Cornflower

Description

Dried cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) brings a striking natural blue to tea blends, baked goods, cocktails, and homemade skincare. Also known as bachelor’s button, these vibrant blue petals hold their colour beautifully when dried and are one of the few truly blue edible flowers available. Cornflower has a mild, slightly sweet, subtly floral flavour and a long tradition of use in European herbal medicine for eye compresses and skin soothing.

Key Benefits

• Stunning natural blue: One of the few naturally blue edible flowers. Adds a vivid pop of colour to tea blends, baked goods, salads, cocktails, and ice cubes. The blue holds well when dried.
• Tea blending: A favourite addition to custom tea blends for visual appeal. Pairs beautifully with Lavender, Chamomile, and rose petals for floral tea blends.
• Traditional eye herb: Historically known as “break-spectacles” for its long traditional use as a soothing eye wash and compress. The French name bleuet reflects this tradition.
• Edible decoration: Food-safe petals for decorating cakes, desserts, cheese boards, and cocktails. Popular with home bakers and professional pastry chefs alike.
• Craft and beauty: Lovely in potpourri, bath soaks, and homemade soap for natural colour. Also used in candle making and resin art.

Tea blend: Add a pinch of dried cornflower petals to any herbal tea blend for a splash of blue. Cornflower is mild in flavour, so it works as a colour accent rather than a dominant ingredient. Try with Lemon Balm and chamomile for a beautiful calming tea.

Culinary garnish: Scatter petals over cakes, pavlovas, salads, or cheese boards. Freeze individual petals into ice cubes for stunning cocktail presentation. Add to homemade butter or cream cheese for colour.

Eye compress: Steep 1 tablespoon in half a cup of boiled water for 15 minutes. Strain thoroughly through a fine cloth. Allow to cool completely, then use to soak cotton pads for a soothing eye compress.

Cornflower is the national flower of France, where the blue bleuet is worn on Remembrance Day (11 November) alongside the red poppy. The flower takes its botanical name Centaurea from Chiron the centaur of Greek mythology, who was said to have used it to soothe a wound.

The high price reflects the extremely light weight of dried cornflower petals. It takes a large volume of hand-harvested flowers to produce even a small amount of dried petals. Cornflower is non-toxic to dogs, cats, and horses.

People with allergies to the daisy family (Asteraceae) should use caution. This information is not a substitute for medical advice. Consult a healthcare provider before use, especially if pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medication.