About edible lavender

Lavender is a herb, just like thyme, rosemary, and sage. It's edible in both its fresh and dried forms and is a delicious ingredient in drinks, like lavender lemonade (made with a homemade lavender simple syrup), salads, desserts, and baked goods, like lavender scones, and this lemon lavender cake. Aromatic lavender is also a key ingredient in Herbs de Provence spice blend. You can even make your own lavender sugar, to sprinkle on cookies or muffins.

Culinary lavender is really the same as landscaping and garden lavender. As long as it hasn't been sprayed with pesticides, or any chemicals, it's safe to use in recipes. I use lavender from my garden, but you can also buy it at farmer's markets and online.

For culinary purposes, it's best to use English lavender, as opposed to French lavender. It has a milder, sweeter scent and flavor. It also has lower levels of camphor, which can give the lavender a bitter taste.

Ingredients you'll need

Ingredient quantities and complete instructions are in the printable recipe card on the bottom of this post.

For the cake

Flour: I originally created this recipe using all-purpose flour (pre gluten-free). It was perfect. I now use a gluten-free all purpose 1:1 ratio flour, and the cake is every bit as perfect. So feel free to use either, according to your dietary needs.

Baking powder: Our leavening agent is baking powder. Check for gluten-free if needed.

Greek yogurt: This lemon lavender cake is actually a classic French-style yogurt cake that's been dressed up a little! Full fat Greek yogurt produces a moist and rich cake with a little bit of tang. Use regular plain, full fat yogurt if that's what you have.

Sugar: Granulated sugar is needed for this recipe.

Eggs: I use large eggs for this recipe, and all recipes unless otherwise noted.

Olive oil: Olive oil gives this cake a a lighter, fluffier texture than a butter cake, and has a subtle flavor that pairs perfectly with the Mediterranean flavors of lavender and lemon.

Lavender buds: Dried or fresh lavender flowers will both work for this lavender cake recipe. If you don't grow your own pesticide and herbicide-free lavender, you will need to buy some. It's easy to find on-line, and it will be labeled as culinary lavender or food grade lavender. You may find sprigs of fresh lavender at your local farmer's market. You can also find dried lavender in health food stores and tea shops. If you buy lavender tea for this recipe, it should be 100 percent lavender. Dried lavender will have a stronger lavender flavor than fresh, so you may want to use less.

How to make Lemon Lavender Cake

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, olive oil, sugar, vanilla and lavender buds.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until combined.

Spread the cake batter in a loaf pan and bake. Let the cake cool on a cooling rack.

Step by step photos of the recipe process.

Pro Tips

Cake pans: I have also used a 10 inch bundt pan to bake this cake. You may need to decrease the baking time if using a bundt pan. You can also use a 9 inch round pan or an 8 inch square pan. Again, watch the baking times.

Room temperature eggs: For best results in baking, have your eggs at room temperature before beginning. If you forget to take your eggs out ahead of time, just put them in a bowl and cover them with slightly warm water for five minutes.

Recipe

Comments

5 from 16 votes (2 ratings without comment)