We’ve been growing edible lavender in our garden, and with a jar of dried lavender flowers on hand, I decided to make this delicious lavender lemon cake. To infuse the flavor of the lavender into the cake, I steeped lavender in milk for the cake batter, and crushed more dried lavender to whip into the buttercream. Lavender pairs beautifully with tart lemon, and the flavor of this cake is bright, lemony, and subtly enhanced with floral notes of lavender. The light, airy crumb and sweet tart lemon flavor makes it perfect for a summer party cake.
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Baking with Edible Lavender
When baking and cooking with lavender, less is more. The flavor can be quite potent, and if you overdo it, the lavender will overwhelm, rather than enhance your dish. Too much lavender will add a soapy flavor to your baking, but just the right amount adds wonderfully subtle floral notes of herbs and mint. If you’re not sure you’re going to like it, I’d suggest starting with less than the recipe calls for, and adding more later.
There are many varieties of lavender, and while all are considered edible, a few varieties are more commonly used for culinary purposes. The best lavender for cooking are the sweet scented varieties, such as English lavender.
You can bake and cook with culinary lavender in so many ways, such as steeping the dried flowers in milk to use in cakes, custards, and ice cream. Or add the stalks to your grill or campfire, to infuse the lavender smoke into grilled meat. And for a pretty garnish, scatter the fresh lavender flowers over your baked goods.
Essential Ingredients for Lavender Lemon Cake
Cake
- Whole Milk
- Dried Edible Lavender
- Lemons
- Granulated Sugar
- Cake Flour
- Baking Soda + Baking Powder
- Coarse Kosher Salt
- Eggs + Egg Whites
- Sour Cream
- Vegetable Oil
- Vanilla Extract
Buttercream
- Dried Edible Lavender
- Unsalted Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Meringue Powder
- Coarse Kosher Salt
- Lemon Extract
- Vanilla Extract
- Fresh Lemon Zest
- Milk or Cream
How to Make Lavender Lemon Cake
Today’s lavender lemon cake recipe is based on my popular lemon cake, but with the extra step of steeping dried lavender in the milk first. This cake is so simple to make! After infusing the lavender into the milk, you simply whisk together the rest of the ingredients and bake the cake.
Steep the Lavender and Lemon in Milk.
Pour the milk into a small saucepan, and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat, stir in the lavender, and let steep and cool for about an hour at room temperature. Strain out the lavender bits and discard, so that you just use the lavender-infused milk.
Whisk the lemon juice into the lavender milk, and let sit for 15 minutes to curdle.
Prepare the Cake Pans.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper in the bottoms of the pans, and spray the paper with non-stick spray. The baked cakes are sticky, and you should not skip this step of lining your pans with parchment paper.
Rub the Lemon Zest into the Sugar.
Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemons over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
Sift the Dry Ingredients.
Set a fine mesh strainer over the lemon sugar, and sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, then whisk together the dry ingredients with the lemon sugar.
Whisk in the Liquid Ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the lavender-lemon-milk, eggs, egg whites, sour cream, oil and vanilla until smooth.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk by hand until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Bake.
Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 25-27 minutes, until a cake tester in the center of the cakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Set the pans on a wire rack, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely.
Making the Lavender Lemon Buttercream
- Use a mortar and pestle, or a spice grinder, to crush the lavender until powdery.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter with the crushed lavender for one minute until smooth. Scrape the bowl down. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine. Add the lemon extract and vanilla.
- Beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy. Add the milk as needed for desired consistency.
- Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream.
FAQs for Lavender Lemon Cake
What does lavender taste like?
- When baking and cooking with lavender, less is more. The flavor can be quite potent, and if you overdo it, the lavender will overwhelm, rather than enhance your dish. Too much lavender will add a soapy flavor to your baking, but just the right amount adds wonderfully subtle floral notes of herbs and mint. If you’re not sure you’re going to like it, I’d suggest starting with less than the recipe calls for, and adding more later.
Where can I buy culinary lavender?
- You can purchase culinary lavender online, or find it in your local tea and spice shops, as well as specialty grocery stores.
Can I substitute lavender oil or lavender extract for the dried lavender?
- You probably can, but I can’t say how much you should use, since I’ve never baked with lavender oil or extract.
Do I need to use cake flour?
- I’ve only made this recipe using cake flour, and it produces a very light, fluffy cake. All-purpose flour will not give you quite the same result, but should still be fine. Be sure to sift the flour to get out any lumps.
Do my ingredients need to be room temperature?
- It’s a good idea to set out your dairy products (eggs, milk, sour cream) an hour or two before you mix your batter, to let them come to room temperature.
How many lemons do I need?
- Lemons can vary in size, as well as how much juice they contain. You might need 3-4 small lemons to get 1/2 cup of juice for the cake batter.
Why don’t you use lemon juice in your lemon buttercream?
- Lemon juice is very acidic, and you run the risk of curdling your buttercream if you add too much juice. If that happens, there’s no saving your buttercream. To be safe, I only use fresh lemon zest and lemon extract in my buttercream.
Can I make this into a lemon poppyseed cake?
- For a lemon poppyseed cake, add two tablespoons poppy seeds to the dry ingredients.
Since you live in Denver, will this recipe work if I don’t live at high altitude?
- It’s possible you could make this cake without any changes if you live at a low altitude, but you may need to increase the leavening and decrease the flour a little for perfect results. This article can guide you on specific adjustments.
Can I cut this recipe in half?
- Yes, you can easily adjust this recipe to make half the batter, and bake it in three 6-inch pans.
How should I store leftover cake?
- This cake will stay moist for days if stored in an airtight container or cake carrier.
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Lavender Lemon Cake
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
- Spice Grinder or Mortar & Pestle
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tsp dried edible lavender
- ½ cup lemon juice, fresh or bottled
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- zest of 2 small lemons
- 2 ¾ cups cake flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large egg whites (save the yolks for another use)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 1 tsp dried edible lavender
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder, optional
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt
- 2 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- zest of 1 small lemon
- 2-4 tbsp milk or cream, if needed
Instructions
Cake
- Pour the milk into a small saucepan, and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat, stir in the lavender, and let steep and cool for about an hour at room temperature. Strain out the lavender bits and discard, so that you just use the lavender-infused milk.Whisk the lemon juice into the milk, and let sit for 15 minutes to curdle.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper in the bottoms of the pans, and spray the paper with non-stick spray. The baked cakes are sticky, and you should not skip this step of lining your pans with parchment paper.
- Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemons over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
- Set a fine mesh strainer over the sugar, and sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, then whisk together the dry ingredients with the lemon sugar.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lavender-lemon-milk, eggs, egg whites, sour cream, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk by hand until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 25-27 minutes, until a cake tester in the center of the cakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Set the pans on a wire rack, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely.
Buttercream
- Use a mortar and pestle, or a spice grinder, to crush the lavender until powdery.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter with the crushed lavender for one minute until smooth. Scrape the bowl down. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine. Add the lemon extract and vanilla.
- Beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy. Add the milk as needed for desired consistency.
- Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream.
Notes
- If you’re not used to the taste of lavender, and you’re not sure if you’re going to like it, I’d suggest using 1/4 – 1/2 the amount of lavender called for, and then add more if you want a stronger flavor.
- I’ve only made this recipe using cake flour, and it produces a very light, fluffy cake. All-purpose flour will not give you quite the same result, but should still be fine. Be sure to sift the flour to get out any lumps.
- It’s a good idea to set out your dairy products (eggs, milk, sour cream) an hour or two before you mix your batter, to let them come to room temperature. Large eggs can vary in size, but they should average about 1/4 cup each in volume; three large eggs plus two whites should fill one cup. If your eggs are on the small side, add another to get a full cup.
- Lemons also can vary in size, as well as how much juice they contain. You might need 4 small lemons to get 1/2 cup of juice for the cake batter.
- Although there is plenty of fresh lemon juice and zest in the cake, for the buttercream I decided to only use lemon extract. Adding lemon juice to buttercream runs the risk of curdling the butter; I have had this happen sometimes, and other times not, but based on experience, I think it’s best not to add the acidic juice and risk ruining a whole bowl of buttercream.
- These cakes are extremely light and fluffy, and will stick to your cake pans if you don’t line them with parchment paper. Take this extra step to ensure easy release.
- For a Lemon Poppyseed Cake, add two tablespoons poppy seeds to the dry ingredients.
- To add even more tart lemony goodness, you can spread a bit of lemon curd between each cake layer.
- Be sure to review my Baking FAQs for my other tips on cake baking.
- This cake will stay moist for days if stored in an airtight container or cake carrier.
It's beautiful!
Like all your cakes. Looks and sounds amazing.
I only have a hand mixer, is that okay to use?
A hand mixer is fine for the cake – although I didn't even use a mixer for the cake, I whisked it by hand. For the buttercream, a stand mixer is best since I whip my buttercream for a good five minutes, but you can still use a hand mixer, although your arm might get a little tired. 😉
Hi! Can I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream? I was going to make a different recipe that called for yogurt, but I saw yours and want to try it instead!
Yes, plain, unflavored Greek yogurt can be used instead of sour cream.