Lavender Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Although becoming a bit more popular recently, lavender is often overlooked as a culinary ingredient and relegated to the realm of bath products. Lavender has a lovely floral flavor that goes well with lemon, cream, and berries. Here we have a cake flavored with lavender and paired with a lemon “butter cream” and raspberry sauce. Using cake flour as well as a lavender syrup on the cake layers makes for an exceptionally moist end result. As with all flowers, make sure you get culinary grade, or no spray, lavender as otherwise flowers can be heavily sprayed with pesticides.

Lavender cake

2 cups soy milk, divided
2 tsp vinegar
2 Tbsp culinary lavender flowers
2 3/4 cup cake flour (I used King Arthur unbleached cake flour. If you can’t get cake flour you can sub 2 1/2 cup all pourpose flour plus 1/4 cup cornstarch)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp vanilla

Lavender Syrup

1/3 cup culinary lavender
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water

Lemon “Butter Cream”

1/2 cup Earth Balance
1 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp lemon juice, plus more as needed
zest of one lemon (if you want a pure white frosting, you can use some lemon extract)
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted

Raspberry Sauce

10 oz frozen raspberries
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp arrow root dissolved in 1 tbsp water

To make the cake
Grease two 8″ cake pans and line with parchment. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350°
Combine 1 cup soy milk with vinegar in a mixing bowl and set aside to curdle. In a saucepan, combine remaining 1 cup soy milk and the lavender. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and let sit for five minutes. Strain and combine with the vinegar mixture. Add sugar, oil, and vanilla and stir to combine. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour to the wet ingredients and stir together until just mixed. Divide batter between the prepared pans (I use a scale to ensure even distribution). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the syrup
In a heavy saucepan combine ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to thicken. Let cool and strain.

To make the butter cream
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the Earth Balance and shortening until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, lemon juice, salt, and lemon zest and beat to combine. Add powdered sugar and beat on medium until frosting is smooth and fluffy. Add more lemon juice or soy milk if necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency.

To make the sauce
Combine berries, sugar, and water in a sacupan and bring to a boil. Cook until berries are broken down. Stir in the arrowroot mixture and cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Strain to remove the seeds and let cool.

To assemble the cake
Place a layer of cake on a plate or cake board. Brush or drizzle with lavender syrup and frost top. Place second layer on top, brush with syrup and frost top and sides.

To plate
Use a squeeze bottle or a spoon to drizzle some of the raspberry sauce on to each plate. Cut a wedge of cake and place on top of the sauce.