This light and fluffy lemon lavender cake is bursting with fresh flavor from lemon juice, lemon zest, and dried lavender buds. Top it all with a drool-worthy lemon glaze, and you've got yourself the perfect citrus + floral dessert!
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This Lemon Lavender Drizzle Cake Tastes Like Summer + Sunshine
Guess what’s for dessert tonight? It starts with fluffy lemon lavender cake and ends with a creamy & bright lemon glaze. On second thought, forget about waiting until dessert, because this cake is irresistible with a cup of coffee for breakfast or as a little afternoon pick-me-up! And if you know me, you know that creating rustic yet elevated desserts is kinda my jam, so while most other recipes for lavender infused cake are made of multiple layers, I wanted to keep mine simple with just one layer. Top it off with a citrusy glaze thickened with melted butter & sweetened with honey, and you've got yourself your new go-to coffee cake!
Now, let's get to the juicy details. I tested this recipe multiple times to get juuuust the right amount of lavender flavor - it adds a bright, floral flavor without tasting like soap or perfume. The trick is to make infused sugar by grinding it with the lemon zest + lavender buds. And can we just take a moment for lemon + lavender? This dynamic duo is kiiiind of my not-so-secret obsession, which is why I make my beloved lemon lavender shortbread recipe and my lemon lavender scones every. single. summer.
Baking with Fresh versus Dried Lavender
I've baked quite a few cakes with edible flowers, and lavender is one of my all-time favorites. Just be sure to remove all the leaves and stems, which won’t taste good at all!
If you’re buying lavender from the store, be sure it’s culinary grade, so it’s safe to eat. And if you’re picking it, just double check that it hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides.
Now, I personally prefer using dried lavender, since fresh lavender buds have a less concentrated flavor. If you only have fresh lavender on hand, you can just double or triple the quantity to you add to your cake batter.
Let's gather our ingredients: sugar, lavender, lemons, unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, milk, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, powdered sugar, and honey.
Let's Bake this Glazed Lemon Lavender Cake Together!
For the full step-by-step directions and ingredient quantities, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
2. Grind the sugar, lemon zest, and lavender.
3. Beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest & lavender.
5. Mix in the milk and lemon juice.
7. Spread the batter in a cake pan.
9. Whisk the glaze until it's smooth.
4. Mix in the room temp eggs and vanilla extract.
6. Mix in the dry ingredients.
8. Bake then cool completely.
10. Drizzle with glaze & enjoy!
Carissa's Decorating Tip
For the photos I took of this cake, I decorated it with thin slices of raw lemon and lavender sprigs. Buuuut, I don’t actually recommend decorating your cake with fresh lemon, since the juice made the glaze watery & melty.
Pro Tips for the Best-Tasting Dessert
- Maximal Flavor: Grinding the lavender with the sugar is essential to help release its natural oils so the flavor isn’t too subtle (aka undetectable).
- Lavender Glaze: If you want to add lavender flavor to the glaze as well, you can melt the butter on the stovetop & gently simmer it with lavender buds for 10 minutes, like I do for my chocolate cake with lavender buttercream.
Moist Lemon Lavender Cake with Lemon Drizzle
Equipment
Ingredients
Lemon Lavender Cake
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon dried lavender buds
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest (from one whole medium lemon)
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (1 stick)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed (from one whole medium lemon)
- 1 cup milk, at room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt (use table salt or fine sea salt)
Purple Lemon Glaze
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1½ teaspoons lemon zest (from half a large lemon)
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, divided
- Purple food coloring (optional)
Instructions
Bake the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan or a round cake pan with a removable bottom.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a food processor, pulse the granulated sugar, lavender buds, and lemon zest 10 times.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand whisk, beat the softened butter with the sugar + lavender + lemon zest, until it is creamy and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until it’s well-combined.Add the milk and lemon juice. Mix until it’s well-combined; it’s okay if it looks like the cake batter split - that’s from the lemon juice.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Gently mix with a large spoon or silicone spatula just until there is no dry flour visible. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to ensure everything is evenly mixed together.
- Spread the cake batter into your greased cake pan. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until a wooden skewer or knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the cake pan, then remove the sides of the pan and allow the cake to cool for another 30 minutes.
Make the Glaze
- To make the glaze, melt the butter in the microwave on 20 second intervals in a large microwave-safe bowl.
- Sift the powdered sugar into the melted butter, then add the lemon zest, honey, salt, and one tablespoon of the lemon juice. Whisk until it’s smooth. If it’s too thick, add another teaspoon of lemon juice; if it’s too watery, sift in another tablespoon of powdered sugar.
- Optional: Whisk a little purple food coloring into the glaze.
- Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake and allow it to drip down the sides. All the glaze to cool and harden for about 10 minutes, then slice and enjoy!!
Notes
- No Food Processor, No Problem: You can rub the granulated sugar, lavender, and lemon with your fingers in a small bowl until it’s really fragrant, after one minute. Or use a mortar and pestle, which always gives me kitchen witchy vibes.
Ahmed
I tried the recipe and it was very tasty, dried lavender was better to use - thank you
Carissa Erzen
I'm so glad! Dried lavender is game-changer!