lavender Archives - Sugar et al

Lavender, Honey and Almond Cake

3|05|2018

I have a deep love for floral flavours! As if, you didn’t know. Any special occasion and the first thing that comes to my mind is lavender or rosewater (yes, chocolate too). Since the occasion is Mother’s Day and the best part being that my Mum is around at the moment, I really wanted to make this unique, fragrant cake for her. Food is very much a sensory experience as much as it is for nourishing our bodies. When I was little, my Mum would use a lot of lavender perfumed cosmetics at home. And it goes without saying that there was no access to culinary lavender at the time. Perhaps no one even imagined that these gorgeous flowers have more to them than just their fragrance. But aren’t we so lucky that someone has done all the hard work for us and now we can easily open up a little box and infuse the most Divine flowers into our food?

Unlike what a lot of people think, lavender is really simple to use. You could pretty much replace them in any recipe that calls for vanilla, spices or any other fragrant ingredient. The only thing to remember is that ‘less is more’. A few dried flowers are enough to perfume a large cake or a dessert or a big jug of cordial (I’m just crazy about blueberry-lavender cordial). Culinary lavender is also used in savoury dishes to add that special touch to them.

This cake is simple and easy to make. The frosting does make it celebratory but even without it, the cake would make a fantastic tea time treat. You could skip two pans anad just make one large cake as well. The almonds in the recipe add another element of surprise to the cake. It’s got a subtle taste of honey and lavender paired with a delicious nuttiness from the almonds. Basically, a great hand made surprise for Mum. Just call her over for tea, slice up this cake and there you go. Cake and flowers together with a big warm hug whilst walking down memory lane. That’s what I did!

Lavender, Honey and Almond Cake
Makes a 2 layered 6 inch, round cake

180 g butter, room temperature
1/4 cup castor sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 and 1/2 cups, self raising flour
1 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup lavender flower honey (I used Bridestowe Lavender flower honey but regular honey can be used too)
1/2 tsp culinary lavender (I used Bridestowe culinary lavender)

Lavender Buttercream
1 tsp culinary lavender
2 tbsp milk
250 g unsalted butter, softened
2 and 1/2 cups icing sugar
A tiny bit of mauve food coloring gel

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease the bases and sides and line the bases of two 6 inch round baking pans with baking paper.
Using an electric or hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition.

Add in half the flour and almond meal, then add 1/2 the honey and milk and beat to combine. Repeat with remaining flour, almond meal, milk and honey. Stir in the culinary lavender.
Divide mixture uniformly between two pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of a cake come out clean.

Remove from oven. Leave aside for 5-10 minutes. Gently loosen the sides with a blunt knife. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, frost with lavender buttercream. Decorate with sugar flowers and/or sprinkles.

To make the lavender buttercream, Place the lavender and milk in a microwaveable cup and microwave on low until it is about to boil (do not boil). Remove and leave aside to infuse for 1-2 hours. Strain the lavender buds and reserve the milk for the buttercream.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter till pale and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar, a little at a time and continue to beat till incorporated. Add the lavender infused milk and beat to combine. Add the food colour if using, and mix till fully incorporated.

Blueberry and Lavender Cake

31|01|2018

I can’t seem to have enough of blueberries this season. These blue- purple berries are the easiest and a delicious way to decorate and flavour desserts.While I’m truely a fan of the entire berry family, I think blueberries are the most hassle free of the lot. No hull, no seeds just plain purple gorgeousness. If you didn’t know already they are high in antioxidants, low in calories and come with a number of health benefits. Lavender on the other hand comes from the same family as some of our popular herbs like mint, rosemary and sage. I absolutely adore lavender in desserts. it took me a while to master the right proportion and right pairings. You know the concept of ‘how much is too much’! It is so important. We don’t want a dessert that smells like soap.

Culinary lavender is available in quite a few stores as well as online in Sydney. I bought mine over 6 months now and it is till fragrant and very easy to use. I’ve made this cake a few times, with and without lavender. In fact I put it into my children’s lunchboxes without the frosting. Depending on the type or brand of yogurt I use, I’ve noticed a difference in the texture or rather thickness of the batter. A very thick batter is generally not what I’m after. So in that case, a little milk helps to lighten it up. You will notice that I’ve mentioned that in the recipe.

Overall, it’s a simple cake with great results. The lavender adds a beautiful , subtle aroma to the cake (almost like Earl Grey) whilst the blueberries add a moist, flavour packed bite within the cake. You could skip the buttercream and just serve the cake with a drizzle of icing sugar. I have to admit, this is one of those cakes that I look forward to having with my coffee every now and then.

Blueberry and Lavender Cake
Makes a 6 inch round cake

150 g unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup self raising flour
200 g Greek yogurt
1/4 cup milk (optional, if batter is too thick)
1 tsp culinary lavender
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease the base and sides of a 6 inch round baking pan and line the base with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, or by hand beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add half the flour and half the yogurt and fold to combine. Add the remaining flour and yogurt and milk (if batter is too thick.)
Stir in the lavender and blueberries and just fold one or twice to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven. Leave aside for 10 minutes. Slowly turn out cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, frost with lavender frosting and decorate with blueberries.

Lavender Frosting
1 tsp culinary lavender
2 tbsp milk
125 g unsalted butter, softened
11/2 cups icing sugar
A tiny bit of mauve food coloring gel

Place the lavender and milk in a microwaveable cup and microwave on low until it is about to boil (do not boil). Remove and leave aside to infuse for 1-2 hours. Strain the lavender buds and reserve the milk for the buttercream.

Baked Lavender Doughnuts

9|09|2017

I have not been a fan of doughnuts in my childhood as much as I am today. Baked doughnuts are the perfect little portable treats that you can dress up, then wrap up in a pretty box (without fear of being ruined) to present to friends and family. Being known as a baker in my social circles, it’s not unusual for me to gift edible treats to people who love them over other things. After all hand made things have their own special significance. This year I’ve moved over cakes and made lots of doughnuts and tartlets for my favourite people. Taking a frosted, decorated cake along is such a challenge because they never reach the destination in one piece. It definitely works with patisseries and bakeries but being a home baker, you don’t really have that kind of equipment and packaging at home. Doughnuts on the other hand are easier and individually portioned so they a joy to all (other than my husband who thinks only children eat doughnuts).

As you can see I had a lot of fun with the glaze. The best part is that I glazed them all in one single bowl. So don’t worry about having to clean up multiple dishes which is my only concern always with ombre style desserts. Culinary lavender is worth stocking up in your pantry if you are a fan of the fragrance or just want to be creative. The buds usually last for a year so you can use them for a variety of desserts and treats. My girlfriends go gaga over floral treats so in my house lavender and rosewater need to be stocked up frequently. If you don’t have lavender at hand, you can substitute with pure vanilla extract.

Baked Lavender Doughnuts
Yields 6 regular doughnuts

1 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup castor sugar
1/2 tsp ground culinary lavender
1/4 tsp salt
30 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
100 ml milk (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)

Vanilla Glaze

1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla glaze
1 tbsp milk (or more if needed)
Purple gel food colour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Spray a non-stick doughnut pan with cooking spray and leave aside.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, lavender and salt. In a different bowl, beat together butter, egg and milk. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well until fully blended. Do not over-mix.
Spoon the batter into the doughnut cavities till each cavity is about 3/4 full. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven. Leave in pan for 2-3 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the Vanilla Glaze, in a medium bowl whisk the sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix well till blended. If mixture is too thick add a little more milk (remember mixture thickens upon cooling).
Add a very small qualtity of purple food colour (for the first two doughnuts). Dip two doughnuts, one at a time, letting the excess glaze drip off into the bowl. Place on the wire rack to set. Decorate with sprinkles and top with chocolate.

For the next two doughnuts, add a bit more food colour to the same bowl. Dip the next two doughnuts in the same way as the first ones. Add more food colour to the glaze for a deeper purple. Glaze the remaining doughnuts. Decorate.

Meringue Rose Cookies with Lavender Cream Cheese Filling

7|11|2016

Meringue rose cookies are so versatile and there is no limit to the way they can be colored, decorated or served. It is incredible how a little bit of egg white and sugar can whip up into magical creations. And they are free of gluten. I make meringues quite often and love that they make great edible gifts. Meringue roses look really pretty and the added bonus is that by sandwiching fillings between two roses, they turn into a treat that is even tastier than a cookie, minus the flour. Whether it’s chocolate ganache, buttercream or cream cheese frosting there are innumerable flavours to play around with. Also, they can stay crunchy for days if stored well.

I used culinary lavender that was sitting in my cupboard for months. Every time I open the jar, I am transported to a a different world. That is how the meringue rose cookies smell as well. To get the two toned effect I generally streak one side of my piping bag with gel food colour using a long skewer before filling up with the meringue. If you haven’t made meringue roses before here is a video tutorial that might help you to understand the technique.

Meringue Rose Cookies With Lavender Cream Cheese Filling
Makes 24

For the Meringue Roses
2 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar
Violet gel food colour
Sprinkles (optional)

For the Lavender Cream Cheese Filling
220 g cream cheese, softened
100 g unsalted butter, softened
21/2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp culinary lavender buds, ground
purple/violet food colour

To make the meringue roses: Preheat oven to 110 degrees C (90 decrees c for fan-forced ovens) Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Using a toothpick or a wooden skewer streak your piping bag that is fitted with a Wilton 2D tip in various places with your chosen gel food colour. I usually mount mine in an empty glass to stay intact.

Use an electric mixer to whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking well between each addition, until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar is completely dissolved. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a closed star (Wilton 2d) nozzle. Pipe meringue roses onto the lined tray. Decorate with sprinkles if using. Bake for 60 minutes or until meringues are dry to the touch. Turn off oven and leave, with door ajar, to cool completely.
Once cooled, spread or pipe lavender cream cheese filling (recipe below) on one meringue rose and top with another. Repeat until all the roses have been used up.

To make the Lavender Cream Cheese Filling : Using an electric or hand mixer, gently beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the sugar, little at a time until blended. Add the dried lander and food colour and mix well.