April Showers Bring May Babies…

It was time to celebrate our May babies at work!  My idea was a birthday party cake with hints of a floral flavor.

Ever since my bartender friend talked about a lavender infused vodka, I’ve been on a quest to produce a lemon-lavender dessert combination.  It has been a long while now.  I just can’t seem to get my hands on lavender when I need/want it (another sign that I should just move to the South of France?!?!).

The first recipe I found years ago left me confused as to what distinguished “edible lavender” from regular lavender.  A cashier at Whole Foods told me it was the growing method- whether or not it was grown without pesticides.  In which case, shouldn’t we start saying “edible tomatoes” versus “tomatoes?”  I tossed out the “edible” qualifier and focused on stores where there would be no risk of a pesticide laden upbringing.

Still nothing.

Finally, a friend disclosed the elusive source of lavender in the dried form:  the East End Food Co-op.  Unfortunately, my time was crunched, and the co-op didn’t fit neatly into the food and party shopping errands.  Lame excuse.  I know.

Alas, I tried another trick I read in a recipe:  lavender seeds?!?!  Unfortunately, I winged the purchase, and the one packet I bought didn’t cover the quantity used in the recipe I had referenced.  My other last ditch effort was the dried lavender from a tea bag.

In the end, this was really a lemon poppy seed cake, and my quest for the lemon-lavender combination continues.  The glass-half-full side of this is that … like an explorer venturing the uncharted world, there are still lavender explorations to be had?

Lavender woes aside (or lavender optimism of a continued quest aside?), one dessert partaker referred to this as crack cake, so at least the lemon did its duty.

Let’s Face It:  Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

Cake Ingredients

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
3 tablespoons of poppy seeds
2 lemons (zest and juice)

1 stick organic, unsalted butter
1 cup sugar in the raw

1/2 cup local heavy whipping cream

4 local, free-range eggs
1 organic chamomile & lavender tea bag
1 packet lavender seeds

Icing Ingredients

1 lemon (zest and juice)
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup organic powdered sugar

For the Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter a Bundt pan.

Use an electric mixer to combine the butter, sugar and zest, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time and then the lemon juice; beat for another minute.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, the tea bag contents, poppy seeds and lavender seeds.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Add the heavy cream. Beat until smooth.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared cake pan, and smooth with a spatula.

Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely before inverting onto a plate.

For the Icing

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Drizzle over the cake once it has cooled completely and been inverted.