Lavender syrup
A few weeks ago, I bought a large pot of dried lavender for cooking. It was an impulse: I'd never seen culinary lavender flowers on sale before, and I'd read a rash of recipes for lavender cupcakes and lavender shortbread. I don't know what I was thinking, because we don't do that sort of cooking or eating. So it sat gathering dust, unopened - until today.
The deadline for this month's Heart of the Matter is looming (it's Friday), and I haven't yet made anything. The theme is herbs, so I decided to make something with the lavender. This syrup was inspired by a lavender jam recipe I read at Once Upon a Tart. It's too runny and thin to qualify as jam, and it's not a jelly because it's full of flowerheads. Syrup it is.
The scent of lavender was overpowering when I finally opened the pot; now the syrup is heavy with floral perfume. Sunshine in a jar.
This will be good with yoghurt, on toast, with roast lamb. And once we've all become addicted, the lavender in the garden will be ready to pick, and I should think it will be even better with fresh flowers than with dried.
Lavender syrup
10g dried lavender
50g caster sugar
2 tablespoons of honey
150ml Marsala
100ml crème de cassis
120ml water
Put all the ingredients into a heavy saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, until you have a syrup. Pour into a sterilised jar.
Heart of the Matter is hosted this month by Michele at The Accidental Scientist. The theme is herbs, and the deadline is Friday.
Links to other herb recipes
Butternut squash with parsley and mint
Three herb stuffing for roast chicken
Steak with lemon and thyme
Grilled trout with rosemary stuffing
Mushroom and tarragon sauce for pasta
Lavender on other blogs
(NB, these are not free from saturated fats)
Lavender ice cream from La Tartine Gourmande
Nigella's lavender cupcakes from Albion Cooks (& lavender sugar)
Lavender-crusted duck magret from Chocolate and Zucchini
Lavender and mint tea from Andrea's Recipes
Lavender cocktails from A Wee Bit of Cooking
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8 comments:
How wonderful! I do like the sound of the syrup on my Greek Yogurt!
Funny how we get things we don't know what to do with and have something brilliant like this come to us!
I planted lavender last year but haven't actually used any yet. Like you, I see it all the time, am intrigued but it's unfamiliar territory for me.
This may be my first go.
Yum Looks good, last year I made a chocolate cake with Lavender which was really yummy too.
Hello Joanna, I'm back from a short trip abroad. I did a lavender recipe before last Friday, early last week, but no time to post then, but will shortly. Thanks for posting about lavender.
Hello Joanna, I'm back from a short trip abroad. I did a lavender recipe before last Friday, early last week, but no time to post then, but will shortly. Thanks for posting about lavender.
This sounds wonderful. I add lavender to my tea all the time, and making a syrup certainly makes sense. I planted some lavender this spring, so hopefully next year I'll have some buds to dry.
It's delicious, although I don't feel that I've got the hang of cooking with lavender, it's either too strong or you can't really taste it, so I'll just have to keep practising. But I have a feeling that's why lavender isn't much used in cooking ...
Joanna
PS when it says Lettie, that's becaue we're on holiday, the young are using my computer, and they never bother to sign out ...
Joanna
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