In Love with Lavender

Lavender is one of those flowers that exudes; romance. There are a few of these types of flowers; rose petals or roses, orchids and violets just to name a few. Today I want to discuss the amazing things you can do with culinary grade edible lavender. I say culinary grade because all lavender is edible, culinary grade guarantees that it is free of poisons and chemicals. I have listed below a few of the recipes I use for very special occasions. These ideas can be used for many events, baby showers, rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions, and bridal showers; okay I know you get the idea. I just tend to ramble.


Lavender Muffins
1-cup flour
¼-cup sugar
1- tablespoon dried lavender
1½-teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup applesauce
½ stick of butter
1 egg
½ teaspoon almond extract
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another. Add the wet to the dry, stirring only until the dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not beat.) Fill greased muffin tin (or paper muffin cups). Bake about 20 minutes, until golden. Makes 1 dozen.
Lavender Icing
Ingredients
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of milk
2 to 3 tablespoons of lavender ground or whole flowers, or both.
½ teaspoon vanilla
mix all ingredients together and spread on your favorite baked goods.

Crystallized Lavender:
1 egg white (pasteurized, if desired)
1/4-cup lavender
1/2-cup sugar
food coloring (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Color sugar with food coloring, using fingers to spread color evenly. I divided the sugar and used both pink and lavender.
Spread lavender onto a sheet pan covered with aluminum foil. Using a pastry brush, coat dried lavender with egg white. Spread sugar over lavender, mixing with fingers to cover evenly. Allow the lavender to dry. Stir lavender to remove clumps, and transfer to an airtight container.
Lavender Champagne.
Ingredients
Serves 16
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender
4 bottles (750 ml) dry Champagne or sparkling wine, chilled
Fresh lavender sprigs, for garnish
Directions
Bring sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in dried lavender. Remove from heat. Let cool completely. Strain out lavender. Refrigerate syrup until ready to serve (up to 1 month).
Pour about 6 ounces Champagne and 1 1/2 teaspoons syrup into each flute. Garnish each with a lavender sprig, or rim the glasses with lavender sugar.
These are just a few of my favorite recipes to create for that special event. I hope you enjoy them as much as the many that have created them, as well as the many times we have created them for others.
This is Sandra Sable signing off for now. Until next time, lets talk weddings.