Lavender Lemon Cake for #BundtBakers

Some artificial flavorings and scents are not quite right. Take banana for instance. Anytime I’ve had something made with banana flavor it tastes off. Store-bought banana popsicles or candy taste nothing to me like the real thing. The same goes with heavy handed coconut flavoring. Too much and a cake tastes like the way suntan lotion smells. Lavender is in the group too. Real lavender smells incredible. Artificial lavender scent is not appealing to me at all. Imagine wind blowing through a lemon orchard and then across a lavender field. It is the heavenly scent coming from the oven when baking a Lavender Lemon Cake.

It was time again to bake a lemon bundt. Anne of From My Sweet Heart picked lemon for June’s Bundt Bakers theme. Trying to figure out what to bake was difficult after my incredible Triple Lemon Bundt Cake. It was the absolute best lemon cake I’ve baked. The challenge was on and so a recipe search began. Most of what I found was the additional ingredient of berries. While those sounded lovely I wanted something different. A continued search turned up lavender and it was intriguing. I had to give it a try out of curiosity.

Two flavor enhancing techniques are involved in this cake. First is rubbing lemon zest into sugar. Add lemon zest to a bowl of sugar then use your finger to rub it together. It releases lemon oil from the zest and really brings out natural lemon flavor. It’s so much better than using lemon extract. The other is making lavender powder by grinding dried culinary lavender with turbinado sugar. It also releases natural flavor in a most wonderful way. Using these two techniques makes the flavors real and true instead of an artificial off taste.

Lavender Lemon Cake is moist with medium crumb. Buttermilk is what I attribute to the moisture. It seems to be the case with almost any cake I’ve baked with it. Plus it gives an ever so slight and underlying tang. The flavor of the cake? Did I mention a wind blowing through a lemon orchard and across a lavender field? Yep, it smells like that when it is baking and tastes like it too. The cake received rave reviews from folks at my husband’s work. One said it was the best treat I’ve baked to date. And there I thought triple lemon bundt cake was the best. You never know.

Do you enjoy lemon cake? Scroll down to find a big list of recipes. I’m excited to check out each one. Bundts are so pretty thanks to the pans. Minimal if any topping is needed. A simple glaze or sugar dusting does nicely. Take a look at Lavender Poppy Seed Scones and Lavender Poppy Seed Shortbread for more recipes with lavender.

4.41 from 15 votes

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Lavender Lemon Cake

Lavender Lemon Cake is a moist cake baked in a bundt pan and flavored with real lemon and lavender plus topped with a honey lemon glaze.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 12 to 16 servings

Author Renee

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried culinary lavender
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar sifted
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons honey

Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 10- to 12-cup Bundt cake pan.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Place sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl. Use your fingers to rub sugar and lemon zest together (releases lemon oil for more flavor).
4. Place lavender and turbinado sugar in a spice grinder. Grind until it is a fine powder. Add powder to lemon-sugar mixture and stir or whisk to combine.
5. Beat butter and sugar mixture in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Add lemon juice and beat until combined.
8. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly in the pan.
10. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
11. Cool cake in pan for 12 minutes. Prepare glaze.
12. Remove cake from pan onto a wire rack over parchment or waxed paper. Use a pastry brush to brush glaze on warm cake.
13. Cool cake completely.

For the glaze:

1. Place confectioners sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Warm honey until runny either in the microwave for about 10 seconds or in a small saucepan.
2. Add honey to sugar and lemon. Stir to combine. Brush glaze onto cake.
3. If glaze thickens and does not brush easily onto cake, microwave it for about 10 seconds and stir.

Recipe Notes

Lavender Lemon Cake is a moist cake baked in a bundt pan and flavored with real lemon and lavender plus topped with a honey lemon glaze.

Recipe adapted from Lavender-Lemon Bundt Cake on the Williams-Sonoma website.

Are you searching for lemon cake to bake? Take a look at these bundt cake recipes with lemon by talented bakers from around the world:

• Bee’s Knees Lemon Honey Bundt from Food Lust People Love
• Blueberry-Lemon Breakfast Bundt from Cali’s Cuisine
• Bundt Cake de Limón from La Mejor Manera de Hacer
• Eggless Lemon Bundt Cake from Seduce Your Tastebuds
• Extra Lemon Bundt Cake from Los Chatos Chefs
• Lavender Lemon Cake from Magnolia Days
• Lemon & Lime Cheese Bundt Cake from Un Mordisco Un Pecado
• Lemon Apple Upside Down Bundt Cake from Simply Veggies
• Lemon Basil Bundt Cake from Tartacadabra
• Lemon Bundt Cake from Recipes, Food and Cooking
• Lemon Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Tart Lemon Glaze from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Lemon Confetti Bundt Cake from Our Good Life
• Lemon Curd Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze from I Love Bundt Cakes
• Lemon Honey Bundt Cake from Brunch with Joy
• Lemon Marble Bundt Cake from Jenny and Sweets
• Lemon Meringue Chiffon Cake from Baking in Pyjamas
• Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake from Liv for Cake
• Lemon Poppy Seeds Bundt Cake from La Cocina de Aisha
• Lemon Poppyseed Bundt from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lemon Rhubarb Bundt Cake from From Gate to Plate
• Lemon Ricotta and Poppyseed Bundt Cake from Spice Roots
• Lemon Ricotta Bundt Cake from Love and Confections
• Lemon-Cranberry Poppyseed Bundt Cake from Take A Bite Out of Boca
• Mini Limoncello Bundts from Living the Gourmet
• Pink Lemon Pound Cake from Making Miracles
• Pink Lemonade Bundt from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Rhubarb Pound Cake Bundt with Lemon Glaze from Brooklyn Homemaker
• Soft Lemon Rosemary Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Spring Strawberry Lemon Bundt Cake from Adventures in All Things Food
• Strawberry Lemonade Bundt Cake from Baking and Creating with Avril
• Sweet Lemon Bundt with Blackberry Glaze from From My Sweet Heart

What is Bundt Bakers? It’s a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Bundt Bakers Pinterest board for incredible bundt cake recipes and inspiration. Stacy of Food Lust People Love heads up our group and has a #BundtBakers page where you can find information and links to the recipes for each month.

How is the monthly theme determined? We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our homepage.