Saturday, November 12, 2011

And I said, "What about Breakfast At Tiffany's?"

Lavenders are such sexy flowers. Their seductive perfume scent... feminine lilac hue... and feathery petite petals... all seem to marry beautifully. They carry with them an aura of sensuality and placidity that somehow makes us feel magically at ease. Some like them freshly bundled into a flower girl's bouquet, some prefer them dried in a porcelain vase, and others love them bottled into essential oils...

...But I? I want to eat them.

I've been having this peculiar urge to make something lavender for quite a while. Lavender honey, lavender sugar, lavender tea... But I've decided to go with a recipe that I've bookmarked for almost a month now because... procrastination got the better of me. (Not proud about it.) 

So. Lavender Shortbread Cookies.
They are sexy, sensual, feminine and elegant - all in a bite.

Have them with a flirty Cosmo. Or maybe some tea and honey. You can even pair them with milk. But not milk in a mug. Milk in a martini glass. Just like how Holly Golightly had hers in Breakfast At Tiffany's.
Such elegance and poise. Sigh.

So, back to the cookies. I started with an equal part ratio of dried lavender blossoms and granulated sugar, and ground them together with a pestle and mortar until it became a fine perfumed powder.

In a separate bowl, I creamed two sticks of unsalted butter with a cup of sugar, added 2 1/2 cups of AP flour and a pinch of salt. To that, I mixed in the lavender sugar until everything came together to form a moist, slightly crumbly dough.
Wrapped it in cling film and gave it some down time in the fridge. Once it's firm enough to work with, I rolled it out and cut mine into 1 1/2 inch circles before pricking them, brushing them with beaten eggs, and dusting just a tad of demerara sugar on these circular mounds.
 Pop these beauties into the oven at 180degC for 14 minutes until the sides are just turning golden.
While waiting, brew yourself a petite pot of fancy tea. Mine was called Paris, Mon Amour (or Paris, My Love) from Fouchon. I bought it during my Halloween weekend trip to Hong Kong... And no prizes for guessing who I dressed up as...
But I'll give you the answer anyway. xoxo.