Ingredients:

(makes 1 l of ice cream)

5 tablespoons gin

1 level tablespoon dried lavender flowers

6 medium egg yolks

150 ml honey (ideally lavender or other flower honey)

300 ml double (thick) cream

Fresh lavender flowers to garnish (optional)

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, warm the gin slightly, and then pour it over the lavender flowers in a small bowl. Cover tightly with cling film, and leave to infuse for an hour or so.

2. Sieve the lavender-infused gin through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing the flowers against the sieve with the back of a spoon to extract all the flavour. Discard the flowers. You should end up with about 3 tablespoons of strongly-flavoured gin. If it is a little under, top it up with some plain gin from the bottle.

3. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with an electric whisk (or a wire, balloon-type whisk) until they are very light and fluffy.

4. Heat the honey in a small saucepan until it reaches the boiling point, then remove from the heat.

5. Pour the hot honey in a thin, steady stream over the egg yolks, whisking continuously. Keep whisking vigorously until the mixture has cooled and the yolks have increased in volume. This should take about 2 – 3 minutes if you’re using an electric whisk, or 5 – 10 minutes by hand.

6. Add the flavoured gin and stir thoroughly to combine.

7. Whip the double cream into soft peaks. Carefully fold it into the egg yolk mixture, blending everything well.

8. Pour the mixture into a bowl or container and freeze for 8 hours. There is no need to remove the ice cream at regular intervals and beat it (as is the case in many freezer ice cream recipes) – simply leave it be. Just before serving, garnish with fresh lavender flowers, if using.

Note: Serve with lavender shortbread cookies. See lemon-Lavender Shortbread recipe posted 12 September ’09.

Ingredients:

2/3 cups sugar

230 g unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dried culinary lavender flowers (or fresh)

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of ½ a lemon

½ teaspoon lemon extract

½ teaspoon real vanilla extract

2 cup all-purpose flour

Raw sugar for rolling

Method:

Add the butter and sugar to the food processer bowl and mix until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the salt, lavender, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract, and vanilla extract and pulse until combined and the lavender is chopped scraping down the bowl as needed, about 20 seconds. Add the flour and pulse until just combined.

Turn dough out onto a clean surface and knead a couple of times to combine. Cut dough in half and form into rectangle logs about an inch long and 3/4th inches wide. Cut two pieces of wax paper to form around logs, pour raw sugar onto the wax papers and press the logs into the sugar forming the dough into shape as you press. Roll the wax paper around the logs and freeze until solid.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Cover two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Let the logs rest on the counter for about 15 minutes before cutting. Take a sharp knife and slice 1/2 cm thick. Place an inch apart on baking sheet and bake for 17 to 20 minutes until golden around the edges. Let set one minute and transfer to a cooling rack.

Think ahead: Shortbread logs can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw slightly before slicing. Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

Recipe by Laura Flowers

Ingredients:

(Serves 8 )

Mousse:

* 1 cup sugar

* 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , cut into 8 pieces

* 1 large egg , plus 4 large egg yolks

* 1 tablespoon dried or fresh lavender blossoms

* 3/4 cup heavy cream , whipped

Blueberry sauce:

* 2 cups fresh (or frozen, unthawed) blueberries , plus additional fresh blueberries for garnish

* 1/3 cup sugar

* 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest

* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

* 1 stick cinnamon

Method:

To make mousse: In a heatproof mixing bowl, combine sugar, lemon juice, butter, egg, egg yolks and lavender. Place over a pot of simmering water and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain into a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water and stir until cold and thickened. Fold in whipped cream. Pour mixture into each of eight 5-ounce paper cups. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

To make sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine blueberries, sugar, 1/4 cup room temperature water, lemon zest, lemon juice and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes. Let mixture cool 10 minutes. Remove and discard cinnamon stick. Puree blueberry mixture in blender until smooth. Strain through a sieve set over a bowl. Discard solids; cover sauce and refrigerate.

To serve, peel paper cups off mousse and place mousse in shallow bowls. Pour sauce around mousse and garnish with blueberries.

Note: Dried lavender blossoms are available at gourmet markets. Be sure to buy a product intended for culinary use.