Lavender Water
Ingredients
Directions
Make the first distillation
Put a quart of water in a cold still with a pound of lavender neps.
Make a slow fire under the still.
Distill the mixture very slowly.
Clean the still thoroughly.
Redistill and bottle
Pour the lavender water back into the still.
Distill it off slowly again.
Bottle the lavender water.
Cork it well.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Lavender neps
- Supplies the aromatic oils that give the finished water its scent.
- Water
- Acts as the liquid that carries the lavender aroma over during distillation.
The step that matters
Distill slowly over a gentle fire. Fast heat can scorch the lavender and carry harsh, burnt notes into the distillate. Slow heat lets the volatile aromatic compounds vaporise and condense cleanly, keeping the scent fresh.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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