Lavender Shortbread

Delightfully heady the scent of lavender is truly uplifting and the plant has made a valuable contribution to well-being for centuries.  In Maggie Tisserand and Monika Juenemann's book "The Magic and Power of Lavender" they state in the introduction how "Ancient medical texts extol its healing powers.  From the history of the Middle Ages we learn that people handling lavender never fell victim to the bubonic plague". In addition to enjoying the beauty of growing lavender and the many uses for lavender essential oil, lavender is also a welcome ingredient in cooking both savoury and sweet, from enhancing roast lamb to baked in cakes and biscuits.  I was inspired by an article in the Saturday Telegraph magazine recently about a couple in Kent who have turned their hop farm into a "lavender paradise".  At the time I didn't have any 'hot' lavender essence to hand, so improvised in making some lavender shortbread and used a proportion of lavender infused caster sugar which worked perfectly well. The end result was delicious, (so much so that by the time I came to take a photo to illustrate my blog there were only three pieces of the original 18 left). Based on William and Caroline Alexander's original recipe, my variation is below and you too may like to try this wonderful taste of Summer:

150g butter (room temperature)
75g caster sugar (I used half lavender-infused caster sugar and half regular caster sugar)
150g plain flour
75g rice flour (really makes a big difference to the texture, so well worth using)
tablespoon of dried or fresh lavender flowers

Heat oven to 150 degrees C / gas mark 2 and line a 27x18cm baking tray with silicone paper.  Cream the butter and sugar, then add the flour, ground rice and lavender flowers.  Combine well and press mixture into the lined tin.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until pale golden colour.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle with extra caster sugar and lavender flowers if desired.  Allow the shortbread to cool in the tin, but whilst still warm cut into fingers. Keep in an airtight tin to retain crispness. 

Apart from being great as it is, the shortbread is an ideal accompaniment to gooseberry fool. I make mine using stewed gooseberries with elderflower cordial, sieved (if you want a smooth texture), then folded into a combination of thick yoghurt and vanilla custard combined.