When I think of lavender, I think of “oh la la!”, as they say in French when pleasantly surprised and wowed! This past summer I began my tour of lavender fields in Ontario, starting with Neob, in Niagara-on-the Lake. While I had tasted culinary lavender flower in foods in the past, it wasn’t until I visited this beautiful lavender field in the summer of 2022 that I was inspired to make this flower a staple in my cooking any time of the year. With its beautiful color, it adds a soft touch and an “oh la la!” floral taste to the simple recipes I share with you here.
Oh La La Lavender & Pistachio Chocolat
Ingredients:
2 bars or 200 grams of fair trade Camino bittersweet 70% dark cacao baking chocolate
½ a bar of white Ghirardelli chocolate
1 tbsp organic culinary lavender flower
2 tbsps of organic pistachio pieces
Instructions:
Break the cacao and white chocolate bars into chunks. Using a double boiler melt the dark cacao chunks until smooth. Mix in most of the lavender flowers and pistachio pieces, quickly pour and spread fairly thin onto unbleached baking paper on a tray or cutting board. I like mine to be about half a centimeter thick. Next melt the white chocolate chunks in your double boiler. Make sure your double boiler is dry on the inside if you have washed the one you used to melt the dark cacao. Once melted, take a small spoonful of the white melted chocolate at a time, and drizzle it onto the dark cacao spread. Sprinkle left over dry lavender and pistachio pieces.
You can place your tray of Oh La La Lavender & Pistachio Chocolat in the fridge for about a half-hour to solidify. Once solid, you can begin to cut it into smaller pieces. I like to cut it into long triangular shapes. You can then serve them on a plate for dessert, add to ice cream, or present as a gift in a box with a purple ribbon.
Lavender & Pistachio Cheese Spread on Crackers
Ingredients:
Your choice of crackers. I like to use kamut, spelt or sourdough crackers.
Natural goat cheese
A sprinkle of organic culinary lavender flower
A sprinkle of pistachio pieces
Liquid wildflower honey
Instructions:
Simply spread the natural goat cheese on your crackers, sprinkle the dry ingredients, and drizzle some honey over top. Choose a serving plate that will allow the lavender color to pop and add color to your table when entertaining.
Lavender tea
While you can make your own lavender tea by mixing some organic culinary lavender flower with black tea and steeping it in a cup of boiling water, I like to buy mine from Sipology or Sloane.
Ingredients:
To make your own lavender tea with culinary lavender flower, use 1/2 to 1 tsp of lavender flower (start with 1/2 and see how you like it-I prefer it a little stronger) and 1 tsp of black loose tea, preferably organic.
Instructions:
Add this mix to an unbleached, chlorine free, and recyclable tea bag. You can also use a tea infuser instead. Let your tea steep for about 3 to 5 minutes in boiled water before drinking it. If you so choose, you can add a little milk or turn it into a tea latte. I find a little milk helps bring out the lavender flavor more. Enjoy it how you like it!
Other uses:
I was first introduced to culinary lavender, or shall I say pleasantly surprised, in a restaurant that served its sweet potato soup with a sprinkle of lavender. Not only was the presentation a wow factor, the unique taste was too! This experience opened me up to using culinary lavender in a variety of ways. You can sprinkle it on your panna cotta dessert, crème brûlée, ice cream, yoghurt, and soups. You can also mix it into your protein smoothie, chocolate or vanilla muffins, and cookies. You can find culinary lavender at your local natural food store’s spice and herb section. The possibilities are endless with a small bag of organic lavender flowers. All you need to do is add your creativity to your adventurous culinary experiences at home.
A word of caution:
Please be sure you are using culinary grade lavender flowers in your recipes, not lavender oil or other dry lavender that is not meant for cooking. Some lavender farms sell culinary lavender, others focus on the oils, lotions and scent bags, etc. Ask for culinary lavender and the lavender farms will point you in the right direction, as they did me.
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