For the cake:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Turn your mixer down to low and beat in the eggs one at a time until combined.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.