Lavender Scented Lemonade

I've already written about my trip to Bald Mountain in Napa, CA in my post about seared prosciutto wrapped scallops, but I didn't mention the lemonade. We had some pretty hot weather while we were there, but none of that sticky heat we are stuck in here in St. Louis (and, as I understand, the whole Eastern half of the country). Still, it was good weather for lemonade. And right out the kitchen door in the rock garden, there was a beautiful, flowering lavender plant all covered in honey bees. Instead of leaving all the good stuff to the bees, I took my scissors out and cut off some fresh fragrant buds to steep in simple syrup.

And that is the secret to amazing lemonade. Fresh lavender steeped in the syrup. Of course, you can try other herbs too. Rosemary works in the same way. Basil is good, but you don't want to cook it all, so you can just stir in strips of basil leaves.

But back to lavender. If you grow it, of course use it fresh, when the buds are not yet opened. Also pick off some of the flowers that already budded and set them aside for garnish. To really make it pretty, I like to slice a lemon really thin and put in the lemonade at the end.

One more thing: ALWAYS use fresh lemons in lemonade. And in everything. Just keep a bag of lemons in the fridge. Seriously, that bottled pre-juiced stuff is more expensive and tastes like plasticky vinegar, compared to the tart fragrance of fresh lemons.

This lemonade is an elegant and delicious thirst quencher on a hot summer's day. And if it's getting further towards evening and it's still lemonade weather, a splash of vodka is just what this lemonade needs.

Lavender Scented Lemonade
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons dried lavender, or small bunch of fresh sprigs
3 or 4 cups cold water
1 cup lemon juice, approx.
ice
1 lemon, thinly sliced, for garnish
fresh lavender flowers, for garnish

Heat the sugar and water to a simmer so that the sugar dissolves. Stir in the lavender, remove from the heat, and cover. Let the syrup steep for 20 to 30 minutes, then strain the lavender out and let it cool completely (you can stir in ice if you want, just reduce the water accordingly.

Stir together the syrup, the water, and the lemon juice. Taste and adjust the sugar and lemon to your taste. Fill a pitcher one third full of ice, add the lemon slices, then pour the lemonade over the ice and lemons. Top with the flowers.

Sour Cherry Gin Cooler

I bought sour cherries at the farmers' market with no concept of what to do with them. I have used them before in a wonderful Jerry Traunfeld recipe in The Herbal Kitchen for pasta handkerchiefs with goat cheese, sage, and sour cherries. Of course the standard use for them is in pies, but this time I wanted to do something different. I decided to boil them down into a juice to use in a gin drink. Lime emphasizes the tartness of the cherries and also balances their sweetness. I love a good tart gin drink on a warm evening or a hot late afternoon. It's like grown-up lemonade. I'm sure as the summer progresses I will be posting even more recipes for refreshing summer drinks, so keep an eye out!

Sour Cherry Gin Cooler
makes 8 drinks

1 cup gin
1/4 cup maraschino
1/4 cup triple sec
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
3/4 cup sweetened sour cherry lime juice
1 tray of ice


Stir together all ingredients in a pitcher. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve, and then serve over ice with a lime wedge or a sprig of mint.


Sweetened Sour Cherry Lime Juice
3 cups sour cherries (no need to pit them)
3 halved lime rinds (what is leftover after you squeeze the juice out)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Stir together all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes at least, or until the cherries are falling apart and fully cooked.

Place a strainer over a bowl, and strain the pits and lime peels out of the juice, pressing as much of the pulp through the strainer as possible. Let the juice cool before using it in the Sour Cherry Gin Cooler.

Apricot-Lavender Cream Cocktail

Apricots are one of my favorite summer fruits, so I started to look for ways to incorporate apricots into cocktails. I made one delicious one with muddled apricot, lemon verbena, and gin (now I'm wishing I had taken a picture--I promise I will next time I make that). I've had apricot drinks at bars using apricot liqueur, and, while those are good, I miss the textural richness of the apricot when it's just a clear liqueur or apricot brandy.

About a week ago I got home from work feeling like I needed a drink, which had nothing to do with having had a bad day (I love working at Infuz, so that's not a problem). I think the problem was that I had had too much caffeine late in the day and I got anxious from that. Anyway, the point is that I wanted a drink, and we had some perfectly ripe apricots in the fruit bowl. I decided to make a blended drink since I wanted to keep all the richness of the apricot. Inspired by Taste's delicious use of mascarpone in drinks, and in order to emphasize the creamy texture of apricot, I added a few spoonfuls of mascarpone to the mix, along with lemon juice, orgeat, lavender, triple sec, and rum. Blended over ice, this mixture emerged as a deliciously smooth, cold, and nicely flavored cocktail. It's more filling than a typical cocktail because of its thickness--part smoothie, part milkshake, and part cocktail. But don't be fooled, it still has plenty of alcohol to classify it as a cocktail.

Apricot-Lavender Cream Cocktail
makes 2 drinks

1 apricot
a pinch of dried or fresh lavender, of a few spoonfuls of lavender syrup
1 splash of orgeat syrup (add more to taste)
2 tablespoons mascarpone
juice of one lemon
4 ounces of rum
1 ounce triple sec
ice

Blend everything together for 30 seconds, then pour into serving glasses.