Lavender is a delightful scent that is often relaxing as it wafts through your home. It can be dated back to Egypt and is commonly grown in Africa, the Mediterranean, and Europe. However, you can usually grow lavender just about anywhere as long as you have a few seeds to get you started. Though lavender is known to help with anxiety, headaches, nausea, and other health issues, you can use Monin Lavender Syrup to create tasty treats in your kitchen.
Benefits
Aromatherapy is a common way to use lavender in your home. As you smell the aroma of the plant, it can have a calming sensation on your senses. It’s also beneficial for helping you get to sleep at night. Some skin and hair conditions can be treated by using lavender as well, such as acne and diaper rash.
Frozen Lavender Blossom Lemonade
This is a refreshing beverage that can be enjoyed at any time during the year but is ideal for the summer months. Combine 1 oz. of Monin Lavender Syrup, 1 oz. of Monin Blackberry Puree, and 5 oz. of lemonade in a blender. After the ingredients are blended, pour the beverage over ice and serve with a fresh piece of lavender, a slice of lemon, and a blackberry.
Dried Sensations
Store a few sprigs of lavender in your kitchen for a wonderful aroma that circulates through the air for several months. Make sure you keep the product in a container that’s airtight so that it doesn’t dry out. Most batches of lavender will stay fresh for about two years before you need to get more sprigs to keep in your home.
Lemon Bars
Lavender and lemon pair well together, so why not make a few delicious bars with the two ingredients? You’ll prepare a traditional lemon bar recipe but add ground lavender to the batter before you bake the bars. You can also add Monin Lavender Syrup to enhance the flavor.
Lavender Tarts
A small tart can be enjoyed as an appetizer or as a sweet treat after dinner. The crust of this tart is made of cornmeal and butter. You’ll then prepare whipped cream with lavender and vanilla. Top the tarts with blueberries for a light and refreshing dessert to enjoy at any time of the year.
Fried Chicken
When you think of ingredients that you can add to fried chicken, lavender might not be at the top of your list. You don’t need to add a lot of lavender to enhance the flavor of your meat. Wait until you take the chicken from the oven or the frying pan before adding small pieces of the flower to the top of each piece. The flower will help to bring out the buttermilk flavor in the chicken and also works well if you use lemon juice when seasoning your chicken.
Sorbet
One of the delightful recipes that you can enjoy in the summer months is sorbet. It can be made with almost any ingredient that you can think of with lavender being used for even more flavor. A Concord grape, lemon, and lavender sorbet offers a nice balance of sweet and sour flavors in one dish. You can top the sorbet with mint or lavender before serving.
Sweet Treats
There are numerous sweet treats that you can make with lavender as the main ingredient or as a finishing touch. Make chocolate cupcakes with purple icing, topping them with lavender flowers or pansies. You can also add lavender syrup to the icing for more flavor. Another treat that you can make is a cookie. With different types of cookies that you can make, you can play around with the ingredients as much as you want. Lemon cookies work well with lavender.
If you’re making chocolate chip cookies, then consider using lavender icing on them. Sugar cookies can be made with this kind of icing as well along with a few floral decorations that highlight the flavors that are incorporated in the cookies. You can make a caramel sauce that contains lavender syrup as well that can be drizzled on everything from ice cream to cakes.
