Lemon lavender cake layers – 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk – 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/4 teaspoons dried culinary lavender buds divided – 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour – 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder – 1 teaspoon baking soda – 1 1/4 teaspoons fine grain sea salt – 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter at room temperature – 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar – 5 large eggs at room temperature

– 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice – Zest of 1 lemon fine, use a microplane – 1 teaspoon lemon extract

Swiss meringue buttercream – 8 large egg whites about 1 cup or 8 oz. – 2 cups granulated sugar – 3 cups unsalted butter at room temperature – 1 teaspoon lemon extract – 1/2 teaspoon lavender extract – 1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt – Gel food colors in red purple, and fuchsia (see recipe notes)

Decors – Gum paste flowers optional, see blog post for sources – Organic purple rose petals washed and patted dry – 1 teaspoon lavender buds – 2/3 cup fresh whole raspberries

Lemon lavender cake layers – Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat three 8-inch cake pans with flour-based baking spray. – In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the milk for 1 minute on 100% power.  Add in 1 tablespoon of the lavender buds and let steep about 10 minutes. Sieve the milk mixture over a large glass measuring cup with a pour spout (4 cup or larger) so that you have 1 cup of lavender milk. (The buds will soak up some of the milk.) Discard the lavender buds. 

Allow the milk to cool slightly before using. – In a large mixing bowl, sift the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and fine grain sea salt. Stir in the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons dried culinary lavender buds. – In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Scrape down the bowl and beat again until consistent. – To the cooled lavender milk, add the lemon juice. 

Stir to combine. The mixture will curdle; this is normal and supposed to happen. Add the zest and lemon extract. Mix well. – Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture alternately with the wet ingredients; begin and end with flour. – Divide the batter between the prepared pans. This will be about 2 3/4 cup of batter per pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick tester comes out clean. The cakes shouldn’t crown (puff up) much, but if they do, lay a 

paper towel on top of the cakes in the pans and press gently while they are still warm. This will knock down the puff slightly and you won’t have to level the cakes with a serrated knife or cake leveler. Turn the cakes out to cool completely on a wire rack. Swiss meringue buttercream – Place a saucepan filled 1/3 full of water over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. – In a large stainless-steel bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over the 

simmering water and cook while whisking intermittently. Cook until the mixture is hot (110°F) and you can no longer feel sugar granules when the mixture is rubbed between your finger and thumb. Transfer the hot mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed for 10 minutes or until a thick, shiny meringue forms that holds stiff peaks. The bowl should feel cool to the touch. If it doesn’t, refrigerate the meringue in the 

bowl for 10 minutes. Return the bowl to the mixer and swap the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment. – Beat the room temperature butter into the meringue one cube at a time on medium-low speed, waiting to add the next cube when the previous cube disappears. The batter will deflate with the butter addition, and may even look curdled (if the butter was the slightest bit cold this happens), but this is normal. When all of the butter is added, 

beat the mixture on high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the lemon and lavender extracts and salt. Assembly – Place a cake layer on a cake plate or cake board. Top with 1 cup of the buttercream; spread evenly. Top with a second cake layer. Add another cup of buttercream and spread evenly. Top with the remaining cake layer. Cover the entire cake with a crumb coat of frosting, and chill until firm, about 15 to 20 minutes.

– Meanwhile, tint the remaining frosting with the food colors, adding a little of each at a time until a purplish rosy-mauve color is achieved. Spread a thick layer of buttercream over the chilled cake and smooth the top and edges using a cake smoother or bench scraper. – Place the remaining buttercream in a disposable piping bag and pipe mounds of frosting over one side of the cake in a half moon shape. Pipe mounds on top of mounds in the 

center of the half moon to give that area some height. Add gum paste flowers, if using, rose petals, raspberries and sprinkle on lavender buds. Freshly squeezed: The juice from 2 1/2 large lemons should give you about 1/2 cup of juice. So, add 3 lemons to your shopping list for this cake. Buttercream: You may have a little buttercream left over. It is my preference to always have more than needed in case accidents happen, or if inspiration strikes 

and I decide to pipe big swirls of frosting on top of the cake. If you’re more conservative with your ingredients, you could reduce the buttercream recipe by 1/4. Or, if you make the madeleines pictured, you could split them and sandwich with the leftover buttercream. Mixing hues: To simplify getting the right color for the cake’s exterior, there are many ready-made rosy-lavender colors that will give you the result without having to be a buttercream  

mixologist. Shop the colors at your local craft store in the baking aisle. Ready-made mauve by Wilton is close to the finished color of this cake. Or you could simply use lavender or violet gel food color and opt for a more purple icing to match the lavender flavor. For convenience: The gum paste flowers I used were already made up from a wedding cake I made last year. They were a last minute addition to this cake, so I don’t have a tutorial for them. If you’re not experienced with gum 

paste, don’t have the time or the equipment to make them, consider purchasing some flowers ready-made. I’ve linked an Etsy seller in the blog post, or you can search ‘gum paste flowers’ on Etsy and find a wide variety of beautiful gum paste flowers.