We picked blossoms from our backyard for these lovely treats. They are tasty and beautiful for a special occasion!

Note: This is a fun and easy recipe but it requires dealing with very hot liquids so it's not a good activity for little helpers!

Special Supplies:

• Candy Thermometer we have a standard digital thermometer but I just discovered this one that has a thermometer built into a spatula and it is super cool!

• Lollipop Mold we purchased this mold on Amazon and it came with a set of sticks! Or you can use Parchment paper instead of a mold.

Nope! Here’s what a lollipop poured directly on a sheet of parchment paper looks like versus one made with the mold. Both so fun!

The Recipe:

This is the recipe we used from Kelly at www.justataste.com.

She has a simple directions and even a little video! It takes about 15 minutes, and only requires a few ingredients (sugar, corn syrup, water and optional flavoring!)

Substitutions: We tried substituting honey for the corn syrup, in an effort to make them a bit healthier! It also made a totally different look! You can see the difference in the picture below. It was much more difficult to get the temperature up without boiling over. If you're pretty confident in the kitchen, go for it! But if you're looking for the easiest version, definitely try the corn syrup!

Pouring techniques:

Technique #1: Lay out petals in mold (or on parchment paper) and pour to cover. This worked well for individual petals, bits and individual lilac flowers.

Technique #2: Pour to halfway, wait for it to cool a little. then lay the flower on top and pour the second half. We used this technique for violets. We tried the first technique initially and the violets shriveled up in the heat. However, when we tried this with white lilac blossoms, the part that was exposed to air turned brown. 

Notes on the Flowers:

*Make absolutely sure that the flowers you are using are edible! 

• Dandelion: Pull dandelion petals carefully from flowers. (We only used the longer/outside petals which were easier to pull out). One flower is plenty to make 4-6 lollipops.
• Lilac: Remove the long back part of the blossom so the flower will lay flat in the lollipop. We used 4-5 individual blossoms for each lollipop.
• Violet: Pick the smallest violets you can find if you are using individual molds. Make sure to pick extras, we had to redo these after our syrup was too hot and melted the flowers. One violet per lollipop is perfect!
• Herbs: Pick delicate herbs to add to your lollipops. We chose baby dill fronds and chive blossoms. The dill is dainty and adds interest. We pulled the individual purple blossoms from the chive flower and they also added a delicate layer to the lollipops. 

Other Tips:

• Having two people for the pouring part really helps! One to pour and the other to arrange the petals. It's very hot and you have to move fairly quickly. But you can absolutely do it solo.
• A saucepan with a spout would be helpful but isn't necessary. 
• Keep a couple toothpicks handy for moving the petals around/pushing them into the syrup so they aren't covered.
• Cleanup isn't hard! Fill the pot with water and carefully reheat on low until it simmers. The water dilutes the mixture so it won’t harden again, and you can let it cool and then wash! Or just let it soak in the sink overnight and it will dissolve.