Lavender Sugar

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Lavender sugar is easy to make at home and makes a lovely gift for the holidays.

In November, I always start thinking of San Francisco.

You see, I’ve been to San Francisco a few times, but mostly in November.

Twice was for FoodBuzz Fest, where I met quite a few really wonderful bloggers, tasted Brussels sprouts and oxtail for the first time (year 1) and molested a lamb chop (year 2). The other time was for National Novel Writing Month and their special write-a-thon, the Night of Writing Dangerously.

On each trip, I spent as much time as possible at the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market.

Those who live in California truly have it made when it comes to local produce; as someone who grew up in the Midwest, I’m especially appreciative of this fact.

I was sad I wasn’t able to enjoy most the local produce (my hotel room was sadly not outfitted with a full kitchen). However, I did make the most of the trip, stocking up on every travel-ready item I could: Rancho Gordo beans, local honeys, newly pressed olive oil, and fancy lavender sugar.

Now, I wasn’t sure at the time just what I would do with lavender sugar, but I didn’t want the opportunity to pass me by. Me and my just-barely-under-the-weight-limit suitcase headed home happy.

What is lavender sugar?

Lavender sugar is exactly what it sounds like — sugar that has been mixed with dried lavender.

The sugar takes on the fragrance and flavor of the lavender. It is sweet, aromatic, and feels luxurious. Seriously, you feel infinitely fancier just owning a jar of lavender sugar.

Lavender sugar uses

It turns out that lavender sugar is an excellent addition to all manner of things, from shortbread to pie crust to biscuits. (Try this Lavender Biscuits recipe!)

It adds a wonderful floral note to pastry, and I think it’s pretty perfect for anything involving strawberries, such as Strawberry Doughnuts or Strawberry Vanilla Jam.

A peek into [amazon_textlink asin=’0316118400′ text=’The Flavor Bible’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’stetted-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’b7e40994-aa2f-11e8-a953-27c2ab4111d3′] (one of my favorite books!) tells us that lavender also pairs well with pistachios, plums, honey, lemon, peaches, and my beloved raspberries — or any berry, in fact. Lavender sugar could be really lovely incorporated into raspberry jam cookies.

Don’t forget about the simple simplicity of adding it to your tea, of course.

How to make lavender sugar

That one jar is long gone by now, but it turns out that lavender sugar is incredibly easy to make at home. It’s also a great gift idea for the baker in your life.

To make this sugar at home, all you need is some granulated sugar, dried lavender buds, and a food processor.

Pulse the lavender buds and sugar together in the food processor until the lavender is chopped and distributed evenly throughout the sugar.

That’s it! It’s ready to package up in jars and gift to your favorite baker. It’s the easiest yet fanciest hostess gift you could possibly make.

Where to buy dried lavender

Lavender buds can be purchased in many places, including spice shops, gourmet kitchen stores like Williams-Sonoma, and sometimes at the grocery store.

Of course, when in doubt, you can always find [amazon_textlink asin=’B01MQNOSYS’ text=’dried lavender’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’stetted-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’1103212c-aa30-11e8-af82-c95cd44f9738′] online. Amazon Prime is a wonderful, magical thing.

Do not just open a sachet and have at it — you want culinary lavender, which is free of chemicals and safe to eat.

More DIY food gifts that you might like:

• Aquavit
• Homemade Devil’s Food Cake Mix
• Lemon Sage Mustard
• Pickled Red Onions