Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Lemon Lavender Tea Cake

It's been over two months since my last post! Boy does time fly. I honestly cannot believe that I am already a third of the way through my chief year. This year has had its challenges for sure, but has been incredibly rewarding in so many other ways. Aside from working along side some of my best friends and colleagues and having the opportunity to both teach and learn from my residents, I get the wonderful opportunity of trying out new recipes! 
Earlier this summer, the Boy and I had a weekend off together (I know, weird, right?) and spent it at a lavender festival in Highland Springs. I had been DYING to go to a lavender festival ever since this tiny little lavender obsession of mine started and was thrilled that this was only 30 minutes from home. 




As soon as we walked into the fields of green and purple, that therapeutic aroma enveloped us into a calm and soothing state of happiness. In a way it reminded me of driving into Gilroy (aka Garlic Capital of the World) and having the smell just hit you, except with more floral notes of course.
 
So of course after purchasing a few jars of lavender honey and lavender syrup, I had to bake something lavender themed and what better combination with lavender than lemon. 


Lemon Lavender Tea Cake

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted room temperature butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/3 cup lemon zest
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk (I usually substitute with 1% milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice added and let sit 10 minutes for milk to curdle)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)

For syrup: 
1/2 cup lavender honey
1/2 cup lemon juice

For glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp lavender syrup

Instructions: 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease two loaf pans
  2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
  3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly until combined
  4. Stir in lemon zest
  5. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  6. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to the batter and then half the buttermilk, stirring to combine. Alternate flour and buttermilk and stir just until combined. 
  7. Divide batter into the two greased loaf pans
  8. Bake for 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
  9. While cake is baking, heat lemon juice and lavender honey over medium heat for 10 minutes. 
  10. When cake is done, transfer to a wire rack and pour lemon lavender syrup over the cake and set aside to cool completely. 
  11. Mix together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lavender syrup. Drizzle over cake to decorate. 

2 comments:

  1. after reading your post I tried out the demon and lavender tea cake and it turned out really delicious and thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe.

    ReplyDelete