I love using lavender in recipes and a cold iced coffee sounded like another perfect way to use the flower buds from this fragrant herb.
Normally I only drink black coffee every morning – no sugar or milk. This iced coffee was not sweet or rich tasting. Except for the calories I would drink this on a regular basis especially during the summer months! A must try for you coffee drinkers out there…
Iced Lavender Cafés au Lait
Recipe slightly adapted from Floral Libations by Cassie Winslow
First you need to make some lavender sugar:
- 3 tbsp. dried lavender
- 1 cup cane sugar (see information on granulated, cane, turbinado and demerara sugars below)
Combine the sugar and lavender in a spice grinder, grind it briefly for a few seconds. As always edible flowers should be free of sprays.
For the coffee:
- 4 cups hot, freshly brewed coffee (I used Starbucks Breakfast Blend ground coffee)
- 1/4 cup lavender sugar
- ice cubes (I used coffee to make my ice cubes)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 sprigs dried lavender for garnish
In a large pitcher, stir together the hot coffee and lavender sugar. I also strained it to remove any leftover sediment. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.
When it is time to enjoy fill 4 glasses with ice (I filled my coffee bean ice cube tray with black coffee). Pour 1 cup of the coffee and lavender mixture into each glass followed by 1/2 cup of whole milk; stir until combined. Garnish with a sprig of lavender.
Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com
I have four different sugars to share with you; granulated (left), cane (top of the picture), turbinado (bottom) and demerara (right). You can see the gradual change in color and size of the grains. All of them would be good in coffee.
Granulated Sugar:
This sugar has had all of the naturally present molasses refined out of it. This is the most common one for baking as the crystals don’t cake together. It is perfect in recipes, sprinkling onto food and dissolving into drinks, hot or cold.
Cane sugar:
Produced solely from sugarcane and is minimally processed. It has a larger grain and slightly darker color compared to granulated sugar. Rich in molasses, vitamins and crystallized. It is blonde-colored natural sugar that will enhance your favorite coffee, tea, cereal or baked goods.
Cane sugar with Lavender ground up in a spice blender:
Turbinado sugar:
This is another variety made from first pressing of raw sugar cane and is minimally refined. It has large grains which are medium brown. It has a delicate flavor similar to caramel and is often used to sweeten beverages and in baking.
Demerara sugar:
This is a variety of cane sugar that is minimally refined. It has large grains with an amber color and a natural, subtle molasses flavor, similar to toffee. Great to sweeten coffee or tea or as a topping for baked goods.
I never paired coffee with lavender, and now I’m asking myself why not! It sounds wonderful. Will give it a try soon!
It was really good this morning Ronit. I wish I could have iced coffee more often especially when it’s flavored with lavender sugar!
I can see why! 🙂
Aunt juju, looks like you are very fond of lavender. Quite a few recipes in the blog with lavender !
Yes, I sure am fond of it! It is a pretty flowering herb, smells good and has a slight floral flavor – lots to love 🙂
Yes, it has good smell and around the dish some flowers enhance the beauty also!!
Have a great day!
Now you’re talking! Sounds Yumolicious. 💜
For sure Gail – gotta love lavender and iced coffee 🙂
A yummy summery version of coffee!😉
This was a nice treat and I will be having it again Mary. A delicious change from my hot black coffee in the morning 🙂
Good morning Judi, have you ever tried coconut cream in your coffee? It’s rich and delicious!😊
Hi Mary – I’m not a big fan of coconut but I might like the cream in coffee 🙂
Oh well if you don’t like coconut then skip that! Haha😄
this sounds like a very interesting beverage. lavender and coffee? would never have thought of it. are you particularly worried about calories? surely a bit of sugar and milk won’t hurt:) sorry, it’s one of my bugbears that women are so worried about their weight, i guess. I feel that we have been hoodwinked into this by men!! cheers sherry
Not men, my female family doctor. As a Lifetime Member of Weight Watcher’s you can eat/drink anything but in moderation. That’s the philosophy I follow. I would not replace this refreshing beverage containing whole milk and sugar with my black coffee. Instead I will enjoy it once a week or maybe more during the warmer months. You should give it a try Sherry…
What an interesting combination! So many contrasts with floral and bitter and sweet – it grabbed my attention right away from the title. Also love the coffee bean ice cube tray – it adds such a cute touch 🙂
Thanks very much – you obviously can make the coffee to your taste as well as the sugar you add. It was perfect and very refreshing. I have a bunch of “ice cube trays” – flowers, hearts, etc. – they are fun to use 🙂
I’ve never had lavender with coffee. How interesting.
And also very good – a nice treat on a muggy summer morning. I use lavender a lot – just search lavender for lots more recipes if you’re interested. Edible flowers are an important part of my summer cooking 🙂
The lavender gives a subtle floral flavor…
mmm. . . It sounds wonderful. I like how you made ice cubes using coffee to keep the drink from getting diluted as the ice melted.
The coffee was delicious Sheryl! The coffee ice cubes are very important as the coffee would get diluted and the flavor would change. Need to let the coffee get cold over night too. It stayed nice and cold and I was able to drink it over a longer period of time (versus hot coffee).