(Untitled)

[kssthesky]

Ever since my trip to Paris last year, I'd been curious about flower flavoured items (ie lavendar, rose, violet). I didn't try it over there because I didn't want to look stupid and spit it out if I didn't like it. I would have been especially disappointed if I gagged on the lovely bite-sized macarons from LaduréeA few months ago, I went to a local

Comments

[aliasa]

Ah, I've had the same experience where Lavender can be an overpowering flavor. Rosewater tends to be the soothing and more subtle flavor. A lot of Middle Eastern/Indian desserts and teas have rose water flavoring.

Two of my faves are Shir-chay (traditional Afghani tea brewed with milk, sugar, cardamom and rose petals) and Firnee (rice pudding with pistachios and Rose water).

I find lavender mixed with jasmine lends a nice flavor. Or lavender paired with chocolate can be nice too. Do you guys have a Macaron Cafe out in California? If you lived in NYC, I would recommend stopping by and trying the Lavender Macaron - nice, subtle flavoring.

[kssthesky]

While carpooling with my friend today, I had just remembered that Big Island Candies
(my family buys cookies from them all the time) makes a cookie that has a hint of lavender. When I went to their store in Hilo last year, they had samples of them and I remember how I was pleasantly surprised, but I didn't pick them up at that time. I forgot all about that.

There is a place in San Francisco called Miette and they've grown in popularity with their macarons. I think they have about 7-8 flavours now, but they aren't as good as Laduree. They didn't have any lavender ones the last time I was there.

There's a place in Napa Valley called Bouchon carries some macarons. Run by the same owners as the famous restaurant The French Laundry in Napa Valley and Per Se in New York. Now that I just checked the Bouchon website, it looks like they now have a Bouchon Bakery in New York that also carries the macarons. I don't know if they have lavender or not though.

[koloagirl]

What you experienced could be a combination of things. My guess is it's either a reaction specifically to lavender (which can be particularly overpowering compared to other edible flowers and flower extracts, ex., saffron and rosewater by comparison are very delicate) or to Mashti's heavy-handed use of the flavor in their ice cream. Or both of those!

On occasion I put lavender in waffles, but I use *very* little; the waffles have more of a light aroma vs. being lavender-flavored. A more fat-soluble substance like an ice cream or frosting would deliver the flavor even more quickly. And because lavender is so prevalent in a soaps... :}

Bubs just made an Indian dessert flavored with saffron and fresh green cardamom. Very good! I might stick with those and the rosewater or orange blossom :}

[kssthesky]

After I wrote the post, I forgot about some cookies made by Big Island Candies. I went to their store in Hilo last year and they had some samples of these lavender cookies. If I remember correctly, they weren't bad at all. So I have a big feeling that it might be the Mashti brand of ice cream.

I'm still willing to try it again. I thought about making a lavender pound cake. Just need to find a place in the area that sells the dried lavender.

I also bought some orange blossom water from a Persian store back in November. Thinking about trying my hand at some orange blossom ice cream.