Can You Eat or Bake with Scented Pelargoniums (Geraniums)?

Can you really cook with scented Pelargonium / Geranium leaves?

Yes — some scented-leaved Pelargoniums have a long history of culinary use, and their wonderfully fragrant leaves can be used to add some really unusual flavours to cakes, sugars, desserts and other recipes and this is something we have actually experimented with ourselves here at Growing Crazy!

Harry has been baking with rose-scented Pelargoniums for some time, and his Pelargonium Cake has become rather famous amongst visitors and friends of Growing Crazy.

It even received the seal of approval from Monty Don when he tried it at BBC Gardeners' World Live in 2025!

But before everybody heads into the greenhouse and starts adding Pelargonium leaves to dinner, there are some important things you need to know  - Not every Pelargonium should automatically be considered suitable for culinary use though!  So let's explore how scented Pelargoniums have traditionally been used in cooking — and how to do it sensibly.

Why are scented Pelargoniums used in cooking?

If you've ever rubbed the leaf of a scented Pelargonium between your fingers, you'll already understand the appeal.

The foliage contains aromatic oils that are released when the leaves are touched or crushed.

Depending on the Pelargonium, the fragrance might remind you of:

  • Rose

  • Lemon

  • Orange

  • Mint

  • Apple

  • Spice

  • Balsam

  • Fruit

  • Or something much harder to describe!

Those aromatic qualities have led to certain scented Pelargoniums being used traditionally to flavour foods and the flavours can be surprisingly strong.

Are scented Pelargonium leaves edible?

This is where we need to be careful.

There is a history of particular scented-leaved Pelargoniums being used as culinary plants, but we wouldn't recommend assuming that any plant labelled “Pelargonium” or “Geranium” is automatically suitable for eating.

There are hundreds of Pelargonium species and cultivars.

Here at Growing Crazy we grow an enormous range of them, including plants within our Plant Heritage National Collections®, and the diversity within the genus is incredible.

If you want to experiment with Pelargoniums in the kitchen, make sure you:

  • Know exactly which plant you're using.

  • Choose a variety with an established history of culinary use.

  • Know how the plant has been grown.

  • Never use foliage that has been treated with a pesticide or other product that isn't approved for edible crops.

  • Wash leaves thoroughly before use.

  • Never eat a plant simply because its leaves smell pleasant.

If you're not certain about the identity or history of a plant, don't eat it.

Which scented Pelargoniums are traditionally used in cooking?

Rose-scented Pelargoniums are probably amongst the best known for culinary use. Their fragrant leaves can impart a beautiful floral flavour without necessarily needing to use artificial flavourings or large quantities of rose water. That's exactly what Harry uses in his Pelargonium Cake.

Other traditionally used scented Pelargoniums can offer citrus, mint and other flavours, opening up all sorts of possibilities for experimenting in the kitchen. But we'd always start with a known culinary variety from a trusted source rather than simply picking leaves from an unidentified Pelargonium.

Rose-scented Pelargoniums

If you're going to explore cooking with scented Pelargoniums, rose-scented types are a great introduction.

The fragrance can be incredibly powerful. In Harry's cake recipe we use rose-scented Pelargonium leaves to flavour sugar before baking. The result is a wonderful floral flavour that Harry describes as being reminiscent of Turkish Delight.

And there's a clever trick involved...

Make Pelargonium sugar!

This is one of our favourite ways of capturing the scent. Fresh scented Pelargonium leaves can be layered with caster sugar in a sealed jar and over time, the aromatic oils from the leaves perfume the sugar - it's rather like storing vanilla pods in sugar. 

Harry recommends preparing his Pelly Sugar about a week before baking so there's plenty of time for those wonderful flavours to infuse and when you eventually open the jar... the smell is amazing!

The scented sugar can then be used as an ingredient in baking.

Harry's famous Pelargonium Cake

This is where we have to give Harry his moment!  He's been experimenting with cooking and baking with Pelargoniums for quite some time, and his rose-scented Pelargonium Cake has become something of a Growing Crazy favourite.

We've shared it with visitors and customers at events, and in 2025 it received a rather special taste test.

Monty Don tried it at BBC Gardeners' World Live - and approved! :-)

Harry was understandably rather pleased with that one.

The recipe uses rose-scented Pelargonium in three different ways:

Pelly Sugar - sugar infused with rose-scented leaves before baking.

Fresh leaves - finely chopped and incorporated into the cake mixture.

Pelargonium syrup - a scented sugar syrup poured over the finished cake.

Together they create a really distinctive floral flavour.

For the recipe, Harry recommends rose-scented varieties such as Radula or Attar of Roses.

Rather than repeat the entire recipe here, you can follow Harry's full step-by-step guide:

Try Harry's Pelargonium Cake Recipe

Just remember to make your Pelly Sugar in advance!

What else can scented Pelargoniums be used for?

Once you start experimenting, there are lots of possibilities.

Depending on the variety and fragrance, scented Pelargoniums have traditionally been used to flavour things such as:

  • Cakes

  • Biscuits and shortbread

  • Sugars

  • Jellies

  • Desserts

  • Syrups

  • Drinks and infusions

The trick is matching the fragrance with the food. Rose works beautifully with baking and sweet dishes, citrus-scented leaves can bring a completely different character and mint-scented types open up another range of possibilities.

Can I use leaves from a Pelargonium bought at a garden centre?

We wouldn't recommend immediately eating leaves from an ornamental plant you've just bought.

Even if you've correctly identified the variety as one traditionally used for culinary purposes, you don't necessarily know what products have been applied to it during commercial production.

Pesticides, fungicides and other treatments suitable for ornamental plants aren't necessarily approved for use on edible crops.

If you specifically want to grow Pelargoniums for culinary use, start with correctly identified plant material and manage the plant appropriately for that purpose.

What about plants I've sprayed?

This is another important point.

If you've treated your Pelargonium with pesticides, fungicides or other plant protection products, don't assume the leaves remain suitable for cooking.

Always check the product label.

Products approved for ornamental plants aren't automatically approved for edible crops.

If you're deliberately growing scented Pelargoniums for the kitchen, we'd suggest keeping those plants clearly identified and managing them separately with culinary use in mind.

Always wash the leaves

Any leaves being used in food should be washed thoroughly before use.

Check them carefully for:

  • Pests

  • Dirt

  • Damaged areas

  • Disease

  • Anything else you wouldn't particularly fancy finding in your cake!

Use fresh, healthy foliage.

Harry washes his leaves and allows them to dry thoroughly before using them in his cake and Pelly Sugar.

Flowers, fragrance... and flavour!

Scented-leaved Pelargoniums are one of the groups that really demonstrate just how diverse Pelargoniums can be. People often discover Growing Crazy because they love the flowers and then we tell them to rub a scented leaf!!  Suddenly they've discovered another side to these incredible plants.

Rose, lemon, orange, mint, spice — there's an amazing range of fragrances to explore.

And with carefully selected plants traditionally used for culinary purposes, some of those fragrances can make their way from the greenhouse into the kitchen too.

Our Growing Crazy rules for cooking with Pelargoniums

If you're tempted to experiment, remember:

  • Don't assume every Pelargonium is edible.

  • Correctly identify the variety you're using.

  • Choose Pelargoniums with an established history of culinary use.

  • Know how the plant has been grown and treated.

  • Don't use plants treated with products unsuitable for edible crops.

  • Use fresh, healthy leaves.

  • Wash foliage thoroughly before use.

  • Start with small amounts - scented leaves can be powerful.

  • And perhaps most importantly...

If you're not certain what the plant is, don't eat it!

Once you've got the right plant, though, scented Pelargoniums can introduce some wonderful and unusual flavours into your baking.

And if you're wondering where to start, we think there's an obvious answer.

Get yourself some rose-scented Pelargonium leaves... Make a jar of Pelly Sugar... And give Harry's Pelargonium Cake a go!

Apparently it's good enough for Monty Don. ;-)

Happy growing - and happy baking!