Homemade Butter with Lavender, Cardamom, and Fresh Flowers

As we progress into spring and colorful, eye-popping buds open into bloom, you may be inspired to find more ways to incorporate edible flowers into your herbal preparations and culinary creations. Be it sweet or savory dishes, spreads, jams, or chutneys, edible flowers add color, flavor, and wellness benefits to everyday food items. Have you ever made homemade butter? If not, this may be the time to give it a try, and to take advantage of aromatic, attractive spring and summer blooms that add an herbal, floral kick. Trust me, if I can make homemade butter, you can too! Here’s how to make butter from heavy whipping cream, complete with the flavorful accents of lavender and cardamom. 

Homemade Butter with Edible Flowers: What’s In It 

First of all, many of us may not think of butter as a health food, but full-fat, grass-fed butter does offer significant nutritional value—when consumed in moderation, of course. Butter is a good source of vitamins A, D, and K (important for bone health) and there is some research to indicate that consumption of full-fat dairy products is associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes and insulin resistance (Palanisamy, 2015). Of course, if you are at risk for, or have, high cholesterol or other coronary issues, you may want to be modest with the quantity of dairy products that you consume. Fortunately, even a small amount of this tasty homemade butter offers an aromatic, floral flavor explosion. 

Lavender (Lavandula spp.) Flower Bud 

The fragrance and taste of lavender is a wonderful way to welcome in and celebrate spring. Clean, bright, and calming all at once, nothing communicates the freshness of spring like lavender. Truly, lavender is one of the most versatile herbs to have in your herbal toolkit. The essential oil and  herb itself offer wonderful benefits to the skin, soothing redness, inflammation, minor skin infections, and sunburns (Groves, 2016). Furthermore, lavender has a relaxing effect on the nervous system and promotes sound sleep and an overall sense of calm (Groves, 2016). 

Lavender buds play a starring role in this homemade butter. And, if you don’t use up all your lavender buds making delicious butter, steep those delightful purple buds in hot water for a simple herbal infusion, incorporate lavender into your calming herbal tisanes, and consider baked goods recipes that contain lavender. Or, keep it simple and sprinkle lavender buds on salads, or even stir them into honey and lick it right off the spoon. 

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) Seed 

I added cardamom to this recipe because its gentle yet potent flavor and scent pairs well with that of lavender. Also, interestingly enough, cardamom is often incorporated into Indian sweets because it stimulates the agni (digestive fire) without aggravating pitta dosha and assists with the digestion of heavy foods, including dairy (Dass, 2013). 

Cardamom also benefits the mind and nervous system in ways not unlike lavender—it both calms and clears the mind and when taken with warm milk in the evening can support restful sleep (Dass, 2013). In Ayurveda, cardamom is considered to be sattvic, meaning that it is supportive of a clear, luminous state of being (Frawley & Lad, 2001). 

To Use: 

Spread this butter on French toast, scones, crackers, sourdough bread, or any other culinary vehicle of choice. I enjoyed this lavender-cardamom butter on homemade rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) and lavender crackers. Learn how to make your own crackers in this blog post: Homemade Crackers with Scallions and Black Mustard Seeds. 

In Closing,

Once you try this recipe, you will realize how fun and easy it is to make homemade butter with edible flowers. It’s hard to mess it up! You can duplicate this recipe with other edible flowers, spices, and herbs of choice and keep it as simple or as decorative as you like. Also, this brightly colored, aromatic butter makes a great addition to springtime spreads—surprise guests and loved ones with this special homemade treat at brunches, lunches, and afternoon tea! 

REFERENCES

Dass, V. (2013). Ayurvedic herbology: East & West. Lotus Press. 

Frawley, D., & Lad, V. (2001). The yoga of herbs (2nd ed.) Lotus Press. 

Groves, M.N. (2016). Body into balance: An herbal guide to holistic self-care. Storey Publishing. 

Palanisamy, A. (2015). The paleovedic diet: A complete program to burn fat, increase energy, and reverse disease. Skyhorse Publishing.