I have not baked with lavender before and have Barb at Creative Culinary to thank for this lavender right from her garden. I am happy to know that it grows well in Colorado and hope to plant it at my house too. Only some varieties of lavender are for culinary purposes so be sure to check which type you have locally.
I found this recipe for lavender shortbread on the Food Network’s site. There are only a few ingredients and the shortbread was easy to make. I plan to experiment with other flavors of shortbread—citrus, rosemary, and brown sugar were three other recipes highlighted on the Food Network site. Let me know if you have baked with lavender and what you make, I’d love more ideas!
Ingredients:
8 TB butter
1/4 cup sugar plus 2 TB
1 c flour
1/4 c cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 TB lavender
Directions:
Beat the butter until fluffy then add the sugar slowly until well mixed. Separately combine the other dry ingredients. Turn the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. My dough was in small crumbs at this point. The recipe recommends bringing the dough together, kneading it then rolling it out. I chose the second option of pushing the dough with my fingers right into the parchment lined 8 x 8 pan. I then refrigerated it for 30 minutes before poking it all over with a fork. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar on the shortbread before baking at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Add the last tablespoon of sugar just as you take the shortbread from the oven. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing into squares. Allow the shortbread to continue to cool completely in the pan.
I link up to these great blogs:
http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/
When I planted my lavender Holly I didn't do any research as to whether I could use it for culinary purposes. I just liked the way it looked and the fact that it can survive quite well without a lot of water!
ReplyDeleteI made lavender shortbread a couple of summers ago and did rosemary at the same time. I think the rosemary was most surprising so you must try it; for both it's just a question of being light handed. Yours looks absolutely lovely!
http://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/2008/01/understand-different-types-of-lavender.html
DeleteHere is a website I found that taught me more about different types of lavender. I'll see what varieties I find to plant at home. Looks like some are better than others for culinary purposes. Looking forward to trying more recipes with this unique flavor.
Looks like I lucked out with English lavender. I've seen the French and don't love the way the flowers look so avoided it for those reasons. Maybe part luck...I had bought culinary lavender before planting any and it did 'look' right! Now I better remember to harvest the last of it huh?
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