But this cake—as tart and refreshing as they come—is lemon first, lavender second. Diana Henry, who includes this recipe in her new book Simple, balances the herb first by pulverizing it in the food processor with granulated sugar, then toning it down further with the tangy Greek yogurt, olive oil, and plenty of lemon zest and juice in the batter.
…and thanks to the olive oil and the yogurt, you don’t even have to soften and cream butter.
Simple, for sure.
Tasty, of course.
Beautiful, without a doubt.
And, to really take it up a notch, I used Meyer Lemons. Swoon – lips licked…
Lemon Lavender Cake
butter for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 Tbs. dried lavender
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup mild olive oil
zest and juice of 1 Meyer lemon
powdered sugar, to dust
fresh lavender for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter an 8 ” diameter, 2 1/2-inch deep cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Put the granulated sugar and lavender into a food processor and whizz until the lavender has broken down. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl. Stir in the lavender sugar. In a pitcher, mix the eggs with the yogurt and oil. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and gradually stir in the wet ingredients. Add the lemon zest and juice, but don’t over-mix. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cake is coming away from the inside of the pan and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Turn it out, peel off the paper, and set on a wire rack until cold. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving and decorate with sprigs of fresh lavender.
