It’s a tradition for me to make birthday cakes for my friends and family, and this year Zach gave me a fun challenge of making a cake inspired by his favorite snow cone: a lavender lemonade flavor. I am so incredibly proud to share this recipe with you all. It’s tangy, floral, sweet and so unique; the perfect flavor for the beginning of summer. It’s a lemon buttermilk cake, filled with lemon curd and topped with a lavender vanilla frosting. Even though I made this into a cake, it could be easily made into cupcakes! Just reduce the baking time to 20 minutes.
A few notes on where to get some of the ingredients- lemon curd can be found in the jam aisle. I used trader joe’s and it was amazing, not too sweet and a great texture. For the lavender, you might be able to find some in the spice aisle, or you can order it off amazon. Make sure to get culinary grade!
Ingredients
-
For the Cake
- Lemon Simple Syrup
- For the Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350, and grease your cake pan (I used two 9-inch cake rounds). Start adding your butter to a bowl (stand mixer, regular bowl, whatever!). Beat the butter for at least 3 minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add in your sugar and continue beating for another 3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the lemon juice, the lemon zest, and the vanilla extract.
- Stir in the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until just combined. Add in the buttermilk, again only mixing until just combined.
- Add batter to your pre-greased cake pans. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the batter is firm. If you're unsure, use a toothpick to poke the center. If it comes out mostly clean, the cake is done! If it's still liquid, leave it in for another 5 - 10 minutes. When cakes are done, remove from oven and place on a wire baking sheet to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, and set aside to cool completely. Make the Lemon Simple Syrup
- We will use this to keep moisture in the cake layers and add flavor! Add sugar and water to a small pot, and set on medium high heat until boiling. Once it boils, remove from heat and add lemon juice. Set aside to cool. Make the frosting
- Add lavender and 1/2 cup powdered sugar to a blender. Pulse a few times (about 15 seconds total) until lavender is well incorporated into the sugar. If you don't have a blender, just try and chop up your lavender super fine so there's no big chunks in the frosting!
- Add lavender sugar to the bowl with the butter, and beat to combine. Slowly add in more powdered sugar until you reach your desired frosting consistency. Finally, add in vanilla, salt, and cream. Beat to combine. Do a taste test here, feel free to add more lavender or vanilla to your taste. Just remember, a little lavender goes a long way! Assemble the Cake
- Grab your cakes, the lemon curd, the simple syrup, and your frosting. OPTIONAL - slice your cake rounds in half to create more layers for the cake.
- Start with one layer of cake. Use a large spoon and drizzle 3 - 4 tbsp of simple syrup on the cake. Using a spoon or a piping bag, add a small 1 inch ring of frosting around the edge of the cake. This will be the "well" that holds in the lemon curd. Add in about 1/3 of the jar of lemon curd and spread to evenly cover the cake. Add your next cake layer, and repeat until you get to the very final top cake round.
- Once the cake is assembled, frost your cake to your heart's content! I like to do one thin layer first (called a crumb coat) and put it in the fridge for about 15 minutes before doing my final frost. This prevents cake crumbs from getting in the frosting and allows for a very smooth frosting coat.
- Decorate with thin slices of lemon, lavender, or whatever looks pretty to you and enjoy!