Lavender Tea Cake
This recipe is adapted from The Reluctant Entertainer's recipe for Downton Abbey Lavender Tea Bread.
Lavender tea cake is a beautiful, aromatic, buttery loaf-style cake. You can make it any time of year with dried lavender, but it's particularly delicious early summer with fresh lavender and edible flowers for decoration.
Ingredients:
Cake
5g Fresh culinary lavender (3g dried)
150g Milk
80g Butter, softened
200g Sugar
240g All Purpose Flour
3g Salt
5g Baking Powder
7g Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs at room temperature
Zest of 1 lemon
60g Yogurt
Icing
15g lemon juice
100g powdered sugar
7g vanilla extract
Edible flowers for decoration (optional)
Method:
Preheat oven and line a loaf pan:
Preheat your oven to 325°F
Use butter to coat a 9x4x4 metal loaf pan, then add a sheet of parchment paper to create handles to easily remove the cake after decorating. I prefer the USA Pans 9x4x4 steel pan with non-stick silicone lining.
Prepare the lavender:
If you’re using fresh lavender, pluck the flowering buds. If there are tender leaves, you can chop them finely. Discard the stems.
Steep the lavender in warm milk:
To a small saucepan, add the milk and lavender.
Gently warm milk on low heat until fragrant, about 10 minutes
Take caution not to boil or scorch the milk which will dramatically change the flavor
Remove from heat to cool
Cream the butter and sugar:
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. You can use a mixer or do this by hand.
Once lightened in appearance and fluffy, add in the egg and beat well.
Add the vanilla, yogurt, and lemon zest. Mix well and set aside.
Mix the dry ingredients:
In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together, ensuring no lumps.
Mix, alternating dry/wet/dry/wet/dry:
Start by adding 1/3 of the flour into the butter and sugar mixture. Mix gently until no dry flour is visible.
Add in 1/2 the lavender milk (including the lavender) and mix until combined.
Add in another 1/3 of the flour and mix gently until no dry flour is visible.
Add in the last 1/2 of the lavender milk and mix until combined.
Add in the last 1/3 of flour and mix gently until combined.
Bake:
Pour the batter into the loaf pan
Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a paring knife inserted into the center comes out cleanly. The cake should be golden brown and fragrant.
Prepare Icing:
Mix the lemon juice, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl. It should have a smooth, pourable texture.
Stab the cake with a paring knife to create channels for icing to enter the cake.
Pour the icing on top and spread it around as necessary.
Optionally, decorate with edible flowers while the icing is wet.
Serve:
Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes in the pan.
Use an offset spatula to break any sugar that has stuck the cake to the pan, then use the parchment to remove the cake from the loaf pan onto a serving tray.
Gently remove the parchment.
Slice in 1/2” to 3/4” pieces and serve.
Recipe notes
Dairy-free / vegetarian lavender tea cake variation:
I made a dairy-free version with olive oil (replacing the butter) and cashew milk (replacing the milk) that turned out great. You can follow the same steps above, but for best results there’s a small change to the mixing steps:
First, mix the sugar and eggs with a whisk until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute
Then stream in the oil with a whisk to make an emulsion – it’s basically sweet mayonnaise at that point
Olive oil pairs really well with the floral taste of lavender, but can overpower it. A neutral oil like grapeseed, sunflower, or peanut oil also works great.
Cashew milk has similar fat and protein properties to cow’s milk. Look for an alternative milk without thickeners (i.e. not the barista version) since it will make the cake gummy.