Garden Party Pound Cake (Lemon-Lavender Pound Cake)
Heather Baird
This buttery lemon-lavender pound cake is simple to stir together and so satisfying. It’s topped with a thick drape of lemon glaze and garnished with a veritable bouquet of edible petals.You can find shopping links for the dried edible petals in the blog post, or use fresh, organic edible petals from your own garden. Be absolutely sure flowers are edible before adding them to your cakes. Pansy, marigold, lavender buds and rose petals are all good choices here.
Coat 3 small loaf pans (5.75 x 3 inch) with flour-based baking spray or grease and flour the pans. Alternatively coat 8 mini loaf pans (3.8 x 2.5 inch) or one standard-size loaf pan (9×5 inch). I used a mixture of small and mini loaf pans.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in the lemon zest. Add the lemon juice and mix again. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract; mix. Beat in the lavender buds.
Add the flour and salt if using, and beat on low speed until just combined with a few streaks of flour remaining. Scrape down the bowl and mix by hand with a rubber spatula until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Do not over mix.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake until lightly brown around the edges and slightly raised in the center (this cake won’t crown much, it should just have a little bump in the center).
Mini 3.8×2.5-inch pans should bake for about 25-30 minutes.
Small 5.75×3-inch pans should bake for about 40-45 minutes.
Large 9×5-inch pans should bake for about 55-60 minutes.
Note that the cakes will begin to rise at the edges of the pans first, so the centers may look sunken for a while – this is normal! Cakes are done when the entire cake is risen and a toothpick tester inserted near the center comes out clean.
Keep an eye on pans, as darker pans will cook more quickly than aluminum pans. Remove from oven and let cool in the pans for about 7 minutes; turn out to wire racks to cool completely.
For the glaze, stir together confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a mixing bowl using a whisk. Gradually whisk in additional lemon juice until a thick, opaque glaze forms that will hold in the balloon of the whisk, and slowly pour back into the bowl in a ribbon.
Spoon the glaze over cooled cakes and immediately sprinkle on your choice of blooms and petals. Allow cakes to stand until the glaze is set, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately if your cakes are topped with fresh blooms. Cakes with dried blooms can be stored under plastic wrap at room temperature.