Lavender-Lemon Pound Cake

My grandma use to make the best pound cake ever. She would even make her regular cakes more like pound cakes because she enjoyed eating them plain without icing. My love for cake probably stems from her, but it also spoiled me—as an adult, I just don’t like fluffy, light cakes. Give me the dense, thick pound cakes, and you’ll be my best friend forever. Pound cakes aren’t for sissies . . . they’re for farmers. I especially love the simplicity of this old-fashioned lemon pound cake, with a hint of lavender and a drizzle of sweetness.

You can most certainly omit the lavender if you don’t like a bit of floral in your sweet treats. My husband and son don’t care for the lavender, so I make one with lavender for me, and one without lavender for them! The lemon pound cake alone is delicious!

Love cake? Then you’ll love my Sourdough Chocolate Cake recipe too!

Lavender Lemon Pound Cake

• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (or raw evaporated cane juice)
• 2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 5 eggs
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 2–3 tsp lavender buds

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Flour a loaf or bundt pan. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and eggs. Combine well, then add 1–2 tsp of lavender buds and mix well.
4. Fold in flour in small batches until it’s all well combined. Do not over mix.
5. Pour batter into loaf pans or bundt pan. Bake for 45–55 minutes, or until a knife or skewer comes out clean when poked. If the cake begins to brown too quickly, cover with foil.
6. Allow cake to cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove and continue cooling on wire rack until cooled completely.

For the drizzle:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 4–5 tsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest

Method: 

Combine all ingredients until a thick but liquid mixture comes together. Drizzle over warm loaf so that it begins to soak into the cake.