Lavender Teacake

When I was a kid, I got a bottle of stuff from Bath and Body works that supposedly would help me sleep. It was a lavender mist to be sprayed over the sheets before going to bed. After a few days, I realized I was not a fan of lavender. Fast forward many many years (as in a few months ago) and I had the chance to reexperience lavender in a much more positive way. And HEY I thought it was mighty nice.

Sunday, I made a lavender teacake. I bought some lavender quite some time ago, wanting to play around with it in the kitchen, but then I basically forgot about it. Randomly, I remembered it and had to do something with it. After searching TasteSpotting, I found this recipe (Australian, I believe) and thought it sounded nice.

I've taken quite some time posting about it because I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. For so long, I've viewed lavender as a scent only, not something to be eaten. The cake is nice and soft and sweet, but when I eat it, I feel as if I've accidentally eaten lotion or soap or something else. The lavender does not taste bad; it's just my associations with lavender taint the experience. Four days after making it, I'm still not sure how I feel.


Lavender Teacake

• 1/4 cup butter, room temp
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp lavender

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray pan with nonstick spray (I used a bundt cake pan, but a smaller pan would work as well because this is a little cake).

Cream butter and sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and mix well. Add milk and mix until well combined.

Stir in lavender. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake approximately 25 minutes, until cake is golden and cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan before inverting onto cooling wrack to cool completely.

* The original recipe called for 1 cup self-rising flour. I only had all-purpose, so a quick google search landed me at this site which informed me that I could use, per 1 cup self-rising: 1 cup all-purpose;1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt.

** The original recipe also had a slight "icing" but I didn't want to do it. I thought of being clever and trying to come up with my ownn (Earl Gray maybe) but I don't feel the cake even needs one.

I think hubby is scared to try it. I might bring it to work tomorrow to see what the coworkers think.

*******

An update:
I brought this cake to work to see what my coworkers thought of it. I had started to move away from it; I just can't adjust to lavender as a foodstuff. I found that my sentiment was universal. Of the four people who tried it at work, none liked it.

One called it disgusting.

One special coworker told me "I just feel so betrayed by cake right now."

That same coworker had the following conversation with another one.
Coworker 1 - asking if I'd shaved some deodorant into the cake.
Betrayed Coworker - 'tastes like teen spirit'
Coworker 1 - 'tastes like teen angst'

Please note, I have great relationships with these coworkers and they generally greatly enjoy the things I bake for them. While they're comments might seem harsh, I laughingly agree with them all. Lavender cake is not for us. We'll stick with lavender lotion, mist, and soap.