Lavender-almond croissants

Ingredients Croissants: 220g plain flour, 7g yeast, 160ml milk, 2 1/2 tsp caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbs vegetable oil, 150g butter.

Glaze: lavender jam Filling: 2 eggs, 100g ground almonds, 100g caster sugar, 100g butter, 1/2 tsp lavender

Serves: 12 Preparation: we're talking well over 8 hours...

Croissants aux amandes were invented, I believe, to revitalise day-old/stale croissants so you could buy croissants and just glaze and fill them if you prefer. Lord knows making croissants is a labour of love, one which will leave a sheen of butter on your table and leave you with aching hands from the lamination (layers of butter and dough which produce that magical flakiness - if your croissants don't fill your bra with crumbs, you aint doing it right!). Whether you bake or buy your croissants, my lavender jam makes the perfect glaze and the lavender almond cream in the centre is OUT OF THIS WORLD. Just look at those lovely shiny crescents, the effort is so worth it!

Baking the croissants

1) Combine the yeast, 3 tsps of warm water and 1/2 tsp sugar in one jug and set aside until it begins to froth. Add the vegetable oil. In a separate jug, dissolve 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt in the milk.

2) Sift the flour into a bowl and add the two jugs of liquid. Mix thoroughly and then kneed for approximately 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm room for approximately an hour until it has TRIPLED in volume.

3) Knock the dough back, gently with your fingertips, cover and set aside again to double in volume. Finally knock back the dough again and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.

4) Now comes the fun part... roll out the dough into a rectangle (about 30 x 20 cm in size) and using room temperature butter, spread liberally over the left 2/3 of the centre of the dough, leaving a half centimetre unbuttered border. With the unbuttered 1/3 at the left, fold to the right, and then fold again. Roll back out then dust with flour, cover with cling film and chill for 2 hours in the fridge.

5) Roll dough back out and repeat the buttering and folding, dust with flour, cover with cling film and return to the fridge to chill for 2 hours.

6) Finally, roll out to a rectangle approximately 50 x 10 cm and slice in half lengthways. Return one half to the fridge to chill and roll the other out to approximately 40 x 10 cm, then cut into 3 squares and cut these squares diagonally to leave 6 triangles of dough. Repeat with the dough in the fridge.

7) Roll the dough into croissants by rolling each triangle gently from the long side towards the point at the top, thus creating the classic layer pattern, and then bring the two edges together to form almost a circle. Allow to sit for a few minutes until the dough begins to puff back up a little, then bake in the oven at the highest setting (mine is 240 for 15 minutes)

Preparing croissants aux amandes

1) Cream the equal parts of butter, sugar and almonds together, then beat in the eggs. Grind lavender in a mortar and pestle and stir in. (If you wish, you could substitute the sugar for lavender jam in order to get the flavour)

2) Poke a small hole into the croissant at the side of the central layer and use a piping bag to fill with the lavender almond cream.

3) Dip a pastry brush into your lavender jam and glaze the outside of the croissant. From here, you can also scatter with slivers of almonds but personally I find this a little bit overkill! Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Blackberry lavender clafoutis/flaugnarde

Ingredients 200g blackberries, 200ml milk, 1 tbsp lavender, 1 lemon, 50g caster sugar, 30g plain flour, 2 eggs.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

Not a day goes by when I don't crave lavender. There is nothing that brings me such pleasure as when my house is filled with the scent of it infusing, or when I discover yet more flavours that it will enhance. Blackberry and lavender is by no means a stranger to this blog, but I do believe this is my first clafoutis post!
Technically a flaugnarde unless cherries are used, this is essentially a fabulous wibbly custard set with fruit and as desserts go, contains very little fat and sugar. So go for it!

1) Infuse the milk with lavender for 30 minutes. In the meantime, lightly butter your baking dish with a smear of butter on a clean cloth or piece of kitchen roll and tumble the blackberries over it.

2) Sift the flour and sugar together, zest and juice the lemon and beat together with the eggs. 

3) Add the lavender milk through a sieve to separate out the flowers and whisk thoroughly.

4) Pour over the fruit and bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes and serve hot or cold.

Lavender & white chocolate strawberries

IngredientsLavender, white chocolate, strawberries

Preparation: 10 minutes

Lavender and white chocolate is a familiar combination to this blog, but not everyone grows lavender so when the fabulous Millie's suggested Choc Affair's lavender white chocolate, I had to create a quick simple recipe for quick simple chocolate! Sweet, ripe strawberry goes wonderfully with the perfumed richness of the chocolate - just make sure not to refrigerate your strawberries or you'll ruin half the taste!

1) If you are infusing your own chocolate, grind 1/4 tsp lavender in a mortar and pestle and add to a bowl. Break up the white chocolate and sit the bowl over a hot pan to make a bain marie. Stir the chocolate until it melts. 

2) Dip the strawberries into the chocolate and leave them to set. This should only take 5 minutes or so. Serve!

Special butter

Ingredients Butter, caster sugar, your choice of flavouring (suggested: lavender, rose, vanilla, cinnamon

Preparation: 5 minutes + 2 hours refrigeration

Butter, ah butter. James Martin's soul mate it may be but most of us live in the real world where heart disease and obesity are concerns which have us reaching for the margarine or olive oil spread instead. Sometimes though, indulgence is necessary and here's where special butter comes in. I flavour mine with cinnamon, with lavender, with rose, with vanilla... whether you perch it atop a stack of pancakes, spread it on scones or give it as a gift, it's a lovely treat indeed.

1) Using room temperature butter, combine it with sugar at a ratio of 1/2 tsp per 30 grams of butter. The quantity you make is entirely up to you, I like to mould mine into shapes but this can easily be set in a regular pat or a dish. 

2) Add the flavouring of your choice and leave to set in the fridge.

For rose butter: to 60g of butter I added 6 dried rosebuds, roughly torn.
For lavender butter: to 60g of butter I added 1/2 a tsp of dried lavender.
For cinnamon butter: to 60g of butter I added 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
For vanilla butter: to 60g of butter I added 1 vanilla pod

Lavender marshmallow scones

Ingredients 225g self raising flour, 50g butter, 50g sugar, 150ml milk, 1 tbsp lavender. To make the marshmallow: 5 sheets gelatine, 225g caster sugar, 100ml water, lavender, 2 large egg whites, icing sugar and cornflour for dusting

Serves: 10 Preparation: 30 minutes (plus 1 hour 30 minutes for marshmallows)

The last time I made marshmallow, I swore to myself that I would actually bake with it instead of eating it all out of the tray in an orgy of sugary fluffy glory. Well it's important to test that every part of it is perfectly made you see... *looks guilty*
Because I love to make scones and lavender scones in particular, it struck me that combining my lavender marshmallows with my lavender scone recipe would be seriously cool. It was indeed - but you can always just buy the marshmallows if you don't have the patience to make them. I tested my first batch of dough with mini marshmallows that I use for hot chocolate to check they wouldn't just caramelise in the oven - thankfully they left beautiful gooey pockets in the dough. Success!

1) First infuse the milk with the lavender by setting it to steep for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then strain away the lavender.

2) Sift the flour and sugar together, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3) Mix the milk and marshmallows in with the dry ingredients until a dough has formed. It's best to work scones with cool hands so if yours are warm, run them under the cold tap first (and dry them) before working it.

4) Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and then fold it in half and roll again. Cut out rounds of pastry with a scalloped cutter and brush with a little milk to help the surface colour.

5) Bake at 200 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Lavender & hazelnut baklava

Ingredients Filo pastry, hazelnuts, lavender jam, butter

Preparation: 1 hour

I love the sticky, crispy combination of Baklava, but whilst honey and pistachio is an incredible combination... it's Autumn and my cupboards are full of hazelnuts, so I thought I'd experiment a little! Typically for me, lavender was first on my list in terms of a sweet, sticky syrup and I think this works really well.

1) Finely chop your hazelnuts or grind in a mortar and pestle until fine crumbs have formed.

2) Stir in a little melted butter to form a relatively dry nut paste.

3) Line a roasting dish with a sheet of filo pastry and top with a layer of the hazelnut paste, a sheet of filo, another layer of the hazelnut paste and repeat for at least 8 layers, pressing down firmly to ensure that they stick.

4) Trim the excess filo from the outside, and cut a cross-hatch through the filo to form diamond shaped portions. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 50 minutes, until the pastry is golden bubbly.

5) Pour the lavender jam over the hot pastry, allowing it to soak through the layers.

Roast peppers with lavender goats cheese

Ingredients 1 Bell pepper, lavender goats cheese, lavender vinaigrette, spinach, rocket, watercress

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

This recipe uses two of my recent lavender recipes - lavender goats cheese and lavender vinaigrette. It might sound like a whole lot of lavender... but you can never have too much. This is absolutely delicious, and such a lovely twist of the classic roast pepper and goats cheese combination.

1) Slice the tops from your bell peppers, remove the core and seeds, then slice between the membranes to leave 3 or 4 slices of pepper flesh. Discard the core, seeds and membranes. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

2) Top a slice of bread with the roast pepper, and add the lavender goats cheese balls. Roast in the oven for a further 5 minutes, then dress with the salad and eat hot.

Lavender goats cheese

Ingredients 1 tbsp lavender, 1 litre goats milk, 7 drops vegetarian rennet,

Preparation: 20 minutes, plus overnight.

If you have never made your own cheese... why not? It's super easy to make goats cheese and it's SO YUMMY. I love fresh goats cheese rolled in lavender to flavour it for cooking, but the flavour is so much better if you actually incorporate the lavender into the cheese. 


1) You need blood temperature goats milk (37 degrees) for cheese. If you have access to fresh goats milk 1 - I hate you 2 - this stage is not necessary.
I warmed my milk and lavender in a pan very slowly using a meat thermometer, but rule of thumb is if you put your thumb in and can't feel any change in temperature, it's OK. 

2) Stir through the vegetarian rennet, then leave in the pan for about 15 minutes to allow the curds and whey to separate.

3) Cut up the curd into small chunks, then transfer to a sieve lined with muslin. Tie the ends of the muslin together with a bit of string so that the curd is enclosed, then set the sieve over a bowl and leave overnight.

The whey will drain away, leaving soft goats cheese in the bundle of muslin. I roll mine into little balls, but you can keep this in a block in the fridge like any other cheese.

Lavender vinaigrette

Ingredients 1 tsp grainy mustard, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp lavender, 1 tsp honey (or agave syrup)

Serves: 4 Preparation: 5 minutes

It's no secret that I love lavender, or that this Provençal glory features heavily in my cooking. The vinaigrette is one of the best loved French influences and adding lavender and lemon in place of herbs and vinegar gives this a really wonderful twist. Perfect with peppery salad leaves like rocket and watercress.

1) Add the honey into the lemon juice and whisk together - the fruit acid should help even crystallised honey break down and integrate well.

2) Grind the dried lavender in a mortar and pestle and add to the honey and lemon along with the olive oil and whisk thoroughly.

3) Toss your salad leaves in the dressing and serve.

Lavender madeleines

Ingredients 105g flour, 70g butter, 1 tsp lavender, 2 eggs, 65g sugar, 1 tbsp honey (I used lavender honey), 1 tsp vanilla essence,½ tsp baking powder

Makes: 12 preparation: 2 - 4 hours

It's no secret that lavender is one of my favourite ingredients - whether used in sweet or savoury cooking it never fails to impress. Madeleines are a best beloved treat from my childhood - summers in France with these elegant little shells melting in the mouth. I have always loved to make them and especially loved to eat them. Adding lavender adds a more exotic twist to bring out the vanilla in these perfect, sweet sponges.

1) Add the lavender and butter to a milk pan, allowing it to melt slowly and infuse the butter with the maximum flavour. Add in the honey and stir through.

2) Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla for 2-4 minutes until the mixture is pale and just beginning to stiffen.

3) Sift together the flour and baking powder, then fold with a spatula into the eggs. Once combined add in the flavoured butter.

4) Put the mixture into the fridge to rest for an absolute minimum of one hour. For best results leave for 3 hours, but this can be kept overnight if you are preparing for guests.

5) Rub a light layer of butter onto your madeleine pan, then using a tablespoon scoop a quenelle sized portion of batter into each shell dip. Some people recommend to use a piping bag - personally I feel that madeleine batter shouldn't be handled any more than you can help, otherwise they lose the lightness so I would advise using a spoon.

6) Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 12 minutes. If you're able to watch them bake through the oven door this will help you to learn whether your batter has been over handled or the moulds have been overfilled. The heat will initially cause the batter to settle into the mould but it should never spill out at the sides enough for the madeleines to touch. It should quickly bubble up into the classic "humped" shape without the centre breaking the bump like a volcano.

The madeleines should slide straight out of the mould and have a light, springy texture with slightly crispy edges. They're best eaten immediately, otherwise the sponge becomes denser.

Lavender curry

Ingredients 400g Coconut milk, 1 tsp lavender, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 white onion, 400g spinach, 1 courgette, butter or ghee, 2 cloves garlic

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

My personal curry tastes appeal more to the Thai style "soupy" green curries, but lavender could be used in a thicker Indian style Korma sauce if you prefer.
The exotic fragrance and flavour works in the same way coriander or mint does to cut the spices, and as in previous recipes - lavender is a perfect partner to coconut.

1) Grind the lavender with the spices in a mortar and pestle and set aside.

2) Finely dice the onion and add to the pan with the butter or ghee. Cook until the onions are soft, then add the garlic and spices and stir through.

3) Slice the courgette and cut each slice into quarters. Add to the pan and stir through, before adding the coconut milk.

4) Turn down the heat and allow to simmer gently until the courgette has begin to soften. Add the spinach and stir through until it has wilted, though not begun to lose its colour. Serve with rice or naan bread.

Apple & lavender crumble

Ingredients  1 tbsp lavender, 1 Bramley apple, 100g rice flour, 25g ground almonds, 50g butter, 50g caster sugar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes

As some of you may have seen from Twitter this evening, I have just eaten an entire crumble to myself. This crumble to be precise.
Apple and lavender is an absolutely luscious combination of flavours - fresh, sweet, juicy fruit - the exotic perfume of the lavender complimenting the tartness of the apples. I cannot recommend this enough. And don't worry - for those of you who struggle with white flour, this combination of rice-flour and ground almonds make a light, tummy friendly crumble.

1) Add the lavender to 150ml water and bring it to the boil. Remove half of the lavender and discard.

2) Peel, core and dice the apple, then add it to the lavender water along with 1 tsp caster sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes and strain the lavender and apple from the water.

3) Cut the butter into small cubes and either blitz in a blender with the rice flour, ground almonds and caster sugar or rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers until rough crumbs have formed.

4) Spoon the apple and lavender into a baking dish and sprinkle over the crumble. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the topping has turned golden brown.

Allergic to eggs? Instead of custard, why not serve with Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt

Lavender & honey ice-cream

Ingredients     550ml whole milk, 30g skimmed milk powder, 4 egg yolks, 50g caster sugar, 50g honey, 1/3 cup lavender

Makes: 1 pint ice-cream Preparation: 2 hours (plus freezing time)

This is one of the most sinfully rich, creamy, ice-creams I have ever eaten. It's something I make about once a year and eat sparingly, one mouthwatering scoop at a time with sweet fruit such as strawberries or a lemon tart. It takes quite a bit of effort because this is a recipe for hand-made ice-cream. If you have an ice-cream maker then omit the skimmed milk powder and use just 2 eggs.

1) Pour the milk into a pan and add the lavender, the skimmed milk powder and honey. Whisk as you bring it to the boil, then turn down the heat and allow to gentle simmer for 5 minutes before taking off the heat.

2) Add the egg yolks and sugar to a bowl and whisk for about 10 minutes until the mixture has doubled in volume and the colour has paled.

3) Strain the lavender from the milk, then set the bowl of egg yolks into a bowl of ice-water and pour in the milk mixture, whisking through until it is fully incorporated.

4) Return to the pan and cook on a low heat, stirring continuously, until it has thickened enough for you to draw a line through it with a spoon.

5) Scrape the custard back into the bowl over the ice-water with a spatula and leave to rest until it has cooled. Transfer to a tupperware box and put in the fridge for 4 hours.

6) Remove from the fridge and stir thoroughly, then freeze for 30 minutes.

7) Remove from the freezer and stir thoroughly with a fork. Return to the freezer but repeat this stage twice, after 30 minute intervals before leaving to freeze completely.

Absolut lavender (lavender vodka)

Ingredients 1 litre of vodka, 1/2 cup lavender

Preparation: 3 days

This seems hardly worth mentioning as a recipe as it involves no cooking, just the ability to pour vodka over lavender and leave to infuse for at least 3 days in the fridge... but infusing vodka is something that I used to enjoy doing during my mispent youth. Skittle vodka, rose vodka, vanilla vodka, Werther's original... pretty much anything will work!
I will leave more sophisticated mixologists than I to come up with cocktail ideas - personally I'm happy to just pour in a dash of lemonade and sip from it! Watch our for my lavender lemonade recipe coming soon too...

Lavender custard

Ingredients      3 eggs, 200ml whole milk, lavender, 20g caster sugar

Preparation: 30 minutes

Fresh custard goes so beautifully with most puddings, it's the perfect accessory to cut through richness or sweetness or tartness. But why can't the custard be the component of the pudding which holds the flavour? No reason at all! Enjoy!

1) Simmer 200ml milk with a teaspoon of lavender on a low heat, then strain the lavender from the milk

2) Add half the caster sugar and whisk through

3) Add 3 egg yolks to a bowl and whisk the remainder of the caster sugar into it until it has doubled in volume and paled in colour.

4) Pour the milk in a steady stream over the eggs, whisking constantly until they have been incorporated.

5) Return to the pan and continue to whisk on a low heat until the custard is thick enough to coat a spoon.

Lavender & white chocolate cookies

Ingredients 350g plain flour, 200g butter, 2 eggs, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 175g brown sugar, white chocolate chips, 1 tsp lavender, 1/2 tsp salt

Makes: 10 cookies Preparation: 30 minutes

It's no secret that I love lavender. Whether I am making something sweet or savoury with it, it never fails to deliver an exotic yet comforting aroma and these warm, rich flavoured cookies are wonderful.
Using dried lavender in food rather than infusing say milk or water with lavender to release the sweetness and flavour is a rare approach for me. The effect in the mouth is that of the raw herbal perfume of mint, but the sweetness of the white chocolate counterbalances it.

1) In one bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt and lavender and in a second bowl cream the sugar and butter together, then beat in the eggs.

2) Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until a smooth, elastic dough has been formed. Add the white chocolate chips, then roll the dough into a sausage about half the diameter of what you want your finished cookies to be. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm it up.

3) Dust a surface with flour, then cut slices from the dough and roll each slice into a ball using the light dusting of flour. Press them lightly with the palm of your hand to form cookies no thicker than 2cm.

4) Arrange on a baking tray with plenty of space between them and bake in the oven at 190 for 15 minutes. These cookies are best enjoyed soft in the middle and crispy at the edge. Leave them to cool completely before eating.

Lavender marshmallow pie

Ingredients  Filling: 300g lavender marshmallows, 30ml milk, Pastry: 250g butter, 100g caster sugar, 500g plain flour, 1 tbsp milk.

Serves: 12 preparation: 1 hour 1/2


These little tarts are a delight - thin, crisp pastry with a gooey, fluffy marshmallow centre and the delicate flavour of lavender.
It's enough to make you want to be a rocking horse person!


1) To make sweet shortcut pastry: sift the flour and sugar and add small cubes of the cold butter into your blender and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the milk and pulse until a dough ball forms. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge to cool for an hour.


2) Roll out the pastry, cut out circles and press into tart cases. Blind bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 5 - 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.


3) Bring a pan of milk to the boil and melt the marshmallow into it, whisking through until they are completely incorporated. Set the mixture aside to cool, then pour into the tart cases and chill for at least an hour.

Lavender marshmallows

Ingredients 5 sheets gelatine, 225g caster sugar, 100ml water, lavender, 2 large egg whites, icing sugar and cornflour for dusting

Preparation: 30 minutes (plus 1 hour for setting)


Whether you make plain marshmallows, or lavender - I can promise that my recipe will make the fluffiest, lightest marshmallows you have ever eaten. Unlike the drier almost spongy texture of the marshmallows that you can buy - fresh marshmallow is wonderful and I promise the delicate taste of lavender will delight you. These are perfect on their own, for making white chocolate s'mores or for marshmallow pies.


1) Rub a little butter, oil or margarine onto a baking tray, then dust it with sieved icing sugar and cornflour. I use a ratio of 3 parts icing sugar, 1 part cornflower.


2) Soak the gelatine in cold water and set aside, then pour boiling water over a tablespoon of lavender and allow it to infuse for 2 minutes. Separate the lavender from the water with a sieve.


3) Put a pan onto the heat and crank it up high. Bring 100ml of the lavender water and sugar to the boil and continue cooking for 12 minutes. 


4) Then, carefully slide in the softened gelatine sheets and a little more of the lavender water. Stir briskly to incorporate the gelatine - you will notice the syrup becomes much stickier. Remove from the heat and decant into a jug. 


5) Quickly whisk the egg whites using an electric whisk until stiff peaks are formed. Continue whisking while pouring in the hot syrup from the jug. The mixture should thicken quickly and acquire a beautiful glossy hue. Continue whisking for 10 minutes until the mixture is stiff and thick enough to hold it's own weight. 


6) Pour onto the baking tray, dust with another layer of icing sugar and corn flower and leave for an hour to set at room temperature. 


7) To cut the marshmallow, use a sharp knife and section quickly, dragging the knife. Dust the edges with cornflower and icing sugar by rolling it in the excess and serve! 

Leek, potato & lavender soup

Ingredients 4 purple potatoes, 1 medium leek, 1/4 cup lavender, 1 pint vegetable stock, butter, rosemary.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes

I love soup. I find all the chopping, stirring and pureeing very soothing, the warm smells that fill the house comforting, and I love ladling out steamy bowls of soup for people to dunk hot crispy bread into, dressing it with ever more creative croutons or swirls of cream and yoghurt. This winter I have created 10 new soups to warm you through on a cold day. This soup is velvety smooth with the most incredible flavour. Purple potatoes give this a spectacular colour (the picture does not do the bright violet hue any justice!) and the hint of lavender in the stock really brings out the sweet flavour of the leek.
1) Slice and dice the leek and add to a pan with a generous knob of butter and about a teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary. Allow to soften and then set aside.

2) In a seperate pan, bring the vegetable stock and lavender to the boil, and then strain into the leeks, discarding the lavender flowers.

3) Peel and chop the potatoes and add to the stock, allowing to simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes have softened. Strain the leeks and potatoes from the stock and puree in the blender until completely smooth.

4) Add the pureed potatoes and leeks back into the stock and stir until it has been completely incorporated. Season with salt and black pepper to taste and then serve.

Coconut panna cotta with lavender poached pear

Ingredients 250g Rachel's Organic coconut yoghurt, 2 sheets of gelatine, 150ml double cream, 2 pears, 1/2 cup dried lavender, 1 cup caster sugar

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes

My name is Lianne Marie Binks and I am a panna cotta addict.
I cannot, cannot get enough of the cool, creamy lusciousness and whenever we're in restaurants I have to force myself to order something different for pudding, otherwise I would never eat anything else. Making it is so quick and simple but it's such a versatile pudding. I have one month left before I force myself to embark upon a pre-wedding diet so expect many, many panna cotta recipes to come in December! This combination of lavender and coconut, which I explored recently making lavender scones with coconut milk, is perfect.

1) Add the lavender to 1/2 pint water and bring to the boil for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to help the flavour infuse. Strain the lavender from the water and discard the lavender.

2) Peel, core and finely dice the pears, then add to the pan along with the sugar and lavender infused water. Bring to the boil and allow the pear to soften completely.

3) Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for about 5 minutes until they become completely soft and flexible, meanwhile, warm the cream in a pan and then whisk the gelatine into the cream until it has dissolved completely.

4) Take the pan from the heat and whisk in the yoghurt, continuing to whisk until the mixture is completely incorporated.

5) Pour into moulds and allow to set in the fridge. I just use little whiskey glasses (not shots) because they're the perfect portion for me :-) it should be set after 2 hours but I like to leave it overnight. If you don't have a brulee torch to warm the mould, just stand the glass upright in a dish of warm water for 30 seconds and then tip it up and allow it to wobble out. Spoon the lavender poached pears over the top and serve!