Lemon Lavender Pound Cake

One of my favourite flavours to bake with is lemon. Give me just about any lemon dessert, and I will be very happy. I have been baking lemon pound cakes for years. It has a permanent place on my list of favourite cake recipes. Last summer, I was feeling curious about baking something with lavender in it. I love lavender. It has such a lovely, light, floral scent. When I started to look for recipes using lavender, I kept seeing recipes combining lemon and lavender. Obviously, I thought of my favourite lemon pound cake.

The following weekend, I convinced my partner to go on a family excursion to a nearby lavender farm, where I knew I could pick up some culinary lavender. We are lucky enough to live in a gorgeous, warm climate, here in South Australia. In the beautiful Barossa Valley, a place known for producing some of the best wines in the world, there happens to be a little lavender farm. So, off we went to the Lyndoch Lavender Farm. It was such a lovely place. I really enjoyed wandering through the rows of lavender and gazing out upon the views of vineyards and hills beyond. There was a cafe and shop at the farm, where I found what I was looking for. Culinary lavender is what you need to bake or cook with, because it is organic. Actually, you can use lavender tea, as I did. It is simply dried and crushed lavender flowers.

Now let’s talk about the cake… I tried a recipe for lemon lavender pound cake, last summer, but I decided that I was more fond of my trusty glazed lemon pound cake recipe from Martha Stewart. Comparing the two recipes, I realized that the main difference, other than lavender, was that the former recipe uses Greek yogurt while the latter uses buttermilk. Last weekend, I tried the first recipe, replacing yogurt with buttermilk, and I was very happy with the results. I also wanted to intensify the lemon flavour a little, with more lemon zest, because I absolutely love lemon. Feel free to adjust the lemon zest to your taste. I must caution you not to add any more lavender to the recipe, though. A little goes a long way when baking with lavender. One more change I made to the recipe was to use lemon juice instead of milk for the glaze, and not use vanilla, to give the cake more lemon flavour.

This lemon lavender pound cake turned out to be wonderful. It’s full of refreshing lemon flavour and a pleasantly floral-herbal lavender taste. I really like the zesty lemon glaze on top. It is the perfect finishing touch. The crumb of the cake is soft and moist. It’s just delightful. I hope you will enjoy this cake as much as I do.

Here’s the recipe…

• Servings: 8-10
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The fresh lemon flavour pairs so beautifully with the floral lavender taste in this delicious pound cake. It's simply delightful.

This recipe was adapted from Bake Your Day and Martha Stewart.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. baking soda/ bicarb soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ cup/ 115g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. lemon zest (from 2-3 large lemons)
• 1 Tbsp. culinary lavender

For the glaze:

• 2/3-1 cup powdered sugar/ soft icing mixture
• 1-2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• A little lavender for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F/ 160C. Grease a standard 9×5” loaf pan. Then line pan with baking paper, with the long sides overhanging, for easy removal of cake.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar, creaming until fluffy. On a lower speed, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each completely before adding the next. Mix until blended well.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until just incorporated. On a low speed, mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, until blended. Mix in the lavender on low speed.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the edges begin to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before transferring cake to the rack.
6. To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until you reach a thick yet pourable consistency (a Pyrex measuring cup works well). Pour evenly over cooled cake. Sprinkle a little lavender on top of the cake (if using), while the glaze is still wet.
7. Wait for glaze to set up before serving cake. Slice cake into thick pieces. Enjoy!

This recipe was created by Kim Sequoia for a delicious moment.

All written content and photos are copyright Kimberly Sequoia 2017 for a delicious moment.

If you would like to use this recipe on your own site, please re-write it in your own words and link back to my original post.

 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Blondies

Sometimes I just want a simple oatmeal cookie. This time, I wanted something more. So, I baked a batch of oatmeal blondies (or oat “slice”, for those of us in Australia). Of course, I couldn’t stop there. I had to add chocolate chips.

This is such a simple, delicious treat. Each slice is like a thick, soft, chewy oatmeal cookie. These blondies are so good and so easy to make. You may already have the ingredients in your kitchen. Made with little more than butter, brown sugar, and oats, these blondies can be whipped up in about an hour. I will definitely be making these many more times! My family loved them.

They would be really good with dried apple pieces, or any dried fruit you like. Nuts would be a welcome addition, too. Feel free to put whatever you like in these oatmeal blondies. I’m sure they would be equally good.

Enjoy the recipe…

• Servings: 12-16
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These easy blondies are like thick, soft, chewy oatmeal cookies, full of sweet chocolate chips. Feel free to swap some or all of the chocolate chips for dried fruit and/ or nuts, if you like. They're so good!

This recipe was adapted from My Lovely Little Lunch Box.

Ingredients

• 125 grams/ 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/3 cup plain flour
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup quick oats
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips (or dried fruit, like apple, and/or nuts)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350°F.
2. Spray oil a square 8 x 8” or equivalent pan. Then line the pan with baking paper, allowing extra paper to overhang on two sides, for easy removal.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix melted butter with brown sugar by whisking until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla. Gently stir in flour until combined. Then fold in oats and chocolate chips.
4. Pour oat mixture into prepared pan. Spread evenly and flatten the mixture with a spatula, pushing the batter into the corners.
5. Bake blondies for 20-25 minutes or until golden around the edges and just set in the middle. Do not overbake, or the top will get too crunchy.
6. Leave blondies in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully lift them out in the baking paper. Cool blondies on wire rack before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

Store blondies in a tightly-lidded container. They should stay fresh for about 5 days.

This recipe was created by Kim Sequoia for a delicious moment.

All written content and photos are copyright Kimberly Sequoia 2017 for a delicious moment.

If you would like to use this recipe on your own site, please re-write it in your own words and link back to my original post.