i'm dying to make something w/ lavender as mine is just coming into bloom. i haven't attempted any recipes since going gluten-free. just wondered if anyone has tried any recipes that have turned out well. all recipes welcome, specifically looking for baked goods-tea cake, lemon cake, cookies, etc. Thanks!

Don't know if this sounds good to you or not but I'll link you to it. I remembered Gluten Free Girl blog had something about lavender. It's a chocolate lavender tart her fiance made for Valentine's Day. It's from an herbal cookbook with gluten-free directions for the crust and all. It looks good. I haven't made it but if you do, let me know!


http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2007/02...to-sharing.html

Kay

OMG this looks delicious! did you see the picture of the crust...it looked so REAL! i could almost taste it! Wow, i'm gonna have to try this!!! Printing right now!!!

You are right! I didn't look at the crust closely- it looks "real"! I forgot this recipe was in the back of my mind until you mentioned lavender. But lately, I've been slowing down at all the fancy cooking chocolate when I am shopping. Just staring and reading all the labels.... didn't quite remember why. So I didn't buy it!! Brain fog?? YES! I believe our Fresh Market has the brand she mentions!

I'll keep watching for any other lavender recipes to pop up here. I love lavender too. A lot of my skin/bath supplies are lavender. My car freshener, linen spray, etc. They're not as good as the real thing though.

I am glad you reminded me what I was wanting! Thanks!

It's always great to make lavender sugar and then use that sugar when baking or sweetening tea. I've used lavender sugar for sugar cookies (as the sugar for the cookie then also sprinkling on top), lemon muffins, etc. To make lavender sugar, add a lot of dried lavender buds (make sure if you used any pesticides they're food safe and you harvest it when the manufacturer says it's OK) and let it sit in your sugar for at least a week, but I like it best after a month. When you use it, be sure to not use the lavender buds. You can just replenish sugar as you use it. You can use this same concept with vanilla beans, too, and make vanilla sugar.

excellent idea. do you just sift out the buds or something? oooh, do you have a recipe for lemon muffins? i'd love a copy of that!

I modified a recipe I found on glutenfreegirl.com awhile back, which was a modification of another recipe, for blueberry muffins with lemon zest. I didn't go with the typical poppyseeds since I don't think they add much flavor, just texture. That "texture" is already in the muffins because of the sorghum flour. This was what I came up with and I thought they tasted great. I didn't use lemon juice since the extract and zest add more of a punch normally. I did think about adding maybe some mild flavored nuts, though, like chopped pecans or maybe sliced almonds. I think dried currants would be nice, too.

Lemon Muffins with Lavender

10 tablespoons unsalted, soft butter
1 cup white lavender sugar* (sift out the buds) plus 2 tbsp. for sprinkling on top (you could keep the buds in for sprinkling on top if you’d like)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1 cup sweet white sorghum flour
1 cup white rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

Preheat the oven to 375º.

Combine all the dry ingredients, including lemon zest, together. Set aside.

Cream the butter and 1 cup sifted sugar together, until just combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Then add the lemon extract.

Add one third of the dry ingredients, mixing well. Then add one-third of the yogurt and combine until well blended. Add one-third of the remaining dry ingredients to the mixture, and combine. Continue this, alternating the yogurt and dry ingredients, until you have mixed both of them in, completely.

Oil a muffin tin well or line with cupcake papers (my personal favorite - they rise a bit better). Fill each space for muffin two-thirds full. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the top and set them in the oven.

Bake the muffins for about 30-35 minutes, or until the tops have browned and started to harden.

* One trick I’ve found is that if you substitute a little bit of the sugar with Splenda, say about a teaspoon or two for every cup, the muffins will stay risen better. I don’t know why this is the case, but it always is.

oooh, those sound yummy! i tried that pie crust recipe btw, and it was fabulous. look for my post tomorrow about my strawberry-rhubarb pie. too tired to post it now. thx for sharing the recipes!!