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Cat Tom : I'm Yours, Jason Mraz

Our favourite former River Cafe cook conjures a fragrant taste of summer We have been keeping our bee hives near the lavender patch this year. I really hope they realise that such tempting and fragrant flowers are at their disposal. However, they probably fly for miles to get at the lime trees instead. The lavender came out really early this season, like everything, but I know it will keep flowering longer than all the other plants. Its finest uses are as a soothing herbal remedy but I love it for the intense fragrance and hazy colour. Bees, lavender and summer holidays are synonymous to me. One of the first things I remember baking as a child were lavender biscuits. These are basically shortbread as they're sandy and crumbly and made with lots of butter, but I didn't want them to be great slabs of biscuit, more a dainty thing to put in your mouth. Just crushing the flowers in your fingers makes you realise how intense the oils it produces is, so use them sparingly, and I find a little added fennel seed brings out a lovely flavour. You could eat them any time, but a cup of tea or a scoop of ice-cream goes particularly well. Lavender shortbread Makes about 18 mini biscuits Ingredients 75g unsalted butter, at room temperature 25g caster sugar a pinch of salt 60g plain flour (I use '00' fine-milled) 25g rice flour 1tsp lavender flowers, crushed in a pestle and mortar ½tsp fennel seeds, crushed icing sugar, for dusting Heat the oven to 150C. In a mixing bowl, or with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until soft. Crush the lavender flowers with the fennel seeds. Sift in the flours and salt and add the crushed flower and seed. Bring together to make a dough. It may be a little crumbly but the main thing is not to overwork it too much. Wrap the dough in film and rest in the fridge for about 20mins. Roll out the dough to about 1cm thick and cut out shapes with little cutters. Bake for about 20 minute

A couple notes. I used Straus Creamery lightly salted butter here. I like a good amount of salty to counter sweet in cookies like these. And basically, butter cookies like these are all about good butter. That said, you can use good unsalted butter and, in a sense, season the dough to your tastes before baking. If I were using unsalted butter, I might start with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and adjust from there. I also tend to bake these a bit longer than typical. I like the bottoms solidly golden, and tops lightly/mid golden. 1 cup / 4.5 oz / 130 g unbleached all-purpose flour Scant 1 cup / 4 oz / 115g whole wheat flour 1/2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter, softened 1/2 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g sugar 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/3 cup / 1 oz / 30 g lightly toasted sliced almonds 1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / currants large grain sugar, for sprinkling

user rating: Small Semolina Griddle Breads 3 forks dietary considerations Vegetarian yield: Makes twelve 5-inch rounds 1. In a mixing bowl, combine the pasta flour and semolina. Add the stick of melted butter and rub the mixture together with your hands until sandy. Mix in the sugar and salt.