Q: Yesterday, on an impulse, I bought a bottle of orange flower water. Problem is, none of the cookbooks in my collection have a recipe that calls for it!
Any ideas for how to use it other than a Ramos gin fizz? Maybe a springy dessert I could bring to my mom's house for Mother's Day?
Sent by Julia
Editor: Julia, here are two recipes from our archives that do call for orange flower (or orange blossom) water:
• Lemon Verbena and Orange Blossom Fizz
• Maine Blueberry Pancakes with Orange Blossom Maple Syrup
The key thing to remember about about this ingredient is that a little goes a very, very long way. Just a dash will add an herbal fragrance to whipped cream, meringues, or other sweet things. But don't overdo it; its flavor can be overpowering if used too heavily.
Readers, any favorite recipes for orange flower water?
Related: Silver Fizz Cocktail from Sepia Chicago
(Image: Faith Durand)
Monterey Pitcher fr...

This recipe was heavenly.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/04/orange_flower_pavlovas_with_strawberries
Tagine! YUM
http://elrascooking.blogspot.com/2008/10/tajine-of-chicken-with-saffron-and.html
http://www.notakeout.com/tagine-from-le-casbah/
http://forum.tunisia.com/tunisian-recipes-cooking/2498-lamb-tagine-dates.html
Morroccan food uses a lot of orange water: http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/moroccanfood101/tp/Moroccan_recipes_with_orange_flower_water.htm
Also look for madeleine recipes - many include orange blossom water.
Sorry -
http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/moroccanfood101/tp/Moroccan_recipes_with_orange_flower_water.htm
Egyptian bread pudding is my favorite thing to do with orange blossom water. It kind of smells like pickles to me when in the bottle, but it makes the final product so fragrant!
My Palestinian mother-in-law puts it in her baklava recipe. Lovely.
Oh, we also like a tiny bit in buttercream frosting or vanilla milkshakes!
Add a few drops to your evening camomile, or better, verbena tea.
In Tunisia it's used often in coffee drinks -- a little orange flower water in your espresso is a nice touch!
For summer cakes (I tend to make poppyseed, lemon, or something fruit-based), I don't like to ice, but piling whipped cream on top is amazing.
Adding orange flower water to the whipped cream (add and taste - a bit goes a long way!) makes the best dessert I've had, ever.
Also: morroccan mint tea with a tiny bit of orange flower water and a bit of sugar. Amazing hot, and really quite nice as iced tea as wel!
I love this carrot salad from Simply Recipes:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/orange_blossom_carrot_salad/
but I put much less orange blossom water in! I would start with a tsp. or so and taste as you go.
I second the backlawa! Rose water is also good for this.
I have a yummy, simple Moroccan recipe that uses orange flower water. It's a salad of julienned carrots and orange segments. Make a dressing with the juice from the orange, some orange flower water, and cinnamon. So good.
Also, orange flower water has such a lovely, light floral scent, you can put a couple dabs behind your ear like a perfume. :)
I add a drop to sweetened mint tea. I like it in pie crusts, crepes, and sugar cookies, as well. It takes any sweet but otherwise neutral tasting food and makes it really special.
Makroud el Louse (algerian almond cookies). We just made them recently for my daughter's class project.
http://www.whats4eats.com/desserts/makroud-el-louse-recipe
Baklava, buttercream, and pavlovas are nice. I also like a little splash of it in water. Just remember to use it small amounts. It'll keep forever so it's not like you have to use it a week.
I cook at a small private Persian language school, this as well as rose water were two of the ingredients that perplexed me a bit when I first started.
I've started using both to make 'scented' carrots, a bit of orange blossom or rose water, some honey, a little butter and some white wine, saute and serve. The kids I cook for love them!
@ChazFrench- Do you have your own blog or something with some of the recipes for meals you prepare for the language school? I would be really interested to see what you are cooking!
In hot milk, a calming drink before goint to bed.
you can use it to scent almost anything, and a tiny dash in some oatmeal/porridge is also really good, especially if you're in the habit of including fruit like sultanas or dates when you make it...
It's fantastic in lemonade or limeade. It's also nice for keeping a spritzer in the fridge and spraying your face on a hot day.
If you make just a simple crepe recipe add about a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half in. Then serve with either honey or raw sugar as a topping, it tastes amazing!
Could this be the secret ingredient in a pure white cake I had years ago that tasted of orange, sweet but without that "sugary" flavor, and was just a bit floral? The baker, a close acquaintance, would not give me the recipe when I asked and I've not tasted anything like it since. :( It was the best cake I ever had. (There were zero bits of pulp or zest in the cake, the filling, and the icing, but they all tasted faintly of sweet orange.)
i like to make fruit salads through spring & summer, sometimes with lemon juice, zest and a bit of orange flower water or rose water. this is especially nice with yogurt.
add some to a blended lassi!
While I haven't made it myself, I've eaten lasagna made with orange flower water. (The secret was in the sauce!)
Here's my blog post about the cooking class I attended that introduced me to the heavenly stuff!
I made homemade sugar cubes with orange flower water once. They came out smelling great and you could put them in whatever drink you want :]
I tried it out from this website:
http://www.alwaysorderdessert.com/2011/02/inspired-entertaining-homemade-flavored.html