We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming...

Rest assured, the final installment of my Eat, Pray, Love recipes will be posted soon. However, in the meantime, I have a special treat for you! So, I'm terrible about following recipes. I mean, I CAN follow a recipe...I just usually DON'T. And sometimes, that makes me very, very, very happy. Because while I'm sure lemon tassies are delicious and all, they're just so *yawn* normal. Now, honey lemon lavender tassies, on the other hand, are anything BUT typical. They're unusual. And unexpected. And unique. And make you pause to go "hmmmm..." as you savor them. Now THAT'S my kind of dessert!


Honey Lemon Lavender Tassies

Crust (adapted from Dorie Greenspan via Smitten Kitchen)

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• heaping 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg plus 1 Tbl. of egg white

Pulse together flour and powdered sugar in a food processor until well-combined. Add the butter and pulse until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Add the egg and white and pulse in several long pulses to combine ingredients together.

Scrape out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface to about 1/8-in thickness. Using a biscuit cutter, cut rounds out and press into the cups of the mini muffin pan to form mini crusts. Prick the bottoms with a fork (I like to make an "X"). Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Cool completely.

Side note: this was the first pie crust I have ever made from scratch! Woohoo! So if I can do it, you can do it.

Honey Lemon Lavender Curd (adapted from Joy of Baking via The Way The Cookie Crumbles)

• 4 large eggs plus one egg yolk
• 1/3 c. lemon juice
• 3 Tbl. lavender mead (I got mine from Hilltop Berry Farm)
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 6 Tbl. room temperature butter, cut into small pieces
• Zest of 1 lemon

Fill a saucepan with about an inch of water, and bring to a simmer. In a stainless steel bowl, combine eggs, egg yolk, lemon juice, lavender mead, honey, and sugar. Whisk together. Place bowl over the saucepan (be sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl!), and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens considerably and becomes pale in color (about 10 minutes).

Remove from heat and pour through a fine sieve into a small bowl. Whisk in the butter and lemon zest until butter has melted. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap against the surface of the curd, and chill in the refrigerator until cool.

Note: if you have the misfortune of not living within driving distance to Hill Top, you could also probably increase the amount of lemon juice to 1/2 c., heat it gently, and steep some fresh lavender sprigs in it to infuse it with that lovely lavender aroma and taste.

Pipe the cooled curd into pre-baked, cooled mini tart shells, and enjoy!