Monday 9 July 2012

Care for a slice of cake?

Care for a slice of cake? Anyone?



It has been a long while since I baked something with lavender. I bought some dried lavender, on impulse, of course, and it has since been sitting in the cupboard for weeks. I am so glad that I finally used it to bake something!



It is certainly a good start as this Lavender Pound Cake came out of the oven with a slight dome, a nice albeit not too deep crack in the centre, and a beautiful, even, brown crust. The lovely golden crumbs has more than compensate the higher calories count.



The distinct scent of the lavender filled my kitchen as the cake was baking in the oven. Yet, I didn't find it too overpowering. The texture was not too dense although it wasn't as moist as I would have expected it to be. I could have over baked it since I had left it in the oven for extra few minutes just to make sure the cake was fully cooked. I like the nice buttery fragrance though, with just a hint of lavender lingering at the background. I am thankful that my family was quite receptive to the not too familiar taste of a scented cake. I will certainly try out other ways to use the reminding lavender, and hopefully I am able to come back with good results.



Lavender Pound Cake

Ingredients:
(makes one 17cmx7cmx6cm loaf cake)

90g cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
30g ground almond
100g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon dried lavender
some apricot jam (I omitted this)

Method:
  1. Spread ground almond on a baking tray. Toast in oven at 100 degC for about 10mins. Give it a stir in between to ensure even toasting. Leave to cool completely.
  2. Line 17cm x 7cm x 6cm loaf pan with parchment paper (base and all sides). Set aside.
  3. Sieve cake flour, baking powder together, set aside.
  4. Beat butter and sugar with electric whisk until mixture turns light and fluffy.
  5. Add 1 egg yolk, beat well. Add 1 egg white in 3 separate additions (or dribble in gradually), beat well after each addition. Repeat the same with the second egg yolk followed by the egg white also in 3 separate additions, beat well after each addition (Note: this method of adding in the eggs helps prevent the batter from curdling.)
  6. Add the ground almond, fold with a spatula until just combined.
  7. Sieve over the flour mixture in 3 separate additions, each time fold with spatula until just combined.
  8. Add dried lavender, fold to combine.
  9. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven at 170 degC for 10mins. Remove from oven. With a knife, make a slit lengthwise along the centre of the cake (this is to ensure the cake produce a nice crack upon baking). Continue to bake for another 30~35mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Unmould, transfer to wire rack, leave to cool. Brush top with apricot jam if using.
Recipe source: adapted from Delicious!! Baked Cakes

27 comments:

cybil said...

A cake with lavender!! Fantastic!

LoLy said...

Oh pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease yes, one plzz :D

xx
http://abudhabifood.blogspot.com

vini said...

your cake looks very neatly done.. looks like those simpel cakes which u want to have with your evening coffee!!

Josephine said...

Looks yummy! ^^
Will try this sometime! Thank you for the recipe! ^^

PH said...

Two slices please!

Christine said...

Beautiful cake! I never use any dried flowers for my cakes before. Where do you usually get your edible dried flowers?

Yummy Bakes said...

very interesting cake with lavender added. where to buy lavender? I can smell the aroma of lavender .....

Sem said...

thanks for sharing this recipe, as i have a box of dried lavender sitting in the fridge for one year still sealed and wrapped, too lazy to play with it.

happybowl said...

yum yum....can i be your neighbour....? psst psst, i always store lavender in my closet. Never thought about making cakes...Innovative HHB as always...:-)

Gloria Baker said...

I love cakes and his look awesome!

Sarah said...

Cute idea! Glad to hear it wasn't too strongly lavender-flavoured and that you all enjoyed it!

Happy Homebaker said...

Dear all, thanks for your kind comments :):)

Christine, Yummy Bakes,
I got it from the dried goods stall at albert complex wet market. There are many different types of dried flowers for making tea. but do note it is not premium dried lavender. The ones I bought is from China. You can get dried flowers from Fu Hua medical hall too, for higher quality ones you may try gourmet grocers or tea shops.

Sem, I am guilty of letting ingredients sit in the fridge too ;)

happybowl, do give it a try, I am sure you will like it!

Anonymous said...

HI HHB!
Your pound cakes looks awesome! I absolutely LOVE the brown and even crust, its looks so classic yet rustic at the same time! hahah, i want to try lavender too! :D

Mich - Piece of Cake said...

Hi HHB, I have a bag of lavender sitting around and this is a great idea! The cake looks very moist and delicious.

Special Treats for Special Ones said...

Hi. I love baking too. Your cake looks GOOD!Usually I use 120g or more butter with 2 large eggs... I find that less than that, my egg cannot blend well into the butter.

Anonymous said...

hi,,do i need to beat the eggs till ribbon
stage,,,

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, not sure you are on the right post? as this pound cake doesnt requires beating the eggs till ribbon like stage.

swapna said...

Hi, am new to baking and not sure about a few things. When you say bake at a certain temperature for a certain time, do you mean using the microwave or convection mode? Also any idea if I can use the combined cooking mode (convection + microwave)?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I dont use a microwave oven, so I am not sure which mode you should use.

Unknown said...

wow! your blog is so amazing! And it's so inspiring for me :)
great cake
Niki

Jasmine said...

Hi HHB,

Love how this cake looks. A quick question, I remember your blog some time back regarding the purchase of a built in oven. I couldn't find that post but am wondering what oven you have and how it is working for you. Am thinking of replacing my oven as it is really old and not working as well as it should be. Thanks for your input!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Jasmine, I am using a Bosch oven HBN331E2J. You can read about it here:
http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.sg/2010/11/is-it-b-b-or.html

You can also take a look at the reviews I left on the comment page under these posts:
http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2011/04/lunch-for-two.html

http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2011/04/cake-for-cake-friend.html

http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2011/03/where-meals-and-memories-are-made.html

Sorry, for making you to browse thru, as I have yet to find time to put everything together. Hope you understand.

Anonymous said...

If i jus want a normal pound cake , i jus follow recipe exactly will do rite?
Thnkig to add cocoa powder...

rainbowzstarz said...

Swapna, i also using microwave convection oven. Hee can we chat? Cos i having problems sia

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, yes u can omit the lavender. As for adding cocoa powder it may affect the result, do follow other chocolate pound cake recipe instead.

kitkatgirl said...

HI where did you buy your baking tin? Have a hard time finding one with those measurements!

Happy Homebaker said...

I bought this 17cmx7cmx6cm loaf pan from fairprice.