I was against using lavender in cooking until my friend Cherry took me to Blackbird Bakery on Bainbridge Island last year for their Lemon Lavender Sugar Cookies. The cookies were a revelation. The key to culinary use of lavender, I discovered, was using only a small amount. Too much, and your food winds up tasting like old lady perfume.

Since I just started the JMF Three Week Kettle Bell Challenge on Monday, baking with lavender seemed like a bad idea. Instead, I decided to pair lemon and lavender in a healthy frozen yogurt! The only problem? My Mama doesn’t have an ice cream maker. Luckily, when it comes to dessert, determination is my middle name. A little bit of experimentation yielded delicious results!

Ingredients:

1 large container of plain Greek yogurt (32 oz or 35 oz. depending on the brand)

1 cup lemon curd, home made or store bought

1 teaspoon lavender blossoms

To make a creamy frozen yogurt, you’ll need to remove as much liquid as possible from the greek yogurt. Line a fine strainer with a double layer of damp cheesecloth or paper towels and place the strainer over a bowl. Allow to drain at least overnight in the fridge, preferably two nights. After draining, the yogurt will have diminished significantly in volume and be very thick.

Place the strained yogurt, lemon curd and lavender in the bowl of a stand mixer and blend for three to four minutes. In addition to combining the flavors, mixing will incorporate air into the yogurt, giving it a better mouth feel.

Put the yogurt mixture into a plastic container and freeze.

 Between two and three hours in the freezer produces the creamiest yogurt, but everyone’s freezer is different, so test it after two hours. This frozen yogurt is best eaten the day you make it. If you have any leftovers that must be frozen overnight, allow time for the yogurt to thaw a bit before serving.

{ 7 comments }