Here’s a nice easy recipe for Lavender Lemon tea cookies that we’ve adapted from Dietitians of Canada, COOK! A tea time favourite- oooh so pretty too! They are a perfect pairing with a cup of Serenity Lavender’s Lavender Earl Grey tea on a cold winter’s day or just a nice treat to chase away the winter blues.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Serenity Lavender’s lavender sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup non-hydrogenated margarine
1 large egg beaten
1/2 cup 2% milk
2 tsp lemon extract
Frosting:
1 cup icing sugar
2 1/2 – 3 tbsp 2% milk
2 tsp non-hydrogenated margarine
1 tsp lemon extract
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C)
In a large bowl, combine flour, lavender sugar and baking powder. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
In a small bowl, whisk together egg, milk and lemon extract. Pour over flour mixture and stir just until a stiff dough forms (do not over mix).
Drop 1 tablespoonful (15 mL) about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Frosting:
In small bowl, combine icing sugar, milk, margarine and lemon extract to form a smooth, thin frosting.
Drizzle frosting over cooled cookies and top with Serenity Lavender’s Culinary lavender buds.
Makes about 30 cookies
Excerpted from Dietitians of Canada, COOK! by Mary Sue Waisman, photos by Colin Erricson © 2011 Robert Rose Inc. 
We’ve started our holiday baking with a few of our favourites from mouth watering shortbread to chocolate fudge. At Serenity Lavender we’re always experimenting and adding lavender to different recipes to see how our favourite herb accents a recipe. Like anything in life, we’ve had some huge successes and then some less than stellar results. Over the next several weeks on Sundays we’ll be sharing some of our recipes that have been great hits and sure fire crowd pleasers. Today we thought we’d start with a classic – Lavender Shortbread! Buttery crisps with a hint of floral and citrus notes that turns this old family recipe into something spectacular!!
Servings: 5 dozen cookies
Ingredients
1 lb unsalted butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
2 teaspoons Serenity Lavender culinary lavender (ground)
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup rice flour
½ teaspoon salt
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Cover bottoms of two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, lavender with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add all purpose flour, rice flour and salt and beat until incorporated. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm. On a floured board, roll each square to a thickness of 3/8 inch. Cut with cookie cutters and place onto baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until pale golden around the edges. Cool then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Store in an air tight container.
Photo from ilovemilkandcookies.blogspot.ca
Ingredients
Filling
1 3/4 cups of your favourite berry — frozen is fine, try it with a blend of berries!
Crumble
1/2 cup plain flour
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp demerara sugar
4 tbsp chopped hazelnuts or almonds
Syrup
1 teaspoon Serenity Lavender Farm culinary lavender buds
6 tbsp caster sugar
2 thin strips of lemon rind
6 tbsp water
Make the Syrup
Combine ingredients for syrup in a pan and stir over medium-high heat until it boils. Let boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat and cool.
Make the Crumble
In a mixing bowl, add the butter in small pieces to the flour, mixing with your fingers. Add the sugar, continue mixing until you have a crumble. Gently mix in nuts (Oats can be substituted for nuts).
Put it all together
Preheat oven to 350° F
Add your berry mix to an ovenproof dish (or divide evenly between ovenproof ramekins). Remove the lemon rind from the syrup and pour over fruit. Top with the crumble mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until crumble is brown and toasty.
Serve with cream, whipped cream, or ice cream. Sprinkle with lavender buds for a beautiful finish!
Photo Credit – Marco Verch
Perfect dessert to share with your loved one this Valentine’s Day.
Ingredients
Crust
- 10 oz Oreo cookies
- 2 oz melted butter
- pinch of salt
Cheesecake
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 2 tbsp cream
- 3 tbsp lavender simple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Raspberry Compote/paste
- 4 oz fresh raspberries
- 2 tbsp sugar (simmer for 15-20 minutes until thickened)
To serve
- 3-4 oz fresh raspberries
- Sliced Almonds
- Extra Lavender Syrup
- Confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
Crust
- In a food processor, place the Oreos and salt, and process until you get cookie crumbs.
- Then while running the food processor on its lowest setting, drizzle the butter in. This should make the cookie crumbs moist enough to be pressed into a cheesecake base.
- Take 4 omelet rings or tart rings and butter the insides. Place these on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet or tray. (Alternatively, you can use 4 mini fluted tart pans as well).
- Place some of the cookie crumbs inside and using a flat bottomed glass or tart tamper or the back of a spoon, press down the crust to form a flat base.
- If you prefer, use your fingers to press the cookie crumbs onto the sides of your tart rings as well to form the sides of the cheesecake (this is optional, just the base would be sufficient, and easier)
- Let the tart bases freeze for a few hours, or until you need them.
- When you’re ready to use the tart bases, carefully remove the tart ring by using a sharp knife to loosen the edges. Be careful not to break the base. If you have molded the sides as well, you may need a blow torch to warm up the sides slightly, to make unmolding easier.
Raspberry swirl (can be made ahead of time)
- Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat.
- Lower the heat and let it simmer until you have a thick raspberry coulis/paste – about 10 minutes.
- Set aside to cool and store in the fridge until ready to use.
Cheesecake
- In a bowl, place all the ingredients. Whisk until you have a smooth paste.
- Add as much of the raspberry paste/coulis as you need to create a ripple effect. You can alter the amount according to your preference. I added about half. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until ready.
- Optional – store the cheesecake in the fridge in a piping bag fitted with a wide round nozzle.
Assembly
- Remove unmolded tart bases from the freezer (about 10 minutes before serving).
- Spoon the cheesecake or pipe in the cheesecake evenly onto the four bases.
- Stud the top with 3-4 fresh raspberries.
- Drizzle a little extra lavender syrup on top.
- Sprinkle some sliced almonds and confectioner’s sugar.
- Serve immediately.
( Via adishofdailylife.com )
- 1 egg white
- 2 ounces earl grey tea infused gin**
- ¾ ounce lavender simple syrup
- ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
- Lavender sprig for garnish
- Add all ingredients except garnish to a cocktail shaker and shake without ice.
- Open shaker, fill with ice and shake again.
- Double strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with a lavender flower.
- **To make the earl grey tea infused gin:
- Combine 1 earl grey tea bag with 2 cups gin and let sit for 2 hours. Strain into a glass bottle and use as desired.
It’s time to start the holiday baking around here and one of our family favourites is Lavender Shortbread. These buttery, tender morsels accented with a hint of floral and citrus flavours of Serenity’s culinary lavender are so irresistible, that’s its hard to keep them around until the holidays.
Ingredients:
1 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup of sugar
1 cup rice flour
3 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons ground Serenity Culinary lavender
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream together butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Sift together the dry ingredients. Mix together the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Spoon dough using a small ice cream scoop onto a parchment lined pan leaving about 2 inches between cookies and press using a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the bottoms are lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
Makes about 40 cookies.
We have new products available that are sure to make this Father’s Day an unforgettable day! Definitely a pleaser whether dad is a grill fanatic, or you’d like to grill up a fabulous meal for him.
Ingredients
1 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh lavender
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
4 pork steaks
Directions
Preheat an outdoor grill for low heat.
Pour oil into a large, resealable plastic bag. Add lavender, rosemary, and thyme; let stand for 10 minutes. Place steaks in bag with marinade, and marinate for 5 minutes.
Lightly oil grate. Remove steaks from marinade, and arrange on grill. Cook, turning once or twice, for 20 to 30 minutes, or until done.
Photo cocinatipo.com.
Perfect for any green salad!
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I used half canola, half olive oil)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. dried culinary ‘Provence’ lavender buds, finely ground in a spice grinder (I just chopped them with a knife)
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt, and lavender.
Easier than this…impossible!
Looks amazing, tastes delicious, and not hard to make at all. Impress your friends at your next party with this fun cake!
