Pumpkin blossoms are a beautiful addition to salads, soups, and fall dishes alike, but are notoriously hard to store. The structural components of the flower are mostly water, which can cause the vibrant flower to wilt and the taste to fade. If you want these flowers for an extended period, there are different ways to store them to where they retain their color and original taste.
The best way to freeze pumpkin blossoms is to press the flower, and to put them in a freezer safe bag. When you defrost them, pat then regularly to get the water off them.
The best way to freeze the pumpkin blossoms is to:
Place the pumpkin flowers on a flat space and begin to press them with something heavy, such as a large book or a pot.
Pat the flowers with a towel to make sure they’re completely dry.
Get freezer safe bags and place the pumpkin blossoms gently inside, taking care to place them flat into the bag.
Place it in the freezer, at the top so that nothing drips on the bag.
When you take the pumpkin blossoms out of the freezer, gently place them on a flat surface with a paper towel under them to soak any wetness from the bottom of the plant.
Gently pat the top of the plant to get any water or ice off of the petals of the flower, in order to retain the structure and texture of the pumpkin blossom.
Pumpkin flowers are made of water and plant fat, making their structural integrity hard to preserve after defrosting. There is almost no way that the pumpkin flower will look the same after freezing it, but it is the next alternative to having a fresh pumpkin flower.
The benefit for pressing the flower is not for aesthetics, but rather to preserve the flavor profile of the flower without significant wilting. It also preserves the general shape of the flower so that the aesthetic is achieved while having the flavorful garnish that people use it for.
Are There Alternatives to Pressing the Pumpkin Flowers?
There is one noted alternative to which instead of pressing, you close the flower while freezing in order to preserve the shape. This method does cause condensation at the bottom of the flower to gain more wetness however and should only be used for extremely short freezes.
Another way for more long-term shortage is to separate the petals from the flower and freeze them. While the texture and appearance will not be the exact same, it is still a good way to store the garnish. The downside to this is that you still have to wipe down each individual petal, which can be a pain if you are keeping a large amount.
