Lavender has been used since ancient times for medicinal uses, herbal baths and perfumes. However, the flower buds were also used in the kitchen, for both savory and sweet dishes.
While the use of the flower buds in savory dishes can seem more challenging to many, using them in desserts, jellies and jams is accepted more easily, as long as it is not overpowering.
This was my aim when I created the cake here. I used a small amount of lavender and balanced it with lime and lemon, and with the rich texture and flavor of pistachio nuts.
This tasty, dairy-free cake, has a wonderful texture, a subtle lavender and lime scent and nutty pistachios flavor. It is not too sweet and is the perfect cake for serving with herbal tea. Try it and enjoy.
Notes:
* For best results, make sure to use culinary grade lavender, found at the spice section.
* Use the minimum amount of lavender, as otherwise the aroma will be overwhelming.
* Check out THIS wonderful version of the cake, in which Judi makes her own infused lavender honey! In her fine blog, you will also find wonderful recipes, including quite a few that use fresh lavender from her garden. Highly recommended!
Makes: 1 X 10”(25cm) loaf pan
Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 50-55 minutes
Ingredients:
For the lavender sugar:
1 Tbs edible dried lavender buds
¼ cup sugar
For the cake:
½ cup mashed very ripe banana (from 1 large)
¾ cup sugar
2 Tbs honey (preferably lavender honey)
2 XL eggs
¼ cup fresh lime juice
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs lime zest
½ cup oil
½ cup coarsely chopped natural pistachios
2 cups flour
1 Tbs baking powder
¼ tsp salt
For the glaze:
½ cup powdered sugar
About 1 tsp lime juice
For garnish:
1 tsp edible dried lavender buds, lightly crushed
Thinly sliced lime zest, kept in ice water for 5 minutes and drained
1. Preheat the oven to 340F (170C). Brush the pan with oil and dust with a bit of flour. Keep in the fridge until using.
2. In a spice grinder, mix the lavender buds and ¼ cup sugar and process to a fine mixture.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the banana, sugar, honey, eggs, lime and lemon juice, lime zest and oil. Add the pistachio and lavender sugar and mix. Add flour, baking powder and salt and whisk together.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out almost clean.
5. Let the cake cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes, before turning it upside-down on a rack. Turn the cake up again and let cool completely before adding the glaze.
6. The glaze: in a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar with a few drops of lime juice. Add more juice as needed, to form a thick glaze.
Pour over the cooled cake and garnish with lavender buds and sliced lime zest.
Let set before slicing.
Boo-ti-ful! I’d try this, but the citrus-y flavors are more my style! Without the icing, it would be a good snack cake.
I saw a nifty little device yesterday that you use for a brownie-type treat. It’s kind of like the old-fashioned ice cube tray inserts, and keeps the batter in place in the pan while it bakes. I can’t imagine buttering and flouring all those surfaces, but it sure looked neat!
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Thank you Judie, glad you liked the cake. The citrus in there is crucial, as otherwise the lavender will be too overpowering.
I’ve seen such brownie pan devices. It didn’t feel worth the effort for me either. After all, how difficult it is to cut brownies??? 🙂
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It would be neat to have a whole passel of little portable goodies, but one commenter asked about the integrity of the side of each treat, and the answer was that it was not an “edge”. Only the edges of the main pan provided that stability.
So, yes, it seemed to solve only the problem of aiming a knife in the proper direction to get evenly-spaced cuts.
When I want “hand-held” treats, I bake the whatever-it-is in an eight-section pan that is somewhat like a popover pan, except they are rectangular. Each little pan has air circulating around it, and produces a fabulous tiny loaf of whatever. It works great, but it is in a cabinet apart from my usual baking tools, so I forget about it. Maybe a re-ordering of “toys” is in order! ;->
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The whole purpose of brownies is the gooey texture, so I still don’t see the point. I do love using small pans for baking and have a decent collection of them. Some I’ve used only once or twice, but still hope to reuse them one day… 🙂
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Very yummy dessert recipe……….love to try it 🙂
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Thank you Priyabrataa. I’m glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
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Amazingly beautiful cake ! It is so interesting to use lavender buds in here !
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Thank you Megala, I’m glad you liked the cake. The lavender adds such a wonderful unique scent. Well worth trying! 🙂
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I am definitely going to try this one. I made a stone fruit tart a couple of months ago when they were in season and mixed a bit of lavender into it. I was surprised with the tasty results as to that point my experience with lavender extended solely to the use of it in herbs de Provence on steamed carrots. 🙂
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I too love using Herbs de Provence with a bit of lavender in it, but, as you’ve mentioned, it also works so well with desserts.
I hope you’ll enjoy the cake. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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Such an awesome recipe… using of lavender buds is superbb and interesting too✌✌ thanks for sharing this impressive recipe ✌✌
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Thank you Jyo, I’m glad you liked the recipe. Lavender adds such a wonderful aroma to this tasty cake. Well worth trying! 🙂
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Lavander, pistachio and lime sound like a lovely combination for a cake, I would love to try a slice, can I order? 😀
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Thank you Krešo, I’m glad you liked this tasty combination. All the ingredients worked so well together. Wish I could deliver some for you to enjoy! 🙂
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Looks great!
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Thank you! 🙂
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This fascinates me – such an interesting combination. Anxious to try it!
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Thank you Joyce, I’m glad you liked the recipe. This combination worked out so well together. Hope you’ll enjoy it too. Best regards! 🙂
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Very interesting combination, Ronit! ❤️ I have never tried lavender while baking, however I am really into try it 😉 Thank you for such a nice recipe!
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Thank you Vero, I’m glad you liked the recipe. Lavender works so well in desserts. I hope you’ll enjoy it too. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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It’s really interesting combination! ☺️ I will have a look where I can get it here and will try it 💞 and let you know! ☺️
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I love what you’ve done here Ronit. Blending the sugar and lavender like that. Sounds so good and not even all that naughty. I’ll make it this week since it’s Fall break in Holland. I’ll let you know how it went. ☺😀
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Thank you Myra, I’m glad you liked the recipe. Processing the lavender with sugar makes it easier to blend the flavor in the cake. I hope you’ll enjoy the result. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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Lovely, I’ll let you know.
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That looks delicious. And I’m sure it tastes delicious. I’m a big fan of cakes made with oil instead of butter. They have such a marvelous texture…
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Thank you Karin, I’m glad you liked the recipe. This cake turned out worth sharing. I too love the texture of cakes made with oil, though I’m also a big fan of the ones made with butter. “As long as it’s tasty” is my slogan! 🙂
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Yes, you are absolutely right 🙂
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Lemon and lime juice. That’s going to be a moist cake, not to mention tasty. Now, if you happen to have lavender in your garden, you say it’s not a good idea to use it?
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Thank you Mary, this is cake turned out tasty and moist indeed!
Though I’m definitely not an expert when it comes to the different varieties of lavender, I’m quite sure you can use lavender from your garden. I do know that the dried form is more potent that the fresh, so I guess you’ll need to experiment with the quantity. I’m now curious about it! 🙂
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Wow Ronit – I have to make this without even reading your recipe. What a lovely combination of lavender (my favorite herb) the nuts and lime. I use lavender a lot and still have some lavender sugar and buds. Perfect – will print and make this soon and let you know 🙂
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Thank you Judi, I’m glad you liked the recipe and plan to make it. I hope you’ll enjoy the cake and I’ll be happy to hear your comments.
I still have your lavender/rosemary walnuts and lavender lemonade on my “to try” list, so now that I’ve got some decent lavender, I plan to make both for Thanksgiving. Will keep you posted as well. 🙂
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Lovely combination.I would definitely try this one.
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Thank you Deepti, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I hope you’ll enjoy the cake. 🙂
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Sounds beautiful! Have always wondered how to use my lavender buds in cooking.
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Thank you, I”m glad the recipe gave you inspiration for using lavender. I don’t use it very often, but once I do, I wonder why… 🙂
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I can almost imagine the lovely scent and the taste! Hhhmmm…! And the presentation is v.v. pretty!
Chef Ronit, can I ask two questions: 1) the greased and dusted pan–why does it have to be kept in the fridge, and 2) why does the lime zest need to be kept in ice water? Thanks!
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked the cake. It indeed has such a nice scent and the flavor was so tasty.
As for your questions:
– I keep the prepared pan in the fridge as a way to prevent the oil from warming up, which will result lumps instead of an even coating.
– Keeping the sliced zest in ice water for a few minutes firms and curls it up a bit, which I find to be more attractive.
I hope it helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. 🙂
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Thank you, Chef Ronit. Those are great tips indeed–I’ll keep them in mind. I’ve bookmarked your recipe! Have a great day 🙂
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There is everything in it that I love! I have to make this recipe!
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Thank you Cecilia, I’m glad to hear. hope you’ll enjoy the cake. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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Fantastic share Ronit, the cake looks absolutely aswesome!
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Thank you Nisha, I’m glad you liked the cake. It turned out so good. It’s my pleasure to share. 🙂
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Great flavours – the pistachio won me over!
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Thank you Laura, I’m glad you liked the cake. Pistachios are so great in desserts. Glad to find another fan! 🙂
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Love the choice of flavours.
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Thank you Vidya. 🙂
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Wow, you used fresh ones! It must taste delicious and smell beautiful! In Croatia (mostly in Dalmatia?), they use the herb for cooking a lot, which interested me!
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Sorry if it wasn’t clear enough. I’ve used dried buds, not fresh. They are more potent than the fresh, and obviously easier to get.
I’ve seen some savory recipes using lavender, so far haven’t tried any, but I’m definitely planing to. 🙂
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Oops, sorry for misreading! Looking forward to another recipes!
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Cake looks so delicious..
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Thank you Ankita! 🙂
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I’ve never cooked with lavender, but I can only imagine how this must taste. I love anything that involves lime!
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Thank you Debbie, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I don’t use lavender often on its own, so this was a tasty surprise for me as well. It works so well with lime. 🙂
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I’ve only used lavender in savory dishes. I think it is time to try something new and sweet and your cake with pistachios and lime sounds like one I would enjoy.
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I’ve only used lavender in savory dishes as part of the Herbs de Provence mix, so I’ll check your blog for more ideas.
This is my first time trying it in a cake. It definitely motivated me to try it in other sweet dishes. I hope you’ll enjoy it too. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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Awesome!
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Thank you! 🙂
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Ronit, that looks incredible! My husband loves pistachio and I will try our your recipe. I wanted to let you know I nominated you for One Lovely Blog Award! Take a look, and keep up the delicious recipes https://whollycupcake.com/2017/10/19/one-lovely-blog-award/
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Thank you Ralu, I’m glad you liked the recipe and hope both you and your husband will enjoy this tasty cake. I’ll be happy to hear your comments.
Thank you also for the nomination. I’m sorry that for lack of time I cannot participate in the award scene. I hope you understand. 🙂
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No worries! Love your site nonetheless
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Thank you! 🙂
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Ronit, I love your combination of lavender, pistachio and lime flavors. Infusing the flavor of the lavender buds in the sugar is such a great idea!
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Thank you Sandhya, I’m glad you liked the recipe. This combination turned out to be very tasty. Highly recommended. 🙂
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Thanks Ronit!
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Yum! Saw it on Judi’s site, too. I have been looking for a new quick bread! The flavors sound so exciting in this one!
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Thank you Mollie! I was very happy with how this cake came out. The lavender worked so well with the lime and the pistachio.
Judi made it even better, with infusing her home grown lavender with honey. It’s always great to see other people’s versions. 🙂
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Oh my! Do send some my way, this looks incredibly moist and delicious! I’ve always been a little skirmish in using edible flowers…..thanks for the motivation Ronit, I’ll look into dried lavender!
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Thank you Marisa, I’m glad you liked the cake. It turned out so good! I too hardly use flowers in food, but here it worked amazingly well. Highly recommended! 🙂
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This looks and sounds lovely! I have never seen a cake like this and would like to try it!
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Thank you Lynn, I’m glad to hear. 🙂
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Simply beautiful … loved it
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Thank you Ruchi. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Ajo Negro.
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