Lavender Cream Horns
This is a fun, creative recipe that really ignites the artistic flames in the brain. Get creative with how you shape your cookie shell. It’s easiest to do it while the cookies are still soft and warm, and it may take you a little practice. Be patient, you’ll get there! There are molds for this sort of shaping, but Jeff was innovative and used sugar horns wrapped in foil to shape the cookies into horns.
For the cream, Jeff used Neufchatel cheese but you can use regular cream cheese in this recipe or even mascarpone cheese! Whichever you use is up to your personal preference. The Neufchatel is better for those who are watching caloric and fat intake, while the cream cheese is good for those who just want a classic, rich flavor and don’t care much about the fat or calories. Mascarpone cheese is the option for those who are craving an Italian flavor experience.
In order to properly infuse lavender into the flavor of the horns, you should make lavender sugar. This process is easy, albeit sort of delicate. If you use too much of the lavender, you may find your sugar tastes soapy instead of sweet. Stick to the suggested amounts below, especially if you are using our lavender, which is very flavorful and fragrant.
Don’t have a pastry bag to squeeze the cream into your finished horns? A freezer bag will do the trick! Just fill a corner of the freezer bag and snip off the tip for a perfect filling tool. These lovely little lavender horns can be sprinkled with just a few lavender flowers for the aesthetic. If you are planning on taking these to an event or something, you could easily prepare them a day or two before and keep the cream and horns separate until the day of the event. These are an elegant little dessert to take along with you to summer parties and they are welcome at things like baby showers or even bridal showers. Our taste testers loved the gentle flavor of these horns, but they did have to laugh a little at how messy they were! Eat them over a plate or even cup your hand below to catch anything that may drop. Enjoy!
- Sugar ice cream cones (these will become ‘molds’)
- 4 Tbsp. Butter
- ⅓ Cup Sugar
- 2 Tbsp. Maple syrup
- Pinch of Sea Salt
- 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
- ½ Cup toasted almonds, finely chopped
- For Cream: 8 ounces Neufchatel Cheese, room temperature
- For Cream: 1½ Cups heavy cream
- For Cream: ½ Cup sugar
- For Cream: 2 Tsp. Culinary Lavender
- In a coffee grinder or food processor, combine 2tsp Lavender and ½ cup sugar and grind until the lavender is fine.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the Neufchatel and lavender sugar together until smooth. Add the heavy cream and whip until stiff peaks. Cover and refrigerate.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Wrap your ice cream cones in a square of foil, spray with oven spray and set aside.
- In a medium size saucepan, heat the butter, sugar, and maple syrup until the butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly. Increase heat and bring mixture to a boil, and then remove from heat.
- Stir in the flour, salt, vanilla and chopped almonds. Let mixture cool for 5 minutes. It’s easier to handle the mixture if it’s been cooled.
- Using a small scoop or a tablespoon drop the batter onto the basking sheets. Bake 3-4 cookies at a time, so they don’t get to hard to roll. If they do harden up on you, toss back into the oven for 20 seconds. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until browned. Turn pans halfway the baking process.
- Remove cookies from oven and let cool for a minute. With a spatula, lift the edge of the cookie and roll around the cone. Place on cooling rack standing up. Cool completely before filling.
- Fill horns with the lavender cream and garnish with additional lavender if desired.
