Greengage and Lavender Muffins

As summer ends several varieties of special plums make an appearance. Greengage are sweet and smaller than regular plums and the flesh is a golden green colour. Amazing on their own or baked, we can even make a lovely conserve with them.
Near my grandparents house in New Zealand is a lavender farm and they would grow mainly Angustifolia which is ideal for cooking, compared to other varieties of lavender which are too bitter for baking. Quite often people put lavender in with sugar to infuse and give a fragrance which is a nice idea when making a cup of tea. There was even a brief period in the late 90's where home economist would add lavender to almost anything, which I must confess, I didn't like. My biggest hate is chocolate infused with lavender, it's like biting into a bar of soap even the thought of it makes me nauseous. Ever since I've been quite reluctant to use it, however once in a while I do experiment with lavender and these muffins went down very well in Kaffeine last week. Hopefully you find this recipe a bit more subtle.

450g plain flour
200g sugar
100g salted butter
2 eggs
100ml buttermilk
100ml milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300g greengage plums
4 Angustifolia lavender stalks

METHOD:
Place butter in a sauce pan and melt over a medium heat, once melted remove from heat and place to one side to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and stir together until evenly combined. Slice the plums in halves, remove the stones and slice them into quarters. Pick the floral buds off the the lavender and roughly chop into smaller pieces and add to dry mixture along with the plums. Beat eggs into butter and pour into dry muffin mix along with the buttermilk, milk and vanilla. Using a butter knife, cut the wet and dry together until just incorporated. Grease a 12-hold muffin pan with oil spray or butter then evenly divide the batter into the pan, bake in pre-heated oven set at 180ºC for 25 minutes. Once cooked leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing. Best served cut in half and lightly toasted under a grill then spread with butter.