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Earl Grey and Lavender Cake

Pretty Earl Grey and Lavender Cake subtly flavoured with complimentary floral tones. A moist cake topped with soft lavender buttercream.
4.35 from 23 votes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: English
Keyword: culinary lavender recipes, lavender cake, tea flavoured cake
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Calories:
Alter quantities (metric only) 12 slices

Ingredients you'll need...

Earl Grey and Lavender Cake

  • 1 tablespoon Culinary lavender
  • 3 Grey tea bags
  • 300 g Plain flour all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon Baking powder must be level
  • ½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda baking soda - must be level
  • ½ teaspoon Fine salt must be level
  • 3 Large eggs (US = extra large) at room temperature
  • 225 g Granulated sugar or 1 Cup
  • 300 g Natural Greek yoghurt or 1⅕ Cup
  • 150 ml Vegetable oil or 10 level tablespoons
  • teaspoon Vanilla extract

Lavender Buttercream

  • 2 teaspoon Culinary lavender
  • 60 ml Milk or ¼ Cup
  • 225 g Unsalted butter softened or 1 Cup
  • 450 g Icing sugar (confectioners sugar) sifted or 1¾ cups
  • Purple food colouring preferably gel food colouring

Here's what we do...

Earl Grey Lavender Cake

  • Set your over to 170°C/150°C Fan/340°F/Gas mark 3.
  • Cut out circles of greaseproof (parchment) paper to cover the bases of your sandwich tins, grease the tins all over with some softened butter and then place the paper on the base and give it a light greasing too.
  • Tip the contents of your Earl Grey tea bags into your pestle and mortar and add your culinary lavender, grind both until fine.
  • Sift together your flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and salt and set aside.
  • Using the whisk attachment, beat your eggs and sugar. Start on a low setting and turn up to fast once combined. This will take less than a minute to achieve. Once the mixture is frothy with little bubbles on top and has turned a paler yellow it is ready.
  • Add your yoghurt, oil and vanilla extract and whisk until just incorporated.
  • Replace your whisk attachment with the paddle attachment, add half of your flour mixture and mix in on a low setting, when incorporated mix in the rest along with your ground culinary lavender and Earl Grey tea. Stop once incorporated and just mixed in, do not overmix.
  • Transfer to your prepared cake tins ensuring equal amounts of batter are added to each tin.
  • Bake on separate shelves in your oven for about 35 minutes, or until golden all over and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  • Leave to cool in the tins for 5-10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack to fully cool.

Lavender Buttecream

  • Place your culinary lavender and milk into your small saucepan and heat until bubbles just start to appear on the top.
  • Set aside and leave to infuse and cool for 20 minutes, then strain using your sieve of tea strainer and discard the lavender.
  • Using the paddle attachment, beat your softened butter until it is nice and spreadable.
  • Leaving your mixer running on low, gradually add large spoonfuls of your sifted icing sugar, letting each one mostly beat in before adding another.
  • Once you have added about half of your icing sugar pour in your lavender flavoured milk and beat in, then continue with your icing sugar until it has all been added.
  • Ensure the buttercream is fully beaten and no icing sugar remains, then split it equally into 2 bowls.
  • Add a little purple food colouring to one bowl and mix in thoroughly.
  • Cut the end off your piping bag and add your piping nozzle. The nozzle should protrude through the end and the bag should fit tightly around it.
  • Take one of your palette/butter knives and scoop half of your purple buttercream up and add it to one side of the bag. Do the same with half of your uncoloured buttercream on the other side.
  • Holding the bag vertically above the edge of one of the tiers of your cake (base side up), gently squeeze so as to add a star-shape of buttercream, repeat around the edge of the cake.
  • Then fill in the centre by just piping in a circular fashion.
  • Refill your piping back with purple and uncoloured buttercream as per above.
  • Add the top tier of the cake and ice all over with star shapes, fill in any spaces with smaller piped star shapes so that the cake is completely covered.
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Supporting Notes

  • To ensure your sandwich cakes are equal, weigh the amount of cake batter you add to each sandwich tin.
  • Using a dual piping bag can make two-tone piping much easier.
  • When piping buttercream hold the piping bag with two hands, this gives your piping added control. Use your dominant hand to hold the larger end of the bag for pressure and direction control and the other hand to guide your piping.

Make Your own Notes on this Recipe here...