Saturday, October 23, 2010

Sweet & Spicy Lavender Honey Quickbread for the International Incident Lavender Party


International Incident Lavender Party

Hey lavender! Are you ready for the party?
Have I mentioned how grateful I am for these monthly International Incident Parties? So often these days, my life gets overwhelmingly busy and I find myself neglecting (and missing) both my blog and the many, many food blogs I love to read. But these parties give me an assignment (the theme) and a deadline (the party date). And I always make my deadlines! Best of all, they help me stay connected with many of my fellow food bloggers. So many thanks (as always) to our awesome hostess and founder Penny aka Jeroxie!

Truthfully, at first I was a bit at a loss when I found out that this month's theme was lavender. Ironically, I had just used culinary lavender for the first time in the recent Incident Scones Party, in my lavender, cardamom, and cracked black pepper drop scones. Eek! Just how many lavender dishes can one person come up with?
But rather than despair, I put on my thinking cap. What I loved about my last lavender dish was the play of sweet and savory, so I decided to go in that general direction again. I decided to bake a quickbread, and I settled on a combination of rosemary, brown sugar, vanilla, and, of course, lavender, along with a last-minute addition of a spicy honey and white pepper glaze that (in my humble opinion) took the dish from pretty good to pretty great. I also went with a combination of pastry and buckwheat flours that gave the bread a nice nuttiness, while still allowing for a soft crumb. 

Lavender Honey Quickbread

For the bread:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp powdered vanilla
1 Tbsp fresh lavender, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, melted


For the glaze:
1 tsp buttermilk
2-3 heaping tsp raw honey
1/4 tsp white pepper
pinch of sea salt
1/2 Tbsp butter

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, add the buttermilk to the beaten eggs.  Add the melted butter and fold until just combined.
 Pour batter into a greased  loaf pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean; about 50-60 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the glaze and heat in a saucepan over low heat until warm. 
When the bread is finished, drizzle the glaze over top while the loaf is still warm:
All that sweet spicy goodness will help make your bread incredibly moist.  Gently transfer the bread to a rack to cool. And you know what comes next: Eat that bad boy up! This made a great breakfast - it was fragrant but not perfume-y, and the sweetness was subtle and balanced. Perfect with a cup of jasmine tea.

Now what are you waiting for? Go check out all of the other dishes that people brought to the lavender party!! Thanks for hosting, Penny!!








34 comments:

  1. Lavender honey!!! I love! This bread sounds delicious, and healthy too! I am also a fan of sweet-savoury combinations :)

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  2. I love your general bold take on spices and herbs, that glaze with pepper on this great quickbread is awesome. I love the IIP too a lot!

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  3. I love lavender honey it's amazing drizzled on a bit of aged gouda..and then to add this bread to the mix..wow!

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  4. The combination of ingredients in this dish sounds intriguing! I love the mix of sweet, spicy, floral, herbal and nutty!

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  5. I love that your recipe is something we don't see everyday! Thank you for sharing.

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  6. Your quick bread looks divine! I can't wait to try it.

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  7. Healthy and flavorful, your quickbread also takes on that winning sweet-savory combination that I love. This is a wonderful contribution to the party!

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  8. Glaze with white pepper? I do like this sweet and savory take on quickbread as well. Very unique as usual. :D

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  9. Love the sweet and spicy combo! I think there are tons of things you can do with lavender, but they need to be spaced out a bit... too much of a good thing! Love the bread. I totally get you about being busy. I feel out of the loop, since I started working.

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  10. Lavender and honey - what a great combo! Like Casey, I love the sweet and spicy combo too. This is beautiful!

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  11. By the look of these gorgeous pictures this sounds delightful would love some with some green tea right now...nice job Trix!

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  12. like the buckwheat in here and with the lavender & rosemary contrast and the peppery glaze, this must be one tasty bread

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  13. This bread must have smelled wonderful while baking with the lavander and honey! Looks delicious :)!

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  14. I'm not sure if I have ever had lavender bread, but if it is anything like lavender honey, I am sure that it is very good!

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  15. Your bread sounds delicious! And it looks so rustic and healthy, too.

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  16. Oh, wow! Who would have thought of this? Thank you for sharing and the pix... Enjoy... Gonna try this, myself.

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  17. I seriously need to get me some lavender! I love quick breads and this one is no exception.

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  18. Wow, what a clever recipe and definitely not something I was expecting! Looks beautifully baked too.

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  19. Oh wow.. this looks so good!! Pictures are beautiful!

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  20. Awesome, Trix! The bread looks chewy and moist ... I love honey in breads. I suppose I can tolerate that little bit of lavender since there are rosemary and honey to mask the taste. :P

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  21. I can only imagine how good it must have made your kitchen smell!

    Hmmmmmm....... I must make this for Thanksgiving brunch :)

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  22. I'm with you trix, love that lavender (heck, my shampoo is lavender!) and the bread looks fab... lovely breath after eating it too!

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  23. A healthy quickbread with use of whole wheat and buckwheat flours. The peppery glaze is intriguing.

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  24. I've never baked with lavender...But I do love quick breads. Your photos are gorgeous :)

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  25. sounds delicious! Plus I have a huge bush of lavender in my garden!

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  26. Oh how pretty! I have yet to cook with lavender. Great recipe!

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  27. your bread looks delicious. Lavender and honey... what a great combination

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  28. first time here lovely post and bread

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  29. very awesome recipe! i love your use of lavender and the glaze puts it over the top - delish!

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  30. I’ve been trying to exercise and drink more tea everyday. With www.geocities.jp/family_hong_kong/English/index.htm and these flowering teas, it’s been a breeze!

    Up til now, Jasmine Flower is my favorite!

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  31. There is no baking temperature in this recipe.

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    Replies
    1. How odd! It's 350 F. Thanks for noticing! We all need an editor sometimes ... : )

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