My friends and I were hanging out this weekend and since one of them wouldn't be able to spend Imbolc with us. I decided to make Lavender Milk tea and a Bannock. We had great fun and I hope everybody enjoys these as much as we did.
Rosemary Oat Bannock
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup oat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 cup cream or milk (plus one extra tablespoon for the caudle)
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary (1 tablespoon dried)
1 tsp. of grated orange zest (optional)
3 tablespoons of sugar (and three more tablespoons for sprinkling)
1 egg yolk (for the caudle)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a cast iron skillet or baking sheet.
Place the oats, flour, salt, sugar, rosemary and orange zest in a large bowl, mix together with a fork. Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture. Stir in the cream until all the flour is absorbed.
Gather the rough dough together and place on a surface lightly dusted with oat flour. Knead until the dough holds its consistency (but don’t overwork).
Divide the dough in half and roll out each half into a circle about 1/4 inch thick.
In small jar, vigorously mix your egg yolk with a tablespoon of cream. Then brush the mixture over the top of the bannock. Sprinkle with sugar.
Cut each circle into 4 wedges and arrange the wedges 1/4 inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake about 20 minutes or until golden and crisping at the edges.
Note: I did not put the egg finish but instead I did honey! It was just as good!
lavender Milk Tea
Ingredients
1/2 cup + 1 1/2 cups whole milk (the most delicious you can find, grass-fed, organic, fresh,etc)
2 cups of good heavy cream (again, the good stuff, sans artificial thickeners)
4 teaspoons honey (more or less to taste – I use lavender-infused herbal honey)
1/2 a vanilla bean, split & scraped
2 cups of strong brewed lavender tea (use store-bought tea bags or make a tisane with fresh or dried lavender. I used a commercial chamomile & lavender tea. black lavender tea is also lovely. brew extra for blending to taste)
brandy (optional)
lavender buds for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Brew a pot of lavender herbal tea. You can make your own with dried/fresh lavender or buy herbal tea bags from the shop. I use multiple teabags and allow it to steep overnight or at least for a few hours to really get that nice herbal flavour. Remember you’re going to blend this with a whole lot of milk and cream, so your tea needs to be able to hold her own.
Once your tea is how you want it and cooled to room temperature, slowly heat a 1/2 cup of milk over low heat with the honey and vanilla. Stir to dissolve the honey and break up the vanilla bean seeds. Allow the sweetened milk to cool and chill.
Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1 1/2 cups of milk and cream in a large bowl. Add 2 cups of tea and remaining sweetened milk. Mix and tinker to taste! Add brandy if you like. Sprinkle with lavender buds or grate some nutmeg on top. Serve very cold or on ice. And if you have a bit to spare, go pour a bit in your garden to bless your own fields or leave a draught or two for the faeries.
Note: I added some ginger ale as we started to deplete in amount.
Both of these recipes are great and go delicious together.
All credit to the original maker
