I've been meaning to do this every year that we've lived in this house. The far end of the backyard is heavily studded with violets every April and there's such an abundance that I find myself thinking of ways to enjoy them for longer than their very brief season. Violets are such a mysterious flower and their sensory delights rather unexplored by the general populace. I've sprinkled them in my bathwater. I've gathered them up into huge bouquets and brought them to my nose, inhaled, and detected an ethereal sweetness with just a hint of old lady. Yes, you read right, old lady. Don't ask why, just go out and gather a bundle and you will see what I mean.
Finally, I've read of candied violets and I have made several previous (unsuccessful) attempts at producing them, filing away what I think I may have done wrong (or right) each time. This year, I felt I had the winning combination. I whisked an egg white with 3-4 tbsps of sugar and got a sort of proto-meringue. I then used this meringue to gently coat each petal. There's really no other way to do this--you must use your fingertips.
Once your flowers are coated in the white foamy stuff, lay them on a sheet of parchment paper, preferably face-up. Set your oven to "warm" and cycle it on and off a few times until the meringue is dry and the flowers peel up easily from the paper. Seal the cooled candied violets in a small resealable container.
I suspect I may use these as toppers for chocolate frosted cupcakes or crumble them on top of vanilla icecream. I snuck a couple--so strangely sweet and delicious!
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