Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake #CakeSliceBakers

My love of lavender started young.

When I was a kid, my dad read us the classic book "The Wind in the Willows."  Early in the story, Ratty and Mole are lost in the snows of the Wild Wood. They fortuitously stumble upon the doorstep of Mr. Badger. Being the hospitable guy he is, he brings them in, feeds them, and gives them a place to stay for the night.

"The two little white beds...looked soft and inviting, and the linen on them, though coarse, was clean and smelt beautifully of lavender."

That's what lavender has always reminded me of--a dreamy, safe, refuge where you can relax and feel dizzy with the appreciation of beauty.

This month's Cake Slice bake comes from the Western European section, and is inspired by the fabled lavender fields of France rather than a traditional recipe.

Ooo la la.

I've been drooling over pictures of Korean Buttercream Flower cakes on Pinterest, so I thought I'd give them a shot. The written recipe called for sprigs of fresh lavender, but I don't really like putting non-edibles on cakes. So I decided to try them in buttercream. And when I think of France, I think of decadence and opulence, so I felt like over-the-top piped flowers were fitting.

Versailles, baby.

As I have mentioned before, I am a New Mexico girl, born and raised. Texans get the reputation of being proud of their state, but New Mexicans are right up there in terms of state pride (and, ahem, rightly so--have you seen our sunsets?)

Provence, France, is king when it comes to the purple fields, but lavender has also become a valuable crop here in NM. There is even a lavender festival up north in the town of Abiquiu (which is, in my not unbiased opinion, one of the most beautiful places on earth). Lavender was brought here by Spanish settlers in the 1600s, and grows well in this high desert climate.

Picture of the "Lavender Fields of France" screen saver on my TV. Don't ask how long I waited with my camera ready for the right image before my husband told me you can scroll through. Also don't ask why the kids' activities from the week leading up to Easter is still hanging up.

When it comes to taste, though, lavender is one of those "Goldilocks" flavors.  It is potent stuff, and has to be just right.  I always get nervous when bakers on competitions use lavender--if you don't put enough, you can't taste it, and if you're too heavy handed, it is the culinary equivalent of a teenage boy drenched in AXE body spray.

 If you get it just right, though--it's magic.

As written in this recipe, sadly, the flavor was overpowering.

I researched and ordered the exact extract that Tatyana Nesteruk recommended, and used the amount called for by the recipe. (Make sure you use food safe oils)

Quel dommage!

Incidentally, if you Google "French woman crying," this is one of the pictures that comes up. That's how I felt.

It was like one of the depressing French movies my high school language teacher made us watch. The kind where the two lovers finally run to meet each other after years of searching and heartache--and then one gets hit by a train.

I ended up with a beautiful cake that no one (including me, with my aforementioned love of lavender) wanted to eat--all because of a few drops of extract.  My brother was quite gracious and said, "I can see how it would taste if it didn't have too much lavender in it, and it is delicious!"

I agree--the sponge was a smidge dry, but nice, and the trick of rolling the blackberries in cornstarch before adding them to the batter kept them from bursting and made them like little jewels in the cake.

It was just that doggone few extra drops lavender oil in the otherwise beautiful French buttercream that ruined it.  The recipe called for 1/4 tsp, but I would HIGHLY suggest using a scant 1/8th teaspoon and adjusting from there according to your taste. I will most definitely make this cake again with less lavender, because (as my brother said) it would have been delicious.

Try this cake. If you use a light hand with the lavender, it will transport you to the sun-drenched fields of Provence. If you go overboard--you're going to a Junior High Dance.

Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake

(barely--but essentially--adapted from the European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk)

Cake:
1 c sugar
3/4 c softened butter
Zest from one lemon
1 c milk
4 eggs, separated
3/4 c almond flour
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 c fresh blackberries tossed with 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Buttercream:
5 egg yolks
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 c sugar
1/3 c water
2 cups room temperature butter
SCANT 1/8 tsp lavender oil
purple food coloring (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 8 inch cake pans and place a parchment circle in the bottom of each.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy--about 3 minutes.  Add the egg yolks, lemon zest, and vanilla, then add the milk.  It will likely look like a curdled mess, but fear not.

3. Sift together the flours, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Gently fold into the curdled mix until combined.

4. Whisk the egg whites on high for 2 or 3 minutes--until you get medium peaks.  I wasn't actually sure what medium peaks were, so I went for soft peaks and beat it a few more seconds (which basically looked like stiff peaks to me.  But it all worked out). Fold in the egg whites.

5. Divide the batter between the pans. Stud each pan with 6-8 of the coated blackberries, making sure that they are equally spaced.  Bake for 25 minutes and cool completely.

Buttercream:
1. Beat the egg yolks on high for 7 minutes in a stand mixer.  They should become very pale and thickened to the point where they "ribbon" off the whisk.

2. Put the water, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, until a candy thermometer reads 238 degrees (soft ball stage). Remove from the heat and speed over the mixer.

3. With the mixer running on low speed, pour the hot syrup into the egg yolks (taking care not to hit the whisk or side of the bowl).  When the syrup has been added, crank up the speed to high and whisk 7-9 minutes, or until that elusive "medium peak" stage is reached. The bowl should be barely warm (which is a better indicator that the mixture is ready than the peak height.)

4. Slowly add the softened butter, a tablespoon at a time. Beat until all the butter is incorporated and the buttercream has thickened.

5. Add the purple food coloring and SCANT 1/8 lavender, and add more (by the drop) to desired taste.

Assembly:
Spread a generous dollop of buttercream between each cake layer. Frost the top and sides and garnish as desired.

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes! Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details. The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

Our choices for May 2019 were ~

Kladdkaka-Sticky Chocolate Cake Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake Sirnek-Ukrainian Cherry Cheesecake Amaretto Creme Cake Kladdkaka-Sticky Chocolate Cake

• A Day in the Life on the Farm
• All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Karen's Kitchen Stories
• A Little Bit Of All Right

Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Amandie Bakes
• Sweet Sensations

Amaretto Creme Cake

• Oven Delights
• My Recipe Reviews

Sirnek-Ukrainian Cherry Cheesecake