Lavender Pound Cake Recipe

I know when I think of lavender, I don't really think of food.  I think of dream pillows, beautiful purple flowers, and an oil that can heal burns.  Lavender by itself is pretty good in herbal tea, but have you ever chewed on a flower?  Blech! (I have...)  In this recipe, the pound cake batter mixes with just enough dried lavender to give it a light floral taste.  This recipe is a really good spring/early summer dessert.  It is pretty heavy though, so don't eat too much!

So a few things first.  This is a pound cake, named for having a pound of everything (flour, eggs, sugar, etc.) so it's pretty rich.  The recipe makes two loaves.  You can halve the recipe evenly to make just one, just use two eggs.

Gather your supplies!  You'll need three bowls.  Make sure you get a pretty big one since there will be a lot of batter.  Measuring cups and spoons are needed, as well as an electric mixer and one to two loaf pans.

Ingredients

1 cup butter (margarine works just as well)

2 cups sugar

5 eggs

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp dried lavender

1 cup buttermilk (or substitute normal milk with lemon juice or vinegar)

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas Mark 4.  Cream butter and sugar together.  Beat eggs in one at a time.  In a large bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients.  Combine buttermilk and vanilla in a third bowl.  Add both bowls of wet ingredients to the large bowl and mix until you have a smooth batter.

Spray your loaf pans with cooking spray or use parchment paper.  I used the latter because hey... no extra dishes!  Spoon the batter into the pans.  Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. 

Let the cakes cool if you used spray or oil, but if you used paper, you can turn them out onto a plate to cool faster.  This makes about 16 servings.  This cake is sweet enough to stand alone, but you can eat it with frosting, butter or what ever tickles your fancy.  I hope you enjoy it! 

Note: If you don't have buttermilk, you can mix normal milk (we use 2%) with a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to equal the amount you need.  Just put the juice in a measuring cup and add milk until you have how much you need and wait about five minutes before you use it.  I've never actually used buttermilk in this recipe, and it's always been really good.