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Lavender-Violet-Cassis Cupcakes

Lavender, Blueberry & Violet Cupcakes

Lavender-Violet-Cassis Cupcakes were an invention of a moment a few summers ago that got a hold in my baking repertoire as an exotic yet easy to whip-up pastry that looks pretty and impressive. The decoration is so simple: flowering tops of lavender (preferably fresh), and crystallized violets. Both are fancy, yet keep for a long time and create a memorable impression, both visually and on your guests palate. I've served them since in bridal stagettes and baby showers, and always got many complements!

If you can't get a hold of black currants (cassis), blueberries make a fine and delicious substitute. Keep in mind that the smaller the berries - the more flavourful they are, as most of the flavour is actually in their skin. The violet glazing is not what's going to make or break this recipe, so use it only if you have it - so if you can't find it, don't let that stop you from baking and enjoying these cupcakes .

Batter:
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp. dried lavender buds
1 stick butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbs. milk
1 Tbs Créme de Cassis liquor
½ cup fresh or frozen blackcurrants (or blueberries, if you can’t find blackcurrants)

Glazing:
Violet jelly (optional)

Icing:
5oz cream cheese
2/3 cup icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste

For decoration:
Lavender springs and/or Candied Violet Petals

- Preheat the oven to 350F (180c)
- Make the batter by creaming together the butter, sugar and lavender buds.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.
- Sift together flour and baking powder, and add to the batter.
- Add the milk and liquor
- Add the berries, and stir gently just until incorporated (avoid bruising the berries!)
- Bake in paper-lined muffin tins for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the middle cupcake comes out clean.
- Place the cupcakes and wait till they have cooled completely
- Meanwhile (as they are baking and cooling), whip up the cream cheese icing, blending all ingredients until smooth.
- To decorate, brush each cupcake with the violet jelly, once it's absorbed into the dough a little bit, place a generous dollop of the icing (or pipe it if you like it to be more precise-looking).
- Right before serving: Top each cupcake with one blooming top of lavender, and one candied violet petal.

Lavender in the Kitchen

CULINARY USES OF LAVENDER
Lavender is a popular even if unusual and difficult flavouring component of both savoury and sweet dishes, pastries, liquors and teas. There are two major culprits to lavender: it's soapy associations, and it's bitterness. The latter would seem to makes it an easy addition to pastries and sweet preparations - but even then it can come through if not dosed carefully! Another way to mask bitterness is with a bit of salt. And, it also has a very big personality on the palate - which it does not have in perfume.  Consider this a warning!

Last but not least: the type of lavender used is of crucial importance. Lavandin is especially bitter, while true lavender (Angustifolia) has a more delicate and palatable aroma. You'd be amazed how much of a difference that makes!

Lavender & eggplant pizza

Lavender is surprisingly not that popular in its native France. The famous blend titled "Herbes de Provence" (along with rosemary, thyme, savoury, oregano, etc.) was a marketing invention of a spice merchant that was well received anywhere else but in its namesake region. Lavender seems all delicate and proper; but it really is a big, demanding monarch when it comes to flavouring. Pair it with other big flavours such as yeast dough and rosemary to create a more rustic feel, as in Pure Bread's fantastic lavender-rosemary-honey whole wheat bread. Perhaps that's why it works so well with chèvre (goat's cheese) and with honey - big flavours that instead of competing with each other (as they would with anyone else) - they create a complete, sophisticated if rustic flavour profile. 

In liquors, you'd find lavender to be a part of complex, medieval-times concoctions such as Chartreuse (with honey and chamomile). In soft drinks, it is repeatedly paired with lemon, which I find not only redundant, but also ineffective in reducing the bitterness, and definitely particularly counterproductive in eliminating the soap association. Lavender + Lemon make a very nice smelling soap, but not a particularly appetizing beverage. An exception to this phenomenon is Frostbites' Meyer Lemon + Lavender Cordial, which is quite fun, even if not my favourite of theirs. 

Lavender is a popular component in flavouring Earl Grey tea - it accentuates the bergamot (after all, they both have linalyl acetate in common). There is also a specialty Lavender Earl Grey with lavender buds and all. I only ever tasted one that was to my liking, at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. All others were painfully bitter, or unpleasantly soapy. Which is also my experience with any and all lavender-flavoured chocolates (whether in bars or truffles). The only exception was my very own, delicately spiced Lavender Milk truffles with lavender Maillette essential oil, and also included lavender and cacao in Cocoa Nymph's owner's signature perfume. Otherwise, to eat a lavender-flavoured chocolate is like being punished for your sins by with force-fed soap. 

Lavender Creme Brûlée

In sweets and desserts, lavender has become a mainstay in our local Gelateria - both as a standalone, and in Earl Grey Tea gelato.  At home, try to make your own lavender ice cream, and experiment with the flavour in créme brûlée, lavender-violet-blueberry cupcakes (a winning combination), shortbread cookies (most recommended of all!) or, even better: Pumpkin Pie with Lavender Orange Shortbread Crust. You can also visit Sacred Mountain Lavender Farm for more lavender recipes.
And, last but not least - my new favourite cake: Apricot, Walnut and Lavender Cake from Yotam Ottolenghi's latest book Plenty More (p. 308).

Apricot & lavender torte

Pandan Coconut Gelato

Making pandan-infused coconut milk for gelato 
Pandan-flavoured gelato is a smooth, heavenly fragrant yet subtle way to not only enjoy this unique flavour; but also incorporate coconut milk into your diet, which will make your gelato even healthier than home-made gelato already is.

2 cups coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cups raw cane sugar
1 Pandan leaf, cut into small pieces with scissors
1/2 tsp agar-agar powder (a seaweed alternative to gelatin)

- Combine all ingredients in a medium pot
- Cook over medium heat until it reaches a boil
- Remove from heat and bring down to room temperature
- Blitz the mixture in a food processor or a blender, until the pandan leaves are chopped into rather small pieces
- Refrigerate over night
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, or through a cheesecloth, to strain out the ground-up pandan leaf
- Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Most homemade ice creams and gelato need to "ripen" for an hour or more to come to a more firm consistency without melting immediately.
- Serve alone, or along with fresh fruit or deep friend bananas.
 Enjoy!

Infusing Butters for Shortbreads


Infusing butters, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

I'm infusing butters for shortbread cookies - four flavours. Can you guess what these are going to be?

You have till 4pm to figure it out - and get a chance to win a Guilt scented chocolate bar (though I'd much rather to be able to ship you some cookies, it is nearly impossible to do so without breaking them en-route).

Ginger-Tangerine Icebox Cookies


Candied Ginger, originally uploaded by Live♥Laugh♥Love.

As promised - finally, my candied ginger cookie recipe, which I've invented this holiday season (blame it on the 2 weeks of snow and very low temperatures - the perfect time to perfect one's skills in the kitchen). These turned out so well that I didn’t have a chance to photograph them before they were gone! I will do my best to take a picture next time I bake them before my in-house cookie monster claims them.

In this recipe, I tried to recreate the pleasure I've encountered in Squamish last spring with this decadent take on ginger that almost tasted like mastic and ginger. Of course, a cookie cannot taste like an ice cream but I wanted it to be special and very not gingerbread-like. Something more light and bright.

For the dough you will need:

7oz unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1/4lb. butter, softened at room temperature

1 Tbs. tangerine zest (preferably Murcott) - or orange zest if you can't find tangerines

1 Tbs freshly grated ginger

4 Tbs. chopped candied ginger

1/2 tsp. dry ginger powder

1 Tbs. fresh tangerine (or orange) juice

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the glazing you will need:

1/2 cup icing sugar

Lime juice from 1/2 lime

1 drop organic ginger CO2 extract

Instructions:

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt

2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar. Add the egg and keep beating until evenly smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients - spices, citrus zest, juice and vanilla extract

3. Add the candied ginger and stir well.

4. Add the flour gradually until fully blended and start kneading the dough with your hands. Add more flour if required. Dough should be soft but not too sticky.

5. Split the dough into two portions and roll them into two logs. Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze for at least 2 hours.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

7. Remove from freezer, and slice the logs into 1/4" thick cookies. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.

8. While the cookies are baking, prepare the glazing (if desired) by mixing all the ingredients together with a small whisk or a fork.

9. Cool on the cooling rack for 2 minutes.

10. Using a pastry brush, apply the glazing to the cookies (optional).

Enjoy!
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