About two hours from our house in Washington State is the lavender capital of North America. Most of the lavender farms are in a town called Sequim, but there are a few just outside of it in Port Angeles and the surrounding area. Washington gets a bad reputation for getting a lot of rain, and some places certainly do, but there are also parts of the state that are very dry and are even labeled deserts. How wild is that? In one state we have beaches, mountains, deserts, a rainforest, and more. I’ve lived in Washington for almost 8 years, and the beauty of the landscape and variety of activities we can do never get old.
Yesterday was my 30th birthday, and Kevin made sure that we spent the whole weekend celebrating. We kicked off my birthday weekend on Saturday morning by going to the Lavender Festival! We cut fresh lavender, enjoyed lavender lemonade and lavender ice cream, and had a perfect day with gorgeous weather outside with the boys. We left the house at 8 a.m. and didn’t get home until 5 p.m. and the boys were both so well behaved. I’m usually quite a sticker for afternoon naps, but for special occasions when they miss them, they do very well and I find that I’m pleasantly surprised.
I LOVE lavender flavored foods, and this blueberry lemon lavender sorbet is no exception. It’s quite possibly one of the most refreshing things I’ve ever eaten, and I was thrilled to use my ice cream maker again. The first time I used my ice cream maker was for this salted caramel pretzel chip ice cream and I was shocked at how easy making ice cream was. I’ve made ice cream both with and without an ice cream maker, and if you enjoy homemade ice cream as much as we do, I think the ice cream maker is worth the investment. The texture for ice creams and sorbets will be so much smoother and creamier!
Just look at the gorgeous color of this sorbet! When I was making it I was unsure if I needed to strain the mixture or not before putting it into the ice cream maker and I’m glad that I did. It is so smooth, so refreshing, and the perfect balance of flavors. It’s tart and sweet and the lavender flavor that I love really comes through. Truly, all the flavors of this sorbet compliment each other so well. This sorbet is delicious by itself, but I also think would be amazing (and be a beautiful color) in a champagne float! Perfect for a summer party. However you serve this, people will be shocked that you made it yourself. And you’ll be shocked at how easy it was!
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp. lemon zest
- ¼ cup dried lavender
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
- 1¼ cups lemon juice
- In a small saucepan, combine water, sugar, lemon zest, and lavender. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, then allow to cool completely.
- Once the mixture is cooled, strain and add to a large bowl.
- Meanwhile, process the blueberries in a food processor or high speed blender until smooth. Add the blueberry puree and lemon juice to the lavender lemon simple syrup.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. While the mixture is chilling, make sure the freezer bowl for your ice cream maker goes into the freezer as well to ensure it is frozen solid.
- Transfer the liquid mixture to the ice cream maker and turn on according to the ice cream maker instructions. My ice cream maker takes about 25-30 minutes to freeze sorbet to my desired consistency.
- Once the sorbet reaches your desired consistency, transfer to a freezer-safe container with a lid to freeze completely.
- Serve and enjoy!
Do you really mean 2 cups of blueberries makes just 1 cup blended which just seems…off.