Lavender Lemonade

No matter what size glass you use, there’s nothing more refreshing than a glass of lemonade on a sweltering summer day!

We like to make our lemonade even more refreshing by using our lavender flower sugar!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup lavender flower sugar

2 1/2 cups water

1 cup fresh lemon juice

2 1/2 cups water

Make a simple syrup by dissolving the sugar and 2 1/2 cups water over medium heat. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 30mins (or several hours if you get distracted by other things).

Add this simple syrup to 1 cup fresh lemon juice and 2 1/2 cups of water.

 

Enjoy and stay cool!

~ Charleston Spice Co

Blueberry Lavender Martini

Here’s a refreshing drink to help you celebrate the long days and hot nights of summer!

For the martini:

2 ounces blueberry lavender simple syrup

2 ounces vodka

1/4 ounce lemon juice

Shaken over ice and strained into glass rimmed with lavender sugar.

 

How to make the blueberry lavender simple syrup:

1/2 cup lavender sugar

1/2 cup H2O

1/2 cup blueberries

Combine all in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook until sugar is dissolved and blueberries are soft and mashed. Remove from heat. Let steep for more intense flavor. Strain and discard blueberries and lavender flowers. Add 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice if not using immediately or if storing in refrigerator.

 

We used a little of this simple syrup when rimming the glass with lavender sugar!

Enjoy!

Blueberry yum yum ice cream

We had a wee bit of topping left over from our father’s day cheesecake and a little homemade vanilla ice cream hidden away in the freezer.

Inspired by one of our favorite blueberry treats, blueberry yum yum, we decided to put these two together and add a lavender pecan shortbread crumble.

Wait, what’s blueberry yum yum? 

Oh friends, the minute we make some we’ll let you know. But right now let’s talk about this little beauty:

Yum.

The perfect desert for a hot summer evening!

 

For the blueberry topping you can follow the recipe for our cheesecake topping here.

 

If you want to make your own vanilla ice cream here’s what we did:

3 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup water

1 cup vanilla sugar

Combine the water, 1/2 cup of the heavy cream, and the vanilla sugar in a bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the rest of the heavy cream.Now pour that mixture into your ice cream maker and follow your machine’s directions from there!

 

Now for the lavender pecan shortbread crumble:

1 cup of butter (two sticks)

2 cups of flour

1 cup of pecans, chopped

1/4 cup lavender sugar (or just enough to coat dough)

Set oven for 350 F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine butter, flour, and pecans in a bowl and mix them until they are evenly blended together. Sprinkle some lavender sugar in a small dish or bowl. Now it’s time to get a little messy, take a ball of the dough and flatten it to be about half an inch thick. Dip both sides in the lavender sugar and place on your baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. The edges will look golden and rather crumbly! When they are cool you can try to preserve their cookie shape or just go ahead and crumble them.

And there you have all the parts, the only thing left is to throw them all together and enjoy!

Happy eating!

 

Blueberry lavender lemonade cheesecake

 

Here is the cheesecake we had for father’s day this year. It has a graham cracker crust with lemon filling and a lovely blueberry lavender topping!

It was so good we thought we should share the love so here’s how to make it:

Crust

2 cups crushed graham crackers

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Filling

3 8-ounces packages of cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/3 cups vanilla sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

Topping

4 cups blueberries

1 cup lavender sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup cornstarch

For crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9 inch springform pan. Blend crumbs and melted butter in a bowl. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Bake 5 min and let cool.

For filling: Keep the oven at 350 F. Beat cream cheese until soft. Gradually blend in vanilla sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in lemon juice and lemon peel. Pour into crust. Bake until slightly puffed, about 50 min. Cool.

For topping: Combine blueberries, lavender sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan, cook on low heat until berries are soft (about 15 mins). Combine cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons H2O in a bowl, stir well. Add cornstarch mixture to blueberry mixture, cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool then add to the top of your cooled cake!

 

 

 

How to: Make Simple Syrup

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

Dissolve sugar in water in a pan over medium heat.

That’s it! If you plan on keeping the syrup for a while, add a quarter of a teaspoon of lemon juice to keep it from crystalizing.