How to use Fresh or Dried Lavender

Lavender is such a wonderful herb/flower and can be used in foods. It can be used in cookies, in muffins and used to make simple syrups or vinegars. It can also be used to scent homemade soaps, but I’ve decided to give you a few recipes for a simple syrup and honey and to round out the article, a couple of recipes for lavender vinegars.

Lavender Simple Syrup

1 cup water

3 Tbsp fresh or dried lavender flowers

2 cups sugar

Bring water and lavender to a boil. Stir in sugar until fully dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, strain out the lavender. Pour into bottle and keep in the refrigerator. It will store well for about 1 week.

Lavender Honey

1 cup honey

1 Tbsp lavender flowers

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a double boiler pan, then remove pan from heat and place honey into the empty part of the double boiler. Once honey is warm, add either fresh lavender flowers or dried flowers. Let honey simmer for 5 minutes over the hot water. Allow honey to cool, strain and bottle.

Refrigerate the unused honey. Honey will tighten up once it is cold and to loosen the honey up, place in the microwave for a few seconds so that it will pour out of the jar.

This recipe can be converted to make Lavender Maple syrup by substituting a good maple syrup for the honey. Follow the same directions as you would to make lavender honey.

Lavender vinegar with white wine

Put 1/2 cup of dried lavender or 1 cup of fresh lavender in a sterilized 1-qt. glass jar with a tight lid.

Pour 2 cups of white wine vinegar over the lavender then attach the lid securely.

Place the jar in a dark, cool place and leave it for 1 month. Shake the jar daily. Strain the lavender vinegar through cheese cloth. Strain the vinegar again with new cheese cloth in order to remove all of the herbs. This may not be necessary to do again but if you still see lavender particles, then strain through cheese cloth again.

Transfer the lavender vinegar to decorative jars or bottles. You may add a sprig of lavender to each one.

Lavender Vinegar made with red wine vinegar

Place 3 cups of red wine vinegar in a stainless steel saucepan.

Add 3 tablespoons of dried lavender buds, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the lavender vinegar too steep for 15 minutes. Strain the lavender vinegar through cheese cloth and pour it into an airtight decretive container. You can add a stem of dried lavender to the bottle for an added decretive touch. Store the lavender vinegar in the refrigerator and use it for salad dressing or as a marinade.

The stems of the lavender can be used as skewers for grilling vegetables and meats. If you’re using vegetables that are hard or meats, poke a hole through the veggies and meats with a sharp knife, then insert the stems.

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