Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Blueberry + Lavender Scones = Deliciousness


I recently shared a batch of these scones with my Master Gardening class, and they were quite the hit. I thought they were good, too, but I think I found my target audience there when it comes to baking with lavender.

Gardeners in the Portland area know that lavender grows well since we have such gorgeous Mediterranean summers. Cutting your lavender back every year provides bushels of bouquets for coworkers, friends and neighbors. But saving some for culinary use isn't always top of mind. It should be, if only to make these blueberry lavender scones.

I blogged about harvesting lavender here, and every year, we pick blueberries out at Sauvie Island, filling our freezer with bags of blueberries to use over the winter. (Here's another great use of those frozen blueberries.) But the flavor combination of blueberries and lavender is a tender and fragrant one. Hint: Don't overdo it on the lavender: it only takes a little bit, or else you'll think you're putting a bath bomb in your mouth.

I've blogged about my drop scones before, here providing the marionberry and ginger combo. Here's my recipe for blueberry and lavender scones....enjoy!

Blueberry + Lavender Drop Scones
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Prep a baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper.

Into your standing mixer bowl, sift 2 cups flour, 1 T baking powder, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

Cut in 1 stick unsalted butter (chilled, cut into 1/2 inch slices) and let it run just until the butter breaks down into small pieces, slightly smaller than peas but not so fine as cornmeal. You don’t have to have a standing mixer to do this: either use your fingers or two knives.

Add 1 Tablespoon culinary lavender and approx. 1 cup of frozen blueberries.

In a small bowl whisk 1/2 cup cream and one egg.

With mixer on low, mix in the cream/egg mixture just until everything sticks together.
I like using frozen berries because they keep their form and don't bleed their color into the dough. Just barely mix everything together.

Drop by large spoonfuls (1/2 cup or more) onto your baking sheet.

Divide 1 Tablespoon raw sugar (or lavender sugar, see note below) among scones and sprinkle on top.

Bake for 20-24 minutes, until your kitchen smells wonderful and scones are turning golden.

Cool on wire rack. They are best eaten warm, or the same day. Do not store in a closed container (they become soft and not as tasty.)

7 comments:

A Lewis said...

With whipped honey butter...right?

Lisa said...

Great idea! I really enjoyed cooking with lavender last summer but I still have some dried lavender somewhere that I could use for this. I agree that you should be careful about adding too much lavender. I made lavender shortbread cookies that were over the top floral. Some varieties of lavender have more intense flavors than others. Still, I look forward to making these.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to try this - thanks for sharing! I love cooking with lavender and agree with Lisa - a little can go a long way :)

Anonymous said...

I love lavender, so I'll definitely try this.

dig this chick said...

Oh sweet jesus, those sound amazing! yay. I am totally making those...turns out we grow some mean lavender in Montana too.

Anonymous said...

Two scones varieties this morning in Bend. Marinberry and blueberry-lemon.

Pretty site, beautiful pictures.

jen @ homeinthecountry said...

These are delish! My mom made them for us when we were visiting last week, and we'll be making our own with lavender from our garden. I linked to your recipe from my blog - hope you don't mind! :)