Lovely lavender...fragrant and calming

I found myself with a small bouquet of lavender at the weekend and couldn't resist rubbing my fingers along the flowers to catch some of that soothing lavender scent. Long known for its calming properties, lavender isn't an ingredient bakers often turn to. This is curious as lavender is such a delightful, quaint fragrance - you can use it for floral breadsticks to serve with goat's cheese for example, or in cakes. I decided to try the latter...

So, at the risk of becoming a bit of a granny, I made a lavender cake. Thinking this might be a tad old-fashioned for modern sensibilities, I threw in lots of orange zest and ground almonds to make a lovely moist, fragrant cake, dispersed with lavender buds which gave occasional bursts of lavender - a delightful reminder of mediterranean sunshine. Go on, give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 200g plain flour
• 100g ground almonds
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 75g butter, melted
• 150g half-fat creme fraiche (using up what was in the fridge!)
• 180g caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 2 oranges
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp lavender flowers
• handful flaked almonds

If you want a lighter cake, whisk the eggs with the sugar for 5-8 mins instead of just lightly beating them as I did. Frankly I don't mind a slightly dense cake as long as the flavour's right, but if you're out to impress a real pastry chef then follow the traditional method.

I simply put the dry ingredients in one bowl, liquids in a second bowl, combined the two and gently folded the ingredients together, poured them into a 20m round cake tin (lightly oiled, of course), scattered the flaked almonds on top of the mixture and then baked the cake on the central shelf of a 180 celsius oven for 45 minutes. Phew, easy!

You could of course make a simple sugar syrup infused with lavender and orange zest to glaze the cake with: just take equal quantities of water and sugar (or indeed, half water and half freshly squeezed orange juice), place in a saucepan with the lavender and orange and bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 mins until the syrup looks, well syrupy. Drizzle on the cake when it's cooled down...

* Other edible flowers include violet and rose, make sure you buy un-sprayed ones though, you really don't want pesticide in your cake. 

* apologies to Fiona, I know you requested the butternut squash bread, but I didn't have any squash in the house this weekend. Going to kick-start Hallowe'en later this week with a squash baking bonanza so watch this space ;-)

Lavender Breadsticks

This recipe's inspired by these delicious lavender breadsticks I had on a recent press trip to Germany's wine regions, and the bread recipe itself is adapted from the wonderful Ballymaloe Bread Book...lavender may sound like an odd flavouring for bread, but it's surprisingly delicate in taste, and just fragrant enough to make these sticks ideal for dipping in honey, or served alongside a summery goat's cheese salad. I start this the night before baking the breadsticks - it seems like less hassle, after all you don't want to spend half the day baking breadsticks!

• 340g strong white flour
  
• 25g butter, cut into small cubes
  
• 1/2 packet fast-acting yeast or 10g fresh yeast
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 175-200ml lukewarm water
  
• handful fresh lavender, finely chopped
  

In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt and then rub in the butter. Stir the yeast and sugar together in a small cup (the yeast should foam slightly, this is a sign it's active)

Make a well in the centre of the flour, add the yeast, oil and most of water, mix to a loose dough. Add more water or flour as needed - it shouldn't be too dry, but if it's really sticky and wet it will be difficult to knead

Relax the dough for 5 mins, then knead for 10 mins until smooth and the dough springs back when poked, add the lavender before shaping into balls, chill overnight in a lightly oiled plastic bag - the dough will be easier to handle the next day when cold

When you're ready to bake the breadsticks, preheat oven to 220ºC, take your dough out of the fridge and knock back for 30 seconds.  Roll the dough into a rectangle and cut into 1cm strips. Sprinkle some seasalt (and cracked black pepper if you wish) on a tray and roll each stick, twisting back and forth to cover the sticks with seasoning

Place each breadstick on a lightly floured baking sheet, don't worry if they look a bit wonky and mis-shaped, they're not meant to be perfect.  Bake 8-12 mins until golden brown andcrisp. Cool on wire rack, or serve whilst warm with a light goat's cheese salad or dip in honey for an indulgent treat...