Lavender Honey Cake with a Scent of Lemon & Honey Cream Cheese Icing
Mother’s Day is fast approaching and I can’t help but think of cake. I feel something light and spring like is needed. I know, how about a lavender honey cake scented with lemon and smothered in honey cream cheese icing? Sorted.
I’ve been seeing a lot of honey cakes over the web recently and it’s given me a yen for making one. There’s something so delicious in the word honey cake; it conjures up many good things and I wanted a piece of the action. I was keen for my cake to be light and spring like as befits a March Mothering Sunday. It needed something floral: lavender I thought. Most years, I collect a few lavender buds from my garden for culinary purposes – you just never know when you might need some. I checked the cupboard, and yes, I still had plenty in the jar.
To echo the floral notes of lavender I decided to open a treasured jar of Cornish heather honey. The best honey in Cornwall comes from the Lizard where Cornish heather flourishes and the bees fly low. It’s really quite distinctive and you don’t need a lot for the flavour to permeate a cake. As I look out of my window at a brightly hued rainbow, which has emerged after the latest downpour, I feel the promise of balmy summer days spent strolling around Britain’s most southerly Peninsula.
Back to my lavender honey cake. All I needed was some zesty lemon to lift it and a light but delicious icing to fill and top it. The result was everything I was hoping for, apart from a little charring around the edges. ahem! The sponge was light and not too sweet. It had subtle tones of lavender, notes of honey and a scent of lemon. The lemon & honey cream cheese icing was so delicious it nearly didn’t make it to the cake at all. Again, it wasn’t overly sweet and it complemented the cake beautifully.
If you’re wondering what cake to make for your mother on Sunday or even if you should bake one at all, I urge you to give this one a go. And if you have a jar of lavender honey lying around, so much the better.
- 100 g golden granulated or caster sugar
- 1 scant tsp lavender buds
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp strong floral honey
- ½ lemon
- 2 medium eggs
- 150 g spelt flour half white, half wholemeal
- 1 round tsp baking powder
- 1 heaped tbsp natural yoghurt
- 2 tbsp water
- 125 ml double cream
- 75 g cream cheese
- 1 tsp strong floral honey
- 40 g icing sugar
- ½ lemon
- Blitz the sugar and lavender together in a power blender or coffee grinder. Or grind in a pestle and mortar.
- Cream the sugar, honey and butter together until light and creamy.
- Grate in the lemon zest and cream a bit more.
- Beat in the eggs one by one.
- Sieve in half the flour with the baking powder and stir. Add the yoghurt and water and stir until just combined. Sieve in the remaining flour and stir in along with a squeeze of lemon juice until just combined.
- Spoon the mixture into a 15 cm / 6" greased and lined deep round tin.
- Bake in a pre-warmed oven at 180℃ for about 35 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out more or less clean. I used my Optimum HealthyFry.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Whip the cream in a bowl until just holding its shape.
- Grate the lemon zest and add to the bowl.
- Add the cream cheese, honey, icing sugar and a squeeze of lemon. Whip again until everything is well mixed and holds its shape.
- Cut the cooled cake in half and spread half of the mixture over one half. Cover with the other half and spread the remaining mixture over the top.
- Decorate with seasonal edible flowers or sugar flowers.
Makes one small 15cm cake which serves 6 people. Lavender needs to be used with caution. It can taste soapy and overpowering if too much is used.
I’m linking my lavender honey cake up to Cook Blog Share at Easy Peasy Foodie this week.
Other recipes for Mother’s Day cakes you might like
- Chocolate coconut cannellini cake via Tin and Thyme
- Chocolate violet fancies via Lavender and Lovage
- Clementine cake via Kavey Eats
- Lavender chocolate goose egg cake via Tin and Thyme
- Lemon drizzle layer cake via Baking Queen
- Marmalade runeberg cakes via Tin and Thyme
- Mini chocolate and orange marble bundt cakes via Belleau Kitchen
- Mini lemon drizzle pound cakes via Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
- Orange pistachio and honey polenta cake via Easy Peasy Foodie
As a Froothie Ambassador, I can offer Tin and Thyme readers free P&P on any Froothie appliance. Add 2483 free ambassador delivery to the comment box when ordering to get free postage and packing. Delivery will be credited back onto your card. The Optimum HealthyFry is currently on offer at £149.
Lavender Honey Cake with a Scent of Lemon & Honey Cream Cheese Icing – Pin It
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It’s arrived. The much anticipated recipe book from Karen Burns-Booth @lavenderandlovage. Full of stories from Karen’s well travelled and eclectic life as well as the fabulous recipes I’ve come to expect from following her blog, this will keep me happy for many nights of bedtime reading and days cooking in the kitchen.
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So much magnificent autumn colour this year. Despite being mega busy, we managed a walk in the Forest yesterday. The dappled light and warmth from the sun made it a perfect autumnal day.
Chocolate Recipes Galore
Angie@Angie's Recipes
22nd March 2017
That looks so springy and beautiful! I love the simple yet chic deco of this layered cake. Well done, Choclette.
Choclette
22nd March 2017
Aw thanks Angie. I love it when my cake are called chic 🙂
Andrea @ The Petite Cook
22nd March 2017
Lavander cake sounds subliminal Choclette! And it’s also super pretty, I bet it would make any mum happy 🙂
Choclette
22nd March 2017
Thanks Andrea. It’s a lush cake and if only my mum had got a look in, I think she would very much have liked it 😉
Chris @thinlyspread
22nd March 2017
Oh great minds think alike! I have a mother’s day cake topped with primroses which is popping up on TS on Sunday, they are so pretty aren’t they?! Lavender and honey are a marriage made in heaven, this sounds divine!
Choclette
22nd March 2017
Primroses come out at just the right time in order to grace Mother’s Day I reckon. Look forward to seeing your cake.
Sus // roughmeasures.com
22nd March 2017
This really does sounds like a wonderful cake perfect to celebrate Mother’s Day with!
Choclette
22nd March 2017
Thanks Sus. If only my mother had been lucky enough to get any 😉
Corina
22nd March 2017
What a beautiful cake! It sounds just perfect for mothers day but what I really like the sound of is that gorgeous icing on the top!
Choclette
22nd March 2017
That gorgeous icing really is “the icing on the cake” 🙂
jenny walters
23rd March 2017
What a beautiful cake .It sounds delicious too. Quintessentially English x
Choclette
23rd March 2017
Thanks Jenny. Yes exactly, that’s why I thought it would be a good cake for Mother’s Day 🙂
jacqui bellefontaine
23rd March 2017
Oh this cake looks absolutely delicious and so pretty.
Choclette
28th March 2017
Thanks very much Jacqui. Flowers are wonderful things 🙂
Erica Price
23rd March 2017
I do like the sound of cooking with lavender and it seems the perfect flavouring for Mother’s Day.
Choclette
28th March 2017
Thanks Erica. It can be tricky getting it right with lavender. Too much and everything tastes soapy! Luckily I think I got it right 🙂
Leigh at Fashion Du Jour LDN
23rd March 2017
This is perfect for Mother’s Day! Love the flower decoration – hello Spring!
Thanks for sharing!
Leigh at Fashion Du Jour LDN x
Choclette
28th March 2017
Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to welcome in the spring 🙂
Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe
24th March 2017
What beautiful photos – I would love a slice or even to be able to make impressive layer cakes like that.
Choclette
28th March 2017
Aw thanks Johanna. Of course you can make layer cakes, you’re far more adept at cake decoration than me.
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
24th March 2017
Oh my, this cake sounds amazing. I love adding lavender to bakes. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Choclette
28th March 2017
Thanks Kirsty. Less is more with lavender I reckon, but get it right and it works wonderfully in baking.
Kate - gluten free alchemist
25th March 2017
Beautiful cake and perfect for Mothers Day. Lavender and Honey sounds an amazing combination and sure confirmation that warmer weather is on its way xx
Choclette
28th March 2017
Thanks Kate. This is the first time I’ve tried lavender and honey together (I think) and it turns out it’s a lovely mix. Yay, spring is most definitely here. These last few days I’ve even been complaining that I’m too hot – shhh!
Eb Gargano
25th March 2017
Yes please! This is so my kind of cake. I love honey cakes and all things flavoured with lavender! Such pretty decoration too 🙂 Thanks for mentioning my cake and thanks for linking up with #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
Choclette
28th March 2017
Thanks Eb. Fresh flowers are such an easy but effective way to decorate a cake – as long as there are flowers to be had of course 🙂
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed
26th March 2017
What a beautiful cake Choclette. I love honey in a cake and I bet it’s delicious with the lavender.
Choclette
28th March 2017
Thanks Sarah. Honey gives such a good flavour to baking, I really should use it more often.
Cathy @ Planet Veggie
28th April 2017
Just the name of this cake makes me think of spring days and sunny skies – so evocative!
Choclette
28th April 2017
Aw thanks Cathy. That was the general idea 😀
Kate | Veggie Desserts
28th April 2017
How incredible that you made it in the HealthyFry! I love the flavours in this cake. So perfect for Mother’s Day and any other day 🙂
Choclette
28th April 2017
Thanks Kate. It’s not the most obvious thing to me making in an air fryer for sure, but it works brilliantly.
Janice
11th June 2017
I just love using my HealthyFry for baking, it’s so convenient.
Choclette
11th June 2017
Me too, though I’ve been without one for a couple of months. Must get on to sorting it out.