I made a magnolia tea latte so good I'm having a religious experience at my desk
this is a PSA to go steal some magnolia flowers from your neighbor's yard TODAY
For @backwoodsbigfoot and anyone else who's curious:
How to cook stuff with magnolia flowers:
First you want to go out and collect a bunch of magnolia flowers (can be any kind of magnolia, there are lots of varieties and they're all edible. Just don’t pick up crushed petals from the ground, get nice flowers or buds off the tree). Bring them home (they'll start to wilt and turn brown within a few hours) and separate the petals from the middle parts. Wash the petals off in case of bugs/pesticides.
Then make your magnolia syrup:
Make simple syrup (equal parts water and white sugar) in a small pot—you can add extra sugar if you want the syrup thicker. Bring to a boil until the sugar is dissolved, then dump in the magnolia petals. I’d aim for a packed cup of petals per cup of water, but you can use less if you can't steal as many of your neighbor's magnolias without them noticing.
Let that simmer for 20 min or so. The petals will shrivel up and turn brown- that's ok! Then remove it from heat (the longer it simmers the more water will dissolve, again making a thicker syrup) and strain the petals out. Keep the shriveled up petals, bc now they’re all soaked in sugar and taste like flower jam. You can blend them up and add them to cereal or oatmeal or cookie batter or anything else you like. Store them in the fridge or freezer.
Let the syrup (a gold or pale pink color) cool down and put it in the fridge in sealed jars and now you can make MAGNOLIA FLAVORED ANYTHING!!
For a magnolia tea latte I like to brew black tea in a half cup or so of water, then add an ounce of magnolia syrup and top with steamed milk.
I’ve also added magnolia syrup to lemonade, coffee, sparkling water, cocktails, oatmeal, smoothies, and a really lovely gingersnap cookie recipe, and they've all been great! Magnolia tastes mostly like floral ginger, sometimes with a faint aftertaste of cloves.
All the credit from my magnolia adventures goes to blackforager on instagram, who is a plant genius and came up with the magnolia snap cookie recipe I love so much <3 She's also on tiktok I believe, for the Youths













