In The Kitchen - Dessert
April 5, 2020

Lemon Lavender Pound Cake

Let's be real. Life hasn't been easy lately, but life is what you make it, so we're taking life's lemons and making a delicious lemon lavender pound cake.

12 min read

Liquid Sunshine: When Life gives you lemons.

I love lemon flavored…well, anything.  Lemon bars, lemon meringue pie, lemon cookies.  You name it, and I’ll probably drool over it.  So while life seems to be serving up some lemons right now, I’m looking for ways to make some lemony sunshine…and while we’re at it, let’s throw in a little lavender for some soothing effects.

So first up on this sunshine seeking quest is a twist on an old classic - lemon lavender pound cake.  If you don’t have all the ingredients, I’ve included a few possible substitutes, and this pound cake is buttery goodness with or without added flavoring.

Now, we’ll start with the basics.  My mamaw made this the traditional way - 1 pound of sugar, one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, and one pound of flour.  And that makes a delicious cake.  Mamaw also had a few tricks up her sleeve and taught us to add a little sour cream in the mix for a more moist cake.  (If you don’t have sour cream, you can substitute greet yogurt, milk, or half and half).   I also like to add a little vanilla in, as well. Now, with these amounts, you’d need a 10 inch bundt cake or two loaf pans.  Given a quarantine kitchen, I’m baking just one loaf to the recipe below is for 1 9 X 5 loaf pan.

As for the lemon, lavender and honey, these are optional.  You can use either lemon extract or lemon juice for the flavoring, although you’ll need about six times the amount of lemon juice to substitute for lemon extract.  For the lavender, you can use lavender syrup or culinary lavender (or a lavender tea bag).

‍

Lemon Lavender Pound Cake

Servings
12
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
50 min
Ingredients
Total Time
1 hr 10 min

This post contains affiliate links

Equipment

Ingredients

CAKE

  • 3 eggs
  • 2 sticks butter (1 cup)
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract (optional)

SYRUP (OPTIONAL)

  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1-2 tsp lavender syrup (or 1 Tbsp of culinary lavender)

ICING (OPTIONAL)

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 2 Tbsp half and half (or milk)

Note: You can substitute mayo for sour cream iad eggs.  For a sour cream substitution, use an  equal amount and for eggs, use 3 Tbsp of mayo per egg.  

‍

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Butter or spray with non stick vegetable spray, a 9 x 5 x 3 inch  loaf pan.
Lemons in a bowl
  • In  your mixer, cream the  sugar and butter.
  • In a separate mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder,  and salt.
  • With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients.
  • Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
  • Add in the vanilla and lemon extract., and beat for about 1 minute.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top
Lemon lavender pound cake batter
  • Bake for about 55 to 60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.   (Cover with aluminum foil if the cake is browning too quickly around the edges).
  • Let the pound cake cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.  Once removed, the the cake continue to cool completely on the wire rack.
                  NOTE:     Pound cake will last for one week if refridgerated and 1-2 months if frozen.

SYRUP

  • In a small saucepan, combine the honey, lavender syrup and lemon juice and bring to a boil.  Let simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes.  

ICING

  • Combine the half and half, lemon extract and powdered sugar and pour on cake once cooled.
Lemon lavender pound cake on cooling rack

This cake, plain or with a little honey and lavender to sweeten the pot, is a classic that has stood the test of time for a reason.  It’s buttery goodness is always a hit, and it’s a versatile sweet.  You can serve it plain, with fruit, or even slice it to use in tiramisu or trifle dishes. This blackberry, lemon, and lavender trifle is layered with blackberry compote, lemon icing, and lemon lavender pound cake> Top it with vanilla or lavender ice cream for a refreshing summer treat!

So how will you serve this simple staple next?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments or tag #ourlifenbloom in your photo post

XOXO,

Lemon lavender pound cake decorated and finished

Tags