LCBO Food & Drink Summer 2016

SEASONAL  SWEET ON LAVENDER

1 For cookies, combine flour, cornstarch, ic- ing sugar, lavender, pepper and salt in a food processor. Pulse about 12 times or until well combined and lavender is fragrant. 2 Add butter to food processor. Pulse about 20 times or until dough just starts to clump together. 3 Scrape dough out onto a work surface and gather into a ball. Form dough into a 1-inch- thick (2.5-cm) disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. 4 Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). 5 On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to ¼-inch (5-mm) thickness. Using 2- to 2½‑inch (5- to 6-cm) decorative cookie cutters, cut out cookies and place, a little apart, on ungreased baking sheets. 6 Bake until edges of cookies are tinged pale brown, 18 to 20minutes. Carefully remove cook- ies from baking sheets and let cool completely on wire racks.

7 For icing, sift icing sugar into a medium bowl. Gradually stir in 2 tbsp (30 mL) milk until a smooth icing forms. Carefully add red and blue food colouring, a drop at a time, add- ing about twice as much red as blue, until icing is tinted pale lilac. If icing is too stiff, add a little more milk. 8 Pipe or spread each cookie with a little of the icing. Sprinkle each with a pinch of laven- der, pepper and/or decorative sugar. Let icing set before serving. Makes about 30 cookies

The unusual combo of sweet lavender and spicy black pepper makes these pretty cookies strangely addictive.

COOKIES 1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour ½ cup (125 mL) cornstarch ½ cup (125 mL) icing sugar

1 tbsp (15 mL) dried culinary lavender 1 tsp (5 mL) freshly ground black pepper Pinch of table salt ¾ cup (175 mL) unsalted butter, softened

ICING 1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar

WHAT TO SERVE Ninety Canadian Rye Whisky 20 Year Old LCBO 355644, $50.15 Henry of Pelham Special Select

2 tbsp (30 mL) milk (approx.) Red and blue food colouring Fresh organic lavender blooms or dried culinary lavender, freshly ground black pepper and/or purple decorative sugar for garnish

Late Harvest Vidal VQA LCBO 395228, 375 mL, $19.95

FROSTED LAVENDER-PEPPER SHORTBREAD COOKIES

40  FOOD & DRI NK SUMMER 2016