Coming up is the birthday of one of my favourite people in the whole world: Pria!
You may remember Pria from previous blogventures such as our trip to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, or from one of my favourite recipes: her Rajma (Red Kidney Bean Curry)! She’s also the mum of my best friend, Pem. That counts for a lot around here!
Pria has a great eye for colour. Everywhere she goes, she finds colour – and she has inspired me to see the world differently too, through a more colourful lens!
Pria loves lemon desserts — like this gorgeous lemon creme brulee tart (!) that I’m determined to replicate.
She and I share another favourite flavour in common: lavender!
I adore everything with lavender, especially lavender in chocolate truffles and lavender in tea (best so far: David’s Tea’s in Jessie’s Tea with lavender, coconut, rooibos and cornflowers!).
So when I saw this recipe for a lavender & lemon cake, I knew it was perfect for our celebration for Pria’s birthday! Make sure you use organic un-sprayed lavender to avoid toxic pesticides — I grabbed some at my farmer’s market last summer and dried it by hanging it upside down. Perfect lavender for cake!
And ohhhhh yum, is this the best cake ever.
Yup, it’s got white flour and butter and eggs and milk AND sugar. And it’s so worth it.
Happy Birthday, Pria! Thanks for all of the amazing food- and life-inspiration!
- 1/3 c. milk
- 6 large eggs
- the juice of 1 lemon
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla paste or extract
- 3 c. all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 c. organic crystallized cane sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- the zest of 1 lemon
- 1 2/3 c. butter, softened
- 1/3 c. dried lavender flowers
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 loaf pans with butter and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla.
In the bowl of the stand mixer (or a large bowl for a hand mixer or by hand) combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest.
Add the softened butter to the flour mixture and cream until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Slowly add 1/2 of the milk mixture, mix for 30 seconds, then add the remaining milk mixture.
Add the lavender, and fold to incorporate into the batter.
Pour into the loaf pans, and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Score the tops of each loaf with a sharp knife down the length of the loaf.
Turn the loaves 180 degrees in the oven, and bake for 25-30 minutes more. Test to see that they’re done by poking a knife, skewer or toothpick into the centre of each loaf. If it comes out clean, the cake is done!
Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool for 10 minutes. Turn out of the cake pan and serve, slicing as you go!
just great, love your descriptions and the photos…and your choices of things to make!
so amazing…
will try this…if I can find some lavender..
had a wonderful time with your Mom in Florida!
Fran
Thanks, Fran!!! Nice to see you commenting again! 🙂
Alas, I’m not off to Florida this time around… but the parents will at least get some holiday time together!
I love the photos that you have chosen for this post! Of course it’s an amazing cake but this is also a good story post. You’re amazing Linz!
Awww, thanks Pem!!! 😀
Lavender and Lemon why didn’t I think of that. LOL Looks & soundsAmazing
I felt the same way when I first saw the recipe — it’s a perfect combination!
Wow the lavender makes that even more gorgeous than it already is!
That looks amazing. My husband and I love lemon and lavender together. Several years ago, he made lemon bars with a lavender crust. I will surely show him this recipe. Delish!
Lemon bars with a lavender crust sound amazing!!!! That is definitely going to inspire me!
That looks like a fluffy little slice of heaven 🙂
This sounds gorgeous! I have some lavender on my roof terrace, do I have to dry it first? I’m not very good at waiting!!
Hmmm, I’m not sure! It would probably be just fine fresh — but I’m not sure if you’d need to increase the amount of lavender or not (like you do with fresh herbs vs. dried)…
I say you try it and let me know 🙂