Provence Lavender Lemon Shortbread

If you asked me to close my eyes and think about summers in Provence, I would first tell you what I hear. There is a constant buzzing, the cicadas have worked themselves up into a frenzy, the bees are excited by all the sweet melons and peaches on the table, there is laughter of young children in rivers and pools and then silence approaches as the sun goes down, before the evening breeze rustles the dry vine leaves and tall slim cypress trees. And suddenly all you can hear are the stars, blinking in the dark night sky.

After breakfast, It feels hot. So hot that the midday sun sears my skin and in that heat simmers everything I can smell. Rosemary, thyme, tomato leaves and lavender. There is nothing more defining of Provence than lavender. That, and raw milk cheese. Row after row, lavender fields line the rolling hills as far as the eye can squint in the bright light, pops of vivid violet blooms look like a tidy knitted sweater wrapping the summer hills, wildly indulgent in this heat.

We decide to find out more about what lies behind the pretty little sachets of dry lavender piled high at the market stands or the bottles of “sleep tight” lavender spray on your bedside table. We ride up towards the hill village of Sarraud where a lavender distillery is working full time to produce pure essential oils for the likes of Chanel but also for their little roadside stand.

Every forty minutes a new batch of lavender is placed into a compression chamber and steamed until the natural essential oils from the lavender flowers are squeezed out with the vapour and come pouring out of the cylinder before cooling down and naturally separating into an essential oil layer and a water base.

The truck arrives with a massive mountain of dry lavender stems and this is stuffed into the vertical chamber and stomped on by the workers, in the same way the grape harvest for wine used to be done many years ago. Round and round in circles they dance until the hay-like flowers are stuffed tight then the lid comes crashing down. After a few minutes of good steaming, the whole tube of shrunken lavender is pulled out and flipped into the empty truck. The air explodes with white steam carrying a burnt aftertaste and something far from the lavender scent we know and love, it smells more like an intense chinese medicine soup to me.

The owner lets us smell a sample of the fresh essential oil that just sprouted out of the cylinder and I think I feel my nose burst a little, it’s almost like eating a spoonful of wasabi.

They explain to us the difference between lavender and lavandin which are not at all the same thing. True lavender supposedly comes from this region and is grown at altitudes higher than 800m. It only has one flower bloom on each stem and it takes approximately 130 kg of lavender to distill I litre of essential oil. It is mainly differentiated by its more delicate scent, making it ideal for sleep and relaxation due to it calming effects. Lavandin on the other hand is larger and grows in multiple clusters on a single stem. Compared to lavender it has a much stronger scent and contains around 10% camphor making it better for colds, but contrary to relaxation can actually work as a stimulant. Since it produces more oil than lavender, only 40kg is needed to proceed 1 litre of essential oil. So while it is cheaper, make sure you look carefully at the label if calm and relaxation is what you’re after!

We leave the distillery and while fascinated by the new information, I am determined to make something to remind me of the most delicate side of lavender , the non-wasabi, non-chinese-medicine memories I have of this gorgeous provençal purple.

So we grab some lemons, a few sprigs of rosemary and a bunch of lavender from the garden to come up with the perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea. Soon with the addition of warm butter and sugar, the kitchen smells once again like the Provence I know and love. By now the cicadas have joined in, and the air smells warm, citrusy and sweet.

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PROVENCE LAVENDER LEMON SHORTBREAD  \ˌprovəns lævəndər lɛmən shortbread\

These shortbread fill your kitchen with the scents of Provence and their melt-in-your-mouth texture will make them difficult to resist! Keep them hidden if you don’t want to share. 

Makes 30 to 40 shortbread biscuits 

For the Shortbread

125g butter, softened
60g lavender sugar (see instructions below)
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp almond essence
150g plain flour
1 tsp salt  
extra sugar for decoration

For the Lavender Sugar 

80g caster sugar
3 stalks of fresh lavender flowers or 2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
2 stalks of rosemary 

Make the Lavender Sugar 

A couple of days before you want to make the shortbread prepare the lavender sugar. Take a small bowl and place the lavender stalks or flowers together with the rosemary. Cover the flowers with 80g of caster sugar. Leave the bowl covered with cling film or aluminium foil in a cool place. Do not worry if the sugar begins to absorb some moisture and becomes slightly clumpy, it will blend smoothly into the batter. When you are ready to use the sugar, remove the stalks. (It is ok if some of the detached lavender flowers remain in the sugar, extra flavour!) 

For the Shortbread 

Blend the softened butter with the prepared lavender sugar until smooth. Mix in two thirds of the lemon zest and the almond essence. Sift the flour and salt into the batter and blend on low speed until well mixed and a soft dough begins to form. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in a tea towel or cling film and place in fridge to chill. Chill for at least 30 minutes. It can also be left overnight in the fridge if you prefer to bake them the next day. 

Preheat oven to 165C degrees.

Roll out dough to 0.5 cm thickness either with a little flour on your work surface to prevent sticking or between two sheets of baking paper. Cut them into rectangles or circles, whichever you prefer. We cut them out into 5cm diameter circles and that gave us about 40 biscuits. 

Decorate each shortbread with a small sprinkling of lemon zest and sugar. (We put our lemon zest in a corner of the circle)

Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned and golden.