In article >,
Dianna Visek > wrote:

> Anybody done anything with lavender? I made a lavender pound cake
> last week that got great reviews, but I haven't made anything else.
>

I've made lavender sorbet, but I still want to fiddle with the recipe;
haven't come across lavender in quite a while, so I haven't had the
chance. I first tasted it while walking through the Union Square
Greenmarket in NYC and it was amazingly good, but I haven't replicated
it as well as I'd like. I think it needed less lemon.

At bottom is a recipe for lavender shortbread, a recipe I came across
while researching the sorbet. I don't recall the source (it's been
sitting on my hard drive for about six years).


Lavender Sorbet
Ingredients:
9 oz sugar
18 fl oz water
6 lavender heads
juice from one lemon
Method:
Stir the sugar into 8 fl oz of the water, in a saucepan, until the sugar
dissolves. Add the lavender heads. Bring to the boil, then add the juice
of half the lemon, and allow to cool.
Strain the liquid through a sieve, to remove the lavender heads, and add
the remaining water. Taste to check the sweetness, and add more lemon
juice if necessary. Put in a freezer-proof container and still-freeze.
To still-freeze, it's best to use a large shallow container at first.
Pour the liquid in, place it in the coldest part of the freezer, then
wait for at least an hour (it may take longer depending on the freezer,
mine took about 4 hours to start to freeze) until the mixture is just
starting to freeze, with crystals on it. Working quickly, put the
mixture in the blender or food processor, give it a quick process, then
put it back to keep freezing. Repeat the processing twice more after
another couple of hours each time. This breaks up the ice crystals to
give a scoopable sorbet. Of course, if you have an ice-cream maker, you
can use that.


-------

Lavender Shortbread

This is the purest form of shortbread--just butter, sugar and flour, but
scented with the subtle perfume addition of lavender. I even leave out
the salt because I think it detracts from their delicate butteriness.
These cookies are perfect with tea or as an accompaniment to ice creams,
sorbets, or fruit desserts. Be sure not to overbake them. If you pull
them from the oven when they just begin to turn beige but not brown,
they will be remarkably tender when they cool.

1/2 pound unsalted butter, chilled
4 teaspoons fresh lavender buds, or 2 teaspoons dried
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon and level), 9 ounces

1. The lavender sugar. Fifteen minutes before you begin the dough,
remove the butter from the refrigerator. Place the lavender buds in a
clean spice grinder (rotary coffee mill) with 1/4 cup of the sugar and
grind until fine. If you don't have a spice grinder, grind the entire
quantity of sugar with the lavender in a blender or small food processor.
1. Mixing the dough. Transfer the sugar to the bowl of a heavy-duty
electric mixer* fitted with a paddle and add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar
(if you used a spice grinder) and the butter. Beat on low speed until
the mixture is smooth and there are no detectable lumps of butter when
you roll a teaspoon of it between your fingers, but do not beat it until
it turns fluffy. Add the flour all at once. Continue to mix at low speed
just until it forms a cohesive dough.
2. Rolling and cutting. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured
surface and press it firmly into a smooth rectangular block with no
cracks. Dust it lightly with more flour and, using a rolling pin, roll
it to a rectangle 9 inches X 12 inches and 1/4-inch thick, rotating the
dough each time you roll to make sure it is not sticking to the surface.
(If you prefer, you can roll the dough between sheets of plastic wrap or
parchment paper). Using a straight edge and a pastry wheel or chef's
knife, cut the dough into bars 11/2 inches X 3 inches (or cut out other
shapes with cookie cutters). Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a
baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving 1/2-inch space between
them on all sides. Refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes
before baking to allow the dough to rest.
3. Baking. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Bake the cookies until they
are light sand color, not brown, about 22 to 25 minutes. Lift one with a
small spatula to check the color of the underside, which should be just
a shade darker then the tops. The cookies will be soft while hot. Cool
the cookies on the pan. When completely cook, stack them in an airtight
container and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.



Makes 24 cookies

Hand Mixing
*If you don't have a heavy-duty electric mixer, you can mix the dough in
a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, but you'll need to start with
butter that is at room temperature. Mix the butter with the lavender
sugar, then stir in the flour. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill
it for about 1 hour before rolling.

Herb Substitutions
* Omit step one, and in place of lavender add 4 teaspoons of finely
chopped fresh rosemary, thyme or lemon thyme to the butter.

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