How to Cook with Lavender

At age eighteen, I had the opportunity to spend several summer weeks in France, including a week in Provence. Known for its exquisite lavender fields and quaint villages, this south-eastern region is ideal for a small road trip, car windows open, smelling the sweet scent of the lavender from the fields. My group stopped in a small village to look around, and I blindly (not knowing French) selected a small assortment of cookies to try from a bakery. One of these cookies—which I had expected to be a sugar or nut-flavored cookie—turned out to have a much different sweet, yet savory, taste. After a moment, I finally placed this taste with its matching scent—it was lavender! I was pleasantly surprised! 

Years later, I started trying various recipes using lavender as a spice. A year ago, I made raspberry muffins with lavender for a school event. Other people loved these muffins, especially with the hint of the lavender taste. Much like my experience in France, they were pleasantly surprised with the lavender spice! 

Culinary Lavender

There are many different types of lavender, but the two general varieties are “English” and “French” lavender. Both can be used for culinary purposes, assuming no pesticides, etc, but the English lavender is usually preferred for cooking. English lavender generally has a sweeter taste, whereas the French lavender is usually preferred for its scent in soaps and perfumes. The most common English lavender varieties include the “Hidcote” and “Munstead” lavenders.

The part of the lavender plant used for cooking are the lavender flower buds. These buds can be used freshly picked off the bush or dried. For those of us without a garden, dried culinary lavender can be bought collected in a jar or as dried lavender branches—from which you can harvest the buds yourself. Dried lavender can be purchased at local specialty grocery stores, farmer’s markets, or online. If you are in the NYC area, I recommend a Long Island based lavender farm called Lavender By the Bay. You can find them online or at the Union Square and Prospect Park Greenmarkets.

There are three ways to use these buds in cooking: 

Ways to Add Lavender 

1) Ground

Lavender buds can be ground to a powder using a spice grinder and then added to a recipe just like any other ground spice. Depending on the recipe, I tend to find myself adding 1-2 teaspoons or 1 tablespoon full of ground lavender. I always error on the side of adding a bit more lavender than the recipe dictates, as I like my lavender flavor a bit more strong. Lavender can be a bit delicate in flavor, unlike cinnamon for example, so I find it takes a bit more to bring out the flavor—although that may just be my personal preference!

I tend to use ground lavender in most of my cooking, from baked goods to soups to entrees. I have even used it in hot chocolate, though I have tried other options for that as well. Ground lavender will have the strongest flavor of all the options, however, as the grinding does realize more of the natural oil.

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2) Infused

Infusing the lavender buds is a really simple and easy option, but it has a less strong flavor and really depends on the recipe. I honestly have only used an infusion in baking once and recipe asked for both infusion and ground lavender spice. 

However, I use the infusion often to make lavender tea—which is exactly how up you would infuse lavender in a recipe! The secret for a good infusion is using boiling hot water. Anything cooler will not gain the flavor from the buds. Let the lavender steep for at least three minutes (the longer the time the stronger the flavor). The lavender herbal tea is a white-beige colored tea and is a fantastically calming bedtime drink. Or if you want to try in cooking, you can simply add this lavender tea to your recipe in lieu of some of the liquid ingredients. 

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3) Syrup

The final way to use lavender in cooking is by using a lavender simple syrup. You can either buy this syrup or can make it yourself. I’ve honestly not used this method yet, but have enjoyed the syrup in purchased lavender lattes. 

Usually the syrup will be used in beverages, ranging from coffees to cocktails. The syrup is especially useful for cold beverages, as infusion will not work for that temperature—unless of course you want to spend the time cooling it! The syrup also adds a bit of sweetener to the flavor, which can be useful for more bitter drinks. 

Making the syrup is quite simple, basically using water, sugar, and lavender together. Boil equal parts water and sugar together and then let the lavender buds steep in that mix.

I hope this gives you a general start into the world of cooking with lavender! Please let me know what recipes you discover and if you enjoy the taste. I will be following up with some future posts of recipes, both original and recipe reviews. Until then, bon appétit!