One Bowl-Easy Lemon Lavender Cake

Easy Lemon Lavender Cake

Purple and yellow are pretty contrasting colours yet when they come together, they complement one another - like lemon and lavender. I recently came across a recipe in the Globe and Mail for a triple lemon upside-down loaf by Lucy Waverman and thought it is a good idea to try since I have a whole bag of lemon curd in the fridge! It calls for sugar coated lemon slices, but when baked, they did not turn out as I had expected. After some tempering and fine-tuning to the original recipe, I came up with one having the aroma of my favorite flower since I have an abundant of lavender buds from my garden. Surprisingly it turns out to be very easy to make and absolutely delicious - not too sweet, neither too tangy and pleasantly scented, all in one bowl! Simply delicious with coffee or milk - a must try!

Utensils Needed

One 8 inch round baking pan or 9 inch loaf pan

Large mixing bowl

Measuring cups

Measuring spoons

Spatula

Pastry brush

Microplane zester

Hand held electric mixer

Ingredients for cake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 cup lemon curd (make extra for serving when cake is ready to serve)

2 eggs

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried English Lavender buds

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. 

2. Line baking pan with parchment paper or brush the pan with melted butter and coat with flour. Invert the pan over the sink and knock out loose flour. Set the pan aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and beat with an electric mixer for a full 3 minutes.

4. Spoon batter into the prepared baking pan. Tap the pan on the table a couple of times to remove air bubbles from the batter.

5. Pop into the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes (if using the round baking pan) until nice golden brown or until the tester comes out clean or the sides of the cakes spring slightly from the pan. *Note - If you are using a loaf pan, the baking time will extend to 45 - 60 minutes.

Do not over bake, otherwise cake becomes dry.

6. Cool slightly before removing cake from pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Serve each slice of cake with a whole spoon full of lemon curd on top. 

Enjoy and have a wonderful Summer!

*Below is the link to a lemon curd recipe from Food Network which you may use to make your own lemon curd if you cannot get any from your local supermarkets.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-curd-recipe-1941910