Candied Anise Hyssop Flowers
Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) is a beautiful garden plant and a lovely tasting digestive herb. Though it makes a delicious tea, what’s even more fun is making a healthy candy and a multi-purpose syrup.
This plant tastes like licorice but is actually in the mint family – though American licorice is flavored with Anise instead of the actual Licorice plant. And yet this plant is not Anise, which is in the parsley family, nor is it Hyssop, which is medicinal but quite bitter. Common names… confusing, right?!
I love growing this plant in my garden because when I cut it back it springs back with new growth, and it keeps coming back strong year after year with minimal tending. It grows well anywhere from zone 4-8, and the pretty purple flowerheads attract pollinators to the garden but not deer, who do not like the flavor.
This is a great plant to stimulate digestion, help bloating and nausea, and relieve indigestion, but mostly I just like the taste of this plant – sweet and aromatic all the way. The leaves and flowers make a delicious tea, but I can only drink so much tea, especially in the hot summer months. So I started thinking about what else I could do with this plant and if I could make a healthy treat for myself. Enter the idea for candied flowers.
This recipe is a bit more like making candied ginger than most other candied flowers because Anise Hyssop flowers are tougher and can take being cooked into sugar. The bonus is that you also end up with a tasty anise-flavored syrup as a byproduct!!
So without further ado, you can find my recipe below.
Recipe for Anise Hyssop Candy
To make the simple syrup, bring one cup of water to a low boil and add one cup of sugar. I used organic cane sugar, and most recipes call for white sugar because it will preserve better and keep longer. Probably any sugar will keep in the fridge for at least a week, and the candies should be good either way, but I haven’t tried other types. If you try one, please email the school and let us know how it turned out!
Once all the sugar is dissolved, add in fresh Anise Hyssop flower heads, and keep at a low simmer for 10 minutes. Then take it off the heat and let infuse another 10-15 minutes. Longer is fine; these times are just guidelines but don’t simmer for too long, or the aromatics will boil off.
Take out the flowers with a slotted spoon and put them on a cookie tray covered in parchment paper. The paper makes clean-up SO much easier. Trust me.
Put the tray in the oven at 170 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn off the oven for an hour, then turn it back on for another 30 minutes and off for an hour. After the last time, turn off the oven and let sit overnight without opening the oven door.
Check if they are dry by seeing if they crumble and break. If they still bend, put them back in for another spell. When completely dry, let them cool and store in an airtight container. They should stay good for months and make a delicious topping for cakes or desserts, or they can be eaten straight as an after-dinner digestive stimulant and palette cleanser. A great remedy for indigestion, bloating, and even nausea.
Keep the simple syrup you simmered the flowers in and use it to make mocktails or cocktails. Just add a teaspoon to a tablespoon to a glass of plain soda water to make a tasty medicinal soda!! Because I had extra leaves, I added those to the flower syrup and let steep for another 20 minutes to add more flavor.
Blue Ridge Anodyne (mocktail / cocktail recipe)
1-2 teaspoons Anise Hyssop simple syrup
8 oz of soda water
2 squirts of Pine’s Herbals “Cardamom & Citrus Bitters”
Stop here for a tasty mocktail or add a shot of bourbon for a cocktail.
Enjoy!!