Happy Monday! While the rest of us in New England are waiting for Spring, I got into the kitchen whipping up spring treats. I am determined to eat my way into the season and nothing screams spring like coconut and lavender. I decided to combine both into this coconut lavender bundt cake and it is one of the best cakes I’ve made.

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Hi friends!! I am bringing you an exciting new recipe today…or what I think is exciting. These honey lavender marshmallows were a creation in my kitchen on accident as I was testing a recipe for espresso marshmallows.

See to make marshmallows you start cooking sugar, corn syrup and water to 240 degrees (or there about) before whipping that up until stiff peaks form. I didn’t have corn syrup and it was 10pm at night, I was not about to go out to get it. But I was also not about to stop the process. So I researched substitutes and it turns out you can use honey. Several websites suggested using honey but I was not feeling it with the chocolate + espresso I had in mind. And a light bulb went off…just make honey lavender marshmallows as we all know honey + lavender is a proven flavor combo (hello honey lavender macarons!!). And the rest was history!!

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We have another epic ice cream recipe today friends. This one is even better than the Pina Colada ice cream I shared a few weeks ago. Yes I said it … this roasted strawberry and lavender ice cream is better than my good ole coconut lover. Why? Well because this one is richer, creamier and built with layers of flavors.

Starting with slowly roasting some fresh juicy strawberries I picked up at Aldi, this custard based ice cream is also bursting with lavender infused heavy cream and milk mixture. Steeping the lavender in the milk mixture for at least an hour and slowly heating up the mixture to make the custard base is the key to integrated lavender in the rich custard that is the base of this ice cream.

It’s all just layers of flavors and I think you will love this one. I made this ice cream this weekend as a treat for the hubs. I pestered him all weekend to get some big projects done around the house. You know the kind that involves cleaning out the garage, basement and painting, all hard work that needed him to do. The least I could do after all his sweating tasks was hand him a few scoops of this homemade ice cream. It’s creamy, delicious strawberry goodness did not last in our freezer after that and all the projects got done :0

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Yield: ~ 5 cups

Roasted Strawberry and Lavender Ice Cream

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• zest of ½ a lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
• 1 vanilla bean, cut in half or two tablespoons vanilla bean paste
• 2 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• ¾ cup granulated sugar

Instructions

In a medium bowl, toss together the strawberries with sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Transfer strawberries to a baking dish or sheet and bake for 25 – 30mins, until strawberries are soft.

Transfer 2/3 of the roasted strawberries and juices to a blender or food processor. Reserve the rest to fold into the ice cream later. Process until a thick paste forms. Transfer to a bowl and chill.

In a medium bowl, combine the milk, heavy cream and dried lavender. Let steep for at least an hour or overnight in the refrigerator. Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Stir the seeds into the milk mixture. Over medium heat, bring the milk/cream mixture to a slow boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not let boil over.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, yolks and sugar together. Using a mixer, beat the eggs until the mixture is thick, smooth and pale yellow in color, about 2 minutes on medium speed.

Remove the vanilla bean pod from the milk mixture and pour out a cup of the hot milk/cream mixture. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the hot milk to the egg mixture. Be sure not to scramble your eggs, so add the milk in a slow steady stream while mixing the mixture on low speed. Mix until combined. Then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk/cream mixture and stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium low heat until the mixture is thick enough to cover the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and pass through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap touching the top of the custard. Chill completely.

When chilled, turn on your ice cream maker. Whisk together the strawberry puree and chilled custard to combine. Pour the mixture into the bowl and churn according to your manufacturer’s instruction..

Transfer ice cream to a freezer safe bowl. fold in the rest of the reserved roasted strawberry at this time. Freeze for about 3 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, let ice cream sit out for 10 minutes at room temperature to soften. Scoop and serve with reserved roasted strawberries.

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I’m sharing this recipe in partnership with ALDI. As always all opinions are 100% mine. Thank you for supporting the companies that make it possible for me to continue to create great recipes for you. For more information and recipe ideas, visit ALDI on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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Hey guys! I’m popping in quickly today to share with you this beautiful blackberry lavender cocktail. It’s summer and we can finally make ourselves some fresh berry cocktails to kick back with.

The recipe for this cocktail is over on my friend Kayle’s blog today; The Cooking Actress. She is getting married in just a few weeks and is taking some time off  the blog to enjoy this wonderful time. I am over there entertaining her readers! So head over there for the recipe and make sure you congratulate her on her upcoming nuptials!

Find the RECIPE here >>> https://www.cookingactress.com/2015/05/blackberry-lavender-cocktail-guest-post.html

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Spring!! The rainy days, the sunny 60-degree weather, and the budding leaves of the season just put a whiff of optimism in the air. Hmm, that came out way too happy, right? Eh, whatever! It’s a thing!! Spring makes me happy. I am enjoying the inspiration to explore new flavor combos in the kitchen like these lavender honey macarons. I am also playing a lot with bright colors (see pastel cupcakes here and pretty baked donuts) which really lights up any day. Colors make me happy!!

Lavender is one of my favorite floral scents to bake with (along with rose water) as it is delicate, feminine and just a beautiful accent to anything it is combined with. The sweet honey buttercream in these macarons is a perfect match with floral lavender in the macaron shells.

Aren’t these just beautiful? I love making macarons (duh!) and the ability to play with flavors and colors makes them extra special. For my monthly contribution post over on the Kitchenthusiast, the KitchenAid recipe blog, I am sharing with you my tips and tricks for making perfect macarons and also how you can use their versatility to color coordinate your dessert tables. Have showers come up? Bridal or baby? These will light up any dessert table!

Also, for this upcoming Mother Day’s celebration, try these lavender honey macarons for the wonderful mothers in your life!

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Yield: ~20 macaron sandwiches

Lavender Honey Macarons

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes

Total Time 58 minutes

Ingredients

For the macarons:

Toggle ingredient group

• 120 grams almond meal/flour
• 200 grams confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender
• 90 grams egg whites (~3 large egg whites), room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Pinch of salt
• 50 grams granulated sugar

For the honey filling:

Toggle ingredient group

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lavender essence (optional)

Instructions

For the macarons:

1. Line two Sheet Pans with parchment paper. I used a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter to draw circles on the parchment paper and flip over the paper (drawing side down). Prepare a pastry bag with a round tip. I used a Wilton 2A.
2. Using a Food Processor, pulse the powdered sugar, almond flour, and lavender into a fine powder. Sift several times until there is less than 1 tablespoon of almond bits left. Add these to the mixture.
3. In the bowl of your Stand Mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar. Beat until egg whites are foaming. With the Stand Mixer on medium-high, sprinkle in the sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes.
4. Sift the dry ingredients over the meringue and fold with a rubber spatula. Gently fold to deflate the meringue by pressing against the side of the bowl and scooping from the bottom until the batter is smooth and shiny; about 20-25 folds. To check consistency, drop a spoonful of batter and it should have a peak that quickly relaxes back into the batter in about 20 seconds. Start checking the batter after 20 folds.
5. Transfer batter into pastry bag and pipe into the pre-traced circles on the baking sheet. Tap baking sheet hard on the counter to release any air bubbles trapped in the batter. Let shells sit on the counter for 20-30 minutes to dry. Once a shell forms on the macarons, you are ready to bake.
6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until shells are hard, rotating cookie sheets halfway through baking time. Cool completely on cookie sheets before peeling from the parchment.
   

For the honey filling:

1. Whip the butter until light and creamy. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix on low until combined. Increase speed to medium and whip for additional 2-3 minutes.
2. Match equal size macarons up to make a sandwich. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large round or star tip, fill macarons with honey buttercream. Store macarons in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

1. To make plain almond macarons, leave out the lavender in the shells, and substitute milk for honey in the filling.

Making this Recipe?

Share it with us on Instagram using #aclassictwist so we can see what you are baking up in your kitchen!

This post is sponsored by KitchenAid. All opinions are 100% mine. Thank you for supporting the brands and companies that make it possible for me to continue to create quality content!

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Happy Monday!

It’s my birthday today, and I made myself a birthday cake! A Strawberry Lavender Cake, to be precise.

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