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This Lavender Cake is moist, sweet, and lightly floral with tons of calming energy. Cut a thick slice with a cup of tea for a moment of peace in the afternoon. It's gonna be awesome.
As a little girl, I loved pink. That was until I realized that all the other little girls loved pink, too, and it was totally cliche, and I needed to be different. Yep, that's the kind of obnoxious I was as a kid. I still shun pink to this day. I'm devoted to purple. I love it in every shade, violet, lavender, lilac, amethyst, orchid. Give it to me. I even had pale purple hair for a while.
That's probably why as a witch, I'm so drawn to lavender and amethyst. There's something at once vibrant and dark about their calming color. I love the gentle yet mystical energy of amethyst. The scent of lavender helps me feel instantly relaxed. I use the oil everywhere. Purple is definitely my signature color.
What makes Lavender Cake so awesome?
This Lavender Cake is based on my favorite plain pound cake recipe with a hint of lavender buds throughout. It was important that this cake had a hint of lavender and at no point did you think you were eating soap or perfume. If you find you want a deeper hint of the herb, you're free to add more lavender, but be cautious.
The cake itself is dense and moist and just sweet enough. It has lavender buds running throughout. Then it gets soaked in a lightly flavored lavender syrup to keep it extra moist and flavorful. Finally, it gets a glaze that has a hint of lemon for brightness and a gorgeous sprinkling of more lavender buds because they're just so damn beautiful. This cake is perfect for a bit of tranquility in the afternoon with a cup of tea. Put your feet up, breathe deep, and relax into the deliciousness.
Magical Properties of Lavender
Lavender is one of the most common herbs used in witchcraft these days. A bottle of lavender essential oil is pretty much a necessity in my house. It's most commonly associated with sleep, but it can also be used to calm the mind for meditation. Use lavender to help settle into your intuition when practicing divination.
Diffuse the oil, burn it as loose incense, or add lavender buds to spell jars, charm bags, or candle dressing when you want to call in peaceful energy.
Lavender correspondences are:
- Gender - feminine/receptive
- Elements - air, fire
- Planet - Mercury
- Chakras - throat, third eye
- Zodiac - Leo
(Source: Practical Magic for Beginners by Maggie Haseman)
For magical info on other ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.
Tips for making Lavender Cake
This is a pretty basic cake, but we will be using some of our good baker's technique here. Get all your ingredients to room temperature before you start to make sure you get a smooth batter. Just set everything out a couple of hours before you're ready to bake.
We're going to rub the lavender right into the sugar to help release some of the essential oils and distribute the lavender flavor more evenly. Just measure your sugar into the mixing bowl, add two teaspoons of lavender buds, and use your fingers to rub the sugar into the lavender. You'll probably be able to smell it. That's how you know it's doing its thing.
Then we've got a basic creaming method going. Beat together your butter and sugar for about five minutes until pale and fluffy, then add eggs and beat until smooth. Then alternate adding your pre-mixed dry ingredients with buttermilk until you have a light and smooth batter. Transfer this to your loaf pan and bake until golden.
Finishing Your Cake
To build up the lavender flavor a little bit more, you can make a lavender simple syrup while your cake is baking. Simply add sugar and water, along with another tablespoon of lavender buds to a sauce pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved and it just begins to bubble. Let it sit while your cake bakes, then strain out the lavender.
When your cake comes out of the oven, while it's still warm, pour the lavender syrup over it to let it sink in. Then let the cake cool completely, soaking in the syrup.
Finally, make a simple glaze with powdered sugar and a bit of lemon juice. If you need to thin it out more, add water so that the lemon doesn't overpower the lavender. It's just there for a hint of brightness. Pour the glaze over your cooled cake, then sprinkle it with lavender buds while the glaze is still wet. Let it make beautiful romantic drips as it cools and sets.
I like to say calm is my super power. Lavender can definitely help you achieve that. I think that means you should probably eat Lavender Cake every day. Makes perfect sense to me.
Looking for more delicious cake recipes? Try this gorgeous Citrus Bundt Cake or a quick and easy 5 Minute Microwave Lemon Cake.
PrintLavender Cake
- Prep Time: 50
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons lavender buds
- 2 eggs
- 1-½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅜ cup (6 tablespoons) buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the syrup:
- ¼ sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon lavender buds
For the glaze:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Lavender buds for sprinkling
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and butter and flour a loaf pan. You may also want to line the bottom with parchment paper for extra insurance.
- Measure out your sugar in a bowl, then add the lavender buds to it and rub them together for a minute or two to release the essential oils into the sugar. Then add this to the mixing bowl with the butter.
- Cream together the butter and lavender sugar by beating them with an electric mixer on medium high for about five minutes. You want the mixture to be pale and fluffy.
- Turn your mixer down to low and beat in the eggs one at a time until combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Also measure out your buttermilk in another container or measuring cup, and add the vanilla extract to it. If you have a stand mixer, you can do this while your butter and sugar are being creamed.
- With your mixer on it's lowest setting, tip in a third of your dry ingredients, followed by half of your buttermilk, beating each time until everything is just combined. Keep going with another third of the dry stuff, the rest of the buttermilk, and then the last of the dry ingredients until everything comes together.
- Ditch the electric mixer, being sure to scrape off as much f the batter as you can. Give the bowl one last scrape and gentle mix with a rubber spatula, and then transfer your thick batter to your waiting loaf pan. Smooth out the top, and bake for 40-45 minutes or until it's golden on the top and a cake tester comes out clean.
For the syrup:
- While your cake is baking, combine sugar, water, and lavender in a small sauce pan. Heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is clear. Remove from heat.
- Leave the syrup alone to steep while the cake finishes baking. Once the cake is out of the oven, straing out the lavender, then pour the syrup slowly over the cake to allow it to soak in as it cools.
- I like to leave the cake in to loaf pan to help the syrup absorb better, but you could also put your turned out cake on a rack over a baking sheet to catch syrup drips.
For the glaze:
- In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice. If you need your glaze to be a bit thinner, add water instead of more lemon juice.
- Once your cake has cooled completely, spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, sprinkle it with lavender buds, and just let gravity do its thing.
Celine says
Hello, i'm just discovering your siteweb and this cake looks amazing. But... one of my son and myself can't have milk... Do you think it will be possible to replace the buttermilk with almond or soya drinks ? I'm aware the texture will not be the same.
Renee says
Hi there. I haven't tested it, so I'm not sure. If it was just regular milk, it would probably be okay, but because it's buttermilk, it needs to be something acidic. Maybe try a thin non-dairy yogurt instead. Good luck.
Noma says
Hi! I’m late to the party but I used plain coconut milk yoghurt and a little bit of unsweetened coconut milk and it came out great 🙂
Renee says
Great! So glad you found success with variations that made it work for you. Thanks for sharing! And the party starts whenever you arrive.
Luna itzel says
Hello , love this recipe I’ve made it twice already this second time around i was more exact with the recipe and I was wondering what the best way to store it is, without it getting stale
Renee says
All cakes are best when eaten within the first few days. The more you can limit exposure to air, the longer it will keep, so consider wrapping tightly in foil. You could also freeze a portion of the cake for later if you prefer. Just make sure it's tightly wrapped before it goes into the freezer.
Beth says
Made this cake for imbolc gathering with friends. It is amazing. I didn't have buttermilk on hand but It was easy to make some up with 1 cup whole milk and 1 TBSP lemon juice. It came out amazing. This is the third time I've made and my friends love it.
Renee says
So glad you enjoyed it, and good job working with what you have. Very witchy.