Botanical Baking: Contemporary baking and cake decorating with edible flowers and herbs

by Juliet Sear

“Sear’s food styling background is apparent . . . Home bakers looking to up their decorating game will want to check out this eye-catching cookbook.” —Publishers Weekly

Learn how to perfect the prettiest trend in cake decorating—using edible flowers and herbs to decorate your cakes and bakes—with this impossibly beautiful guide from celebrity baker Juliet Sear. Learn what flowers are edible and great for flavour, how to use, preserve, store and apply them including pressing, drying and crystallising flowers and petals. Then follow Juliet step-by- step as she creates around twenty beautiful botanical cakes that showcase edible flowers and herbs, including more top trends such as a confetti cake, a wreath cake, a gin and tonic cake, floral chocolate bark, a naked cake, a jelly cake, a letter cake and more.

“I’m not sure yet which is more impressive, Juliet’s decorating skills or how good her cakes taste.” —Buddy Valastro of Cake Boss

“A feast for the eyes. You’ll not find a more beautiful baking book. Blooming marvellous!” —Fearne Cotton, English broadcaster and author

“Juliet’s stunning botanical book shouts springtime and happy times!” —Melissa Hemsley, author of Feel Quick and Easy Recipes for Comfort and Joy

“A new kind of professional has now entered thefood cakeologist. Well known in theU.K. forherfanciful creations with edibleblooms (shecounts PrinceHarry, KateMoss, and SirIan McKellen among hercustomers), Searoffers 30 wares to U.S. bakers . . . Sear, who’s been highlighted in Martha Stewart Weddings, deserves a major ‘hip!’ for her forher accomplishments.” —Booklist (starred review)

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

455 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2019

Reviews

[Ell · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[DubaiReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

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....

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great cook book, just what I like to help when I’m baking. Full of lots of lovely pictures, helpful instructions, clear hints and tips. It’s bright, appealing and most importantly helpful. So many cookbooks aren’t clear or lack pictures and this really doesn’t help, this book should help even the most novice in the kitchen

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely more of a cake decorating book than a baking book, but I definitely found a few helpful hints here.

[Ashley {_xamountofbooks} · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Edelweiss+)

A lot of the recipes seem geared towards baking on a a larger scale but it was an interesting read.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book on using real flowers on and in baking.

The book starts with an introduction which shows the different types of flowers that can be used and where to source them - there is also a little warning if not picking them near where dogs go! It then covers five different method for storing and preserving flowers, using syrup, suspending in sugar, crystallising, pressing and drying, though the section isn't very long. It also provides details on a basic vanilla cake mix and buttercream that can be used in some of the bakes along with how to prepare the cake once its cooked ready for decorating.

Once you have your flowers, the author then provides three sections on how to bake them: Sweet Treats, Just Desserts and Celebration Cakes.

Sweet treats has ten recipes that are more smaller bites such as biscuits and macaroons. Desserts has seven different types of cakes, and Celebration cakes are much more fanciful ; there are twelve to choose from. Included at the back of the books are templates for butterflies, a single letter and two numbers, though she does give suggestions on how to print other numbers and letters yourself.

The book is full of colour photography and the recipes include metric and imperial , along with equipment required.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

[Kerrie Hoar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow!  I love this book!  

First off, I had no idea that some of the flowers listed in this book were even edible.  The author discusses how to crystallize, press, and dry your flowers - or you can just use them fresh out of your garden.  

Recipes are included for a basic vanilla sponge and a vanilla buttercream. Instructions for frosting, filling and stacking your cakes, adding a crumb coat and covering with fondant or marzipan are all easy to follow.  

The photos are absolutely delicious!  
Lavender Biscuits, Macrons with Chocolate Ganache Filling,  flowery Meringue Lollies, Sugar Lollies, Dried Flowers Chocolate Bark, and Flowerfetti Inside Out Cake Oh My!!  
The Jelly and Cream Sponge Cake is absolutely exquisite!  
I can picture each and everyone of these creations as the centerpiece of an afternoon tea in a lovely English garden.  

(NetGalley ebook -  I received a complimentary advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

[Bianca]

Utterly fascinating. A deeply detailed, extremely advanced cookbook for bakers up for a true challenge!

Out of the maybe 2 dozen recipes shared here (the first one I looked at involved grinding up lavender and mixing it with sugar and powdered dye), I could maybe attempt five of them (ok probably two), and only on a really exceptional, patience-filled day. Didn't realize Juliet Sear was famous in the UK, but she apparently made a bunch of treats for one of the GBBO ad campaigns? That's how involved this is. I learned what physalis were while reading this. Dunno what physalis are? Well, they're groundcherries. Don't know what THOSE are? Yeah, you're probably at my level then.

A really cool thing to flip through and marvel at the skill levels of others out there. If you already consider yourself a pretty accomplished baker, then pick this up to try out something vastly new or to get some inspo. Everything in here is definitely gorgeous to look at!

[LauSo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book to be helpfull for me to understand how to use flowers in my baking, I think the author used them most of all only as a decoration, and I would've liked to see the "flowers flavour" pages she put at the beginning being used. She used some flowers for flavour, like the lavender biscuits, which I'll try my hand at and see how they go, but in a lot of her recepeits she just used the flowers as a decoration and I woul've liked for her to take it a step further than that. Overall it was a good book, with practical advice and a good book to start understanding how to use edible flowers in your baking. I'm gratefull I was given the chance to read it and took notes in some of the advice and will put it into practice.

[Lilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to garden so I got this book to learn more about edible flowers. In this book, the flowers are used for decoration - much like icing is used to make flowers. While most of the techniques are outside my usual baking skill, I thought the book provided detailed instructions so that an "everyday" baker could attempt to decorate a cake with flowers. The book has lots of pictures of beautiful cakes to provide inspiration. However, they also provide many series of pictures to supplement the written instructions in the book. These pictures are very helpful in understanding the instructions. The author does provide a listing of flowers that are edible and also provides some feedback on what they taste like.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

'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.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[JustHB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Botanical baking is a beautiful recipe book for contemporary baking and cake decorating with edible flowers and herbs. I don't think I've seen more beautiful doughnuts (chouxnuts) anywhere. A shame they use food colouring in some of the recipes, which I find to be at odds with the ethos of the book, and some of the recipes are more visual than practical, such as the cupcake wreath - no one is going to eat a whole carnation or whole crystallised dahlia from the top of a cupcake. That being said, the Floral Crispie Cake Topper is positively revolutionary - I love that idea!! And the gin and tonic cake tails - wow, can't wait to try that - truly inspiring.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years ago I attended a cake decorating class that used flowers, mainly violets and nasturtiums, to decorate but I never progressed beyond the first few attempts. This time I have already completed 10 times more than the first class. Why, this book is informative without being intimidating, instructional while still encouraging personal tastes and generally a much better teacher than an actual teacher! My family has been generous with their oohs and ahhs while the goofs have been pretty comical. The point is Juliet Sear has encouraged me and my baking co-horts to create some pretty great memories with her excellent book.

[CC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never knew that I needed a cupcake wreath in my life, but here we are. Everything in this book is jaw droppingly beautiful, with easy to follow instructions all laid out if still a bit intimidating. I understand that the author has been at this for twenty years and it definitely shows. The rose and lychee cake looks like a tiny masterpiece, made with obvious care and love. I live a more low carb lifestyle but this book thankfully can be adapted to recipes that I can actually enjoy. I look forward to floral experimentation.

[Ann T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you F + W Media and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

This is a gorgeous gorgeous book. I originally requested an ARC to look at the pictures as I love flowers, but reading through I am so inspired to try some of these recipes. Many would be suited to confident cooks and decorators but there are a few that I would love to try with my daughters. I esp love the gin and tonic jelly cake, so so pretty.

A beautifully photographed book with equally identifying recipes, this was an absolute pleasure to read.
Highly recommended and a wonderful gift.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Botanical Baking" by Juliet Sear is a visually stunning guide to incorporating edible flowers and herbs into baking. The book offers excellent step-by-step instructions, making it feel approachable even for beginners. While many recipes are complex and might be intimidating, the detailed guidance and inspiration make it a worthwhile read. I particularly enjoyed the focus on preserving and crystallizing flowers, as well as the creative floral designs. Some recipes may remain aspirational for now, but this book is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to elevate their baking.

[Kiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Disclaimer: I am by no means a good cook. I am actually a novice when it comes to cooking.

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.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of recipes for absolutely gorgeous-looking cakes and things with edible flowers. Unfortunately, I'm too paranoid to harvest flowers from my own garden for edible flowers, because there's a chance that, at some point, one of my cats has peed on them. Also, what about plants that have been sprayed with pesticides or fertilizers....

Still, everything in this book looks so damn delicious and pretty.

[Yofi Abu · Rating 4 out of 5]

While most of these sweets seem impractical for, or beyond the skills of most home cooks (certainly me!), this us a really beautiful and inspirational book.

Some good base recipes I know I'll hold on. And some surprising recommendations on botanicals to use - beyond the usual candied pansies and rose petals.

Most of the suppliers listed in the back of the book are UK companies, but it is a British book, so I can't complain.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great inspiration for using edible flowers. I loved the different techniques used some which I would not have thought of. Some of my favorite edible flowers (violets, borage, dandilions, thyme, magnolia, forsithea) were missing from this list but to be fair I am in a different country from the author and the list is so endless

[Amanda Judd · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's mostly cake decorating and much less baking with fresh flowers and herbs. Some cool ideas but most flavours are pretty basic or its a wild four-tier cake. Not much for the every day. The reference information at the beginning was quite helpful.

[Claire Thorpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful book ! I can't wait to have a go at some of the lovely recipes - there are beautiful photos with helpful hints . I have found it really interesting in the types of flowers that are edible and have already found some in my local Deli - lovely book

[Tracey Callison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Should maybe be an extended magazine article. The pictures are very pretty. Once you’ve learned how to press, dry, crystallize, and encase fresh flowers (4 pages), the rest is there mostly for the pretty pictures.

[Caroline Berg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is undeniably a beautiful book. But as another reviewer pointed out, the flowers here are mostly for decorating, and are not chosen for their unique flavors when added to dishes, which is more what I was looking for.

[Kristen Barenthaler · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who pretends they're a good baker, but knows they're a terrible gardener, this book was perfect! I was drawn in by all the images, the recipes sound delicious, and it was a perfect way to spend an evening imagining that I could ever be this good of a baker.

[Gladimore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing I could do but pretty