I wanted to try something that combined blueberry, lavender, and lemon flavors. A cake seemed like a good way to do it. Any two of those three ingredients go well together, so why not all three?
- I added 2 tbsp of culinary lavender to the sugar. I used a suribachi (a Japanese-style mortar and pestle with grooves in the bottom of the bowl) to grind the lavender with 1/4 cup of the sugar before adding it to the bowl with the butter. The lavender flavor was pronounced -- I could smell and taste it, and it was plenty strong but not overwhelming for the people I served it to. I'm glad I resisted the urge to use 3 tbsp, though if I were making it just for myself or people that I know like the taste of lavender I think 3 tbsp would be better.
- I used plain 2% Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, which has a little less moisture but worked just fine.
- I disagree with the recipe's instruction of using only liquid shortening to grease the pan (especially oil) because it falls down the sides of the pan before you can flour it. I used about 1/2 tbsp of soft (not melted) butter + flour on a nonstick pan, and had zero problems getting it out of the pan.
- Baked for 53 minutes and this was plenty, maybe could have even done with less.
- I made lemon glaze instead of the vanilla glaze in the recipe. I thinned out the leftover filling I had from these cookies with more lemon juice because I wanted to use it up, but honestly it will work way better without the cream cheese. If you wanted lemon icing you could use the recipe with the blueberry cake, but omit the vanilla and use fresh lemon juice instead of milk.
Verdict: My coworkers and husband really enjoyed it, and I am also pleased with how it turned out, especially for how easy it was to make. I'd consider making it again.
