The Lavender Lady (aka Sherri Merritt) is one of the highlights of the farmers market in Bandon, Oregon, and her lavender was the inspiration for these recipes. Her flowers are organic, hand-picked, fresh as can be, and beautiful. But you don’t have to drive to Bandon. Visit her at www.lavenderladyfarm.com to see for yourself. I’ve been wanting to bake with lavender for a while. Its fragrance is soothing–like a porch swing or an old country song–and longs to be nestled into comforting food.
It is the middle of summer here, and that means berries of all kinds are ready for picking. I found loganberries, marionberries, blueberries and olallieberries. I had an inkling that lavender and berries might be a good combination, and baking them together in a crisp seemed like a good way to test that idea. Since I have a habit of eating leftover crisp for breakfast (and liking it much better in the morning than after a big meal), I decided to intentionally make a breakfast crisp full of oats and nuts, and not too much butter and sugar. It’s like warm granola with lots and lots of fruit. Topped with a generous spoonful of plain yogurt, and served with a cup of lavender chai, this crisp is the perfect way to ease into the day. Oh, and it turns out lavender and berries are made for each other!
The chai is inspired by Ruta Kahate’s recipe in her lovely book of Indian cooking, 5 Spices, 50 Dishes. My husband and I had the great pleasure of taking a class from her several years ago. The class cooked together and then sat down to enjoy the meal we had prepared. Everything was exceptionally good, including the chai (hers did not include lavender) we had with our dessert. Ruta’s technique for making tea is similar to the way my grandmother made it. Not too surprising since my grandmother lived in India for many years in her youth. She, like Ruta, boiled water in a saucepan, added loose leaf tea, let it steep and then, unlike Ruta, she strained the tea into a teapot to serve it. At my grandma’s house we had tea at 4 o’clock with a plain cookie or piece of toast, and we added our own milk and sugar. Ruta’s technique includes steeping the tea with sugar in the water, and then bringing milk to a boil in a separate pot. She strains the tea directly into a cup and then adds the hot milk. If you are feeling daring, you can use her dad’s technique and pour the milk into the cup of tea “from a height of at least six inches” in order to get a slightly frothy foam.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 oz./450g) berries, one kind or a mixture
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon lavender blossoms
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¾ cup (3 oz.) walnuts (toasted and chopped)
- ½ cup (2 oz.) rolled oats
- ¼ cup (1 oz.) whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ cup (2 oz.) raw sugar (or substitute brown sugar)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons (1 ½ oz.) butter (or coconut oil, if you prefer)
- 1 cup (8 oz.) water
- 1 ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon black tea leaves such as English Breakfast (you can use tea bags in a pinch)
- ½ teaspoon lavender blossoms
- ¼ vanilla bean ( split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out, you will use the bean and the seeds)
- ½ cup (4 oz.) milk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Gently mix together the berries, honey, lavender, lemon zest and juice. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or other baking dishes.
In a medium bowl, mix together the walnuts, oats, whole wheat pastry flour, raw sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt. Cut the butter up into small cubes, and with your fingertips, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture starts to clump and the butter has been fully incorporated.
Cover the berries generously with the crisp topping. Don’t press the topping down onto the berries, as this will result in a dense and hard to eat crust. Put the individual baking dishes onto a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, or until the crisp topping is golden brown and the berries are bubbling.
Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Add the tea leaves, lavender blossoms, and vanilla bean and seeds, let it boil for 2 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, cover the pan with a lid and let steep for 5 minutes. You want a good strong cup of tea.
In another pan, bring the milk to a boil. Strain the tea into a cup and add the hot milk. Serve immediately while still very hot.
Ruta’s father’s tip: Pour the hot milk into the cup of tea from the height of 6 inches. This will make a slightly frothy cup of chai.
http://madeleineeffect.com/2015/07/breakfast-lavender-berry-crisp-and-lavender-chai/
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