top

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