In Nordic countries, the midsummer feast included “sun breads”, cakes or buns made with honey (also a golden sun food) believed to bring prosperity and abundance to the community.
One Scandinavian folk tradition recommends including midsummer dew in the dough to cure diseases!
Roman’s had their own summer solstice celebration Vestalia, during which priestesses Vestales made sacred cakes with water from her holy spring.
Ingredients:
- 1 & 3/4 cups of flour
- ¾ cup softened butter
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup brown or cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon minced thyme
- 1 teaspoon lavender buds
- 1 teaspoon minced rosemary
- 1 teaspoon minced sage
- a few crushed cardamom seeds
- pinch of salt
- You decide how much of the herbs to use in the cookies, so adjust accordingly.
Icing:
- 3 teaspoons milk
- 1 cup icing sugar
- a wee bit of grated lemon rind. You can also add lavender buds to the second batch of icing.
- Color. You can use a combination of golden beet juice, St. John’s Tincture and a pinch of turmeric powder, but of course, you could use a store-bought natural food dye.
- Combine your milk and icing sugar. Slowing add in your coloring and mix until you find the desired color/consistency
Directions:
- Preheat Oven to 300°.
- Beat flour, sugar and soft butter together until creamy.
- Slowly drizzle in honey while beating until mixture pulls together.
- Add minced herbs and petals, mix well through the dough.
- Divide into four balls and chill for an hour or so.
- Roll out and cut into round shapes. Add flour as needed.
- Bake at 300 for 10-15 minutes.
- Let cool.
- Decorate using the flowers and herbs of the sun: petals of calendula, lawn daisies or ox-eye daisies (not storebought daisy chrysanthemums), St. John’s Wort, rose, or sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage.
