Visitors to Cusworth Hall were surprised to
learn that Lavender was a popular ingredient in baking as they enjoyed sampling Grandma’s scrumptious Lavender biscuits. As well as being a beautiful plant, Lavender is one
of the best kept secrets for baking. Lavender sugar can be used to bake a wide
range of teatime favourites such as Scones by substituting the
sugar with Lavender sugar in the recipe.
How to make Lavender sugar
Place the caster sugar in a bowl. For
every 4oz/110g sugar, you need a tablespoonful of lavender. Add the
lavender to the sugar by pressing it through a sieve with your fingers or the
back of a spoon. Put the sugar in a clean jar and add another tablespoon of
lavender flowers to the jar. Cover the jar and shake well every couple of days.
Leave for 3 to 5 days for the lavender to infuse into the sugar. Then it’s
ready to use.
Lavender Biscuits
150g/5oz butter
225g/8oz plain flour
75g/3oz lavender sugar
1 yolk of egg
Rub the butter into the flour and
add the sugar and the salt. Add the egg and work into the flour as quickly
as possible, making a dry dough. The mixture must be kept dry. Roll out thinly
and cut into rounds. Bake for 25 minutes in a slow oven. (300F, Mark 2, 150C)
Chris at Fragrant Lavender sent me a very simple and scrumptious recipe for Lavender
Cakes which uses flower buds mixed
with the flour. These are for small cakes which Grandma would call 'buns'.
Lavender Cakes
4 oz/110g Margarine or butter
4 oz/110g Caster Sugar
4 o/110g Self Raising Flour
2 Eggs
1 tsp Lavender flower buds
(Chris says: 'I use fresh ones but you could use dried ones.')
Cream the margarine/butter and sugar until
light and creamy in texture. Add the eggs a little at a time and beat well. Add
the lavender flower buds to the flour then fold into the mixture. Half fill paper bun cases then bake at 180-190C, 350-375F, Gas mark 4-5
for about 20 minutes until firm to the touch.
If you haven’t got lavender in your garden, visit
a Lavender farm and pick up a plant.
