If you want to send a gift to your mother, grandmother, sister, aunt or other favorite mom, today’s the last day you can order with standard five-day delivery. Tomorrow is possible, but it gets iffy to guarantee delivery by Saturday. (Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8th.)

We’d like to recommend these exquisite, hand-crafted balls of sugar from Chambre de Sucre.

They are stunning with coffee or tea. Even if Mom doesn’t use sugar herself, guests will long remember being treated to them.

This Sucre Rond (round sugar) is available in 36-piece and 42-piece boxes; square-shaped sugars are available as well.

Use candied rose petals (shown above) or
freeze-dried rose petals as an easy cake
decoration. Photo courtesy Valerie
Confections | Los Angeles.

Just use fresh, candied or freeze-dried rose petals to decorate the sides of the cake. It will be stunning. (Crystallized rose petals are small and crunchy, and not appropriate for this type of decoration.)

You’ll need 2-4 cups of rose petals, depending on the size of the cake (don’t tamp down the petals when measuring them or they’ll bruise).

The only caveat is that you need to use organic rose petals. Flowers sprayed with pesticides should not be eaten.

1. Separate 3 eggs; reserve yolks for another purpose.*
2. Whisk the egg whites in small bowl until white and foamy.
3. Brush egg whites on both size of rose petals with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with superfine sugar.
4. Dry on a nonstick rack overnight.

For more of a rose effect, add a teaspoon of rosewater to the cake batter or frosting.

More rose petal recipe ideas.

*Things To Do With 3 Egg Yolks: Pastry cream—used for éclairs—is delicious with fresh fruit; French custard ice cream; baked custard; crème brûlée; from-scratch chocolate pudding. For savory uses, make Béchamel, Bearnaise or Hollandaise sauces; mayonnaise; thicken soups and/or make Greek avgolemono soup.