Uses for lavender

Pennylane

Claire - I was in a garden centre today and in their gift section they had plastic bags of lavender - very weeny about 6" x 3" full of lavender and they were £3.50!!!!

My Mum has loads of lavender bushes and she dries it all and then I get some!! :j I've made lavender bags, put some in padded coathangers and sometimes I just put some in a nice bowl and use it as pot pourri. I had a book all about things to use lavender for - but I may have lost it when I de-cluttered, will have a look later.

mary43

I've got loads of lavender in the garden but never bothered to do anything with it. I've got lavender bags that Mum had............love them. Never thought of pot pourri. Bag of that would make a nice pressie for someone I bet.

Pennylane

Mary - it smells beautiful just in a china bowl. It lasts for ages and you can always put a drop or two of that refresher oil in when it starts to lose its scent.

Don't do what my friend's hubby did - I gave her some & she put it in a lovely wooden bowl and left it by her woodburner. Hubby (for some unknown reason) put the bowl on the top of w/burner and went out! She came home some hours later and there was an awful smell of scorched wood and burning lavender. Judging by the prices I saw today, she lost about £20 worth!!
:rolleyes:

squeaky

Hi

I've added your query onto an earlier thread that has lots of ideas for using lavender - some are quite surprising.

A search shows up quite a few short threads too if you need more ideas.

Good luck

C1aire

That's super, thanks!

mary43

Love the idea of the lavender wand on first page.............might have a go at that one. Thanks

kippers

I saw on telly once that you can make fairy / cup cakes with lavender and then put some lavender icing on top.

Does anyone have a recipe for lavender fairy cakes and/or lavender icing?

freyasmum

I have a recipe for the icing/cream

Lavender Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon lavender flowers

1. add sugar and water to a small saucepan set over medium high heat
2. heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon
3. stir in lavender and let the mixture sit over the heat, undisturbed for 3 minutes
4. remove from heat, strain into a small bowl, and set in a second bowl of ice to cool
5. meanwhile add heavy cream to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with the whip attachment until soft peaks form
6. once the sugar mixture is relatively cool to the touch (it can be slightly warm) drizzle into the cream while beating on medium high
7. continue to beat on high until firm peaks form

Pink.

Hi kippers,

Nigella does a lavender cupcake recipe that includes instructions for making the icing. They look lovely! Lavender Trust Cupcakes

There are more recipes for using lavender on this thread:

Uses for lavender

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the recipes together.

Pink

alibo100

I've got a massive lavender bush in my front garden.

Can anyone give me some ideas on what to do with the flowers as they are in full bloom.

Also whats the best way to dry and use as fragrance? I do want to use them as fragrance but is there anything else I can do with them?

There are no pesticides on them

Thank you :j