Hey…so Mother’s Day! It’s coming, ya know? Mom deserves something great so how about a cake? White Chocolate Lavender will do just fine.
I’ve been having such a hankering for a cake lately, and while I think there’s always a good time for a spontaneous cake…well, someones even that is too much for a household of one.
This cake has been a long time coming. My friend D has been down deep in the heart of Texas for a lot of months, it seems, and being The Best Present Giver Ever (it’s her superpower), she gave me a box of goodies that included 1) lavender blueberry jam (because I hoard jam, and also like fancy, exotic jams) and 2) cooking lavender.
Well, I was obviously all about both of these gifts, but couldn’t wrap my mind around what I wanted to do before fall, and then winter happened and well, that just didn’t seem like the right time to bust out the lavenders.
Here we are, standing on the edge of summer and solid into spring, and lo and behold, we’re in the the perfect season for florals. And this white chocolate lavender cake.
Mother’s Day. A very good reason to make a non-spontaneous, planned and perfectly fancy cake.
The base of this is quite simple. I used my favorite Victoria Sponge cake recipe, filled it with the jam, and topped it with a white chocolate whipped cream that I adapted from the pomegranate fool. Touches of lavender make this different and special.
This really is one of my favorite cakes, and because it’s so plain (plainly perfect!), there are so many ways to embellish it depending on your current mood.
I made this the traditional ways: weigh the eggs in their shells, and then match that weight with the unsalted butter, flour and sugar. A splash of vanilla is my brainchild and that’s it! The best thing about this? If you want a smaller cake, use fewer eggs! The ratios stay the same and the cake stays consistent.
As for the whipped cream, if you eat it separately from the cake, you’ll think that there is too much lavender (and very floral). However, when paired with the cake it mellows out and…well, it works.
Also, I just love the naked cake look for this one. It keeps it effortlessly elegant.
Mom gave this a hearty thumbs up, and there was no arm twisting necessary to get her to take half of it home. I think she secretly wanted the whole thing, but Mother’s Day or not, I selfishly wanted to keep some for myself. And, so will you.
White Chocolate Lavender Cake
Traditional Victoria Sponge cake gets a floral twist in this White Chocolate Lavender cake, straight from the English garden to the heart of Texas.
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup plus 2 TB granulated sugar
- 1 cup plus 1 TB butter
- 2 cups plus 1 TB self-rising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- For the filling:
- 1/2 cup blueberry or blackberry jam
- For the frosting:
- 8 ounces heavy whipping cream
- 4 ounces white chocolate
- 4 TB granulated sugar, divided
- 1 tsp culinary lavender
Directions
- Step 1 Make the cake:
- Step 2 Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Step 3 In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Step 4 One at a time, add the eggs, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla.
- Step 5 Add the flour, a bit at a time, blending after each addition. Careful to not overmix!
- Step 6 Pour the batter into 2 8″ cake pans, or 1 4″ x 8″ cake pan, buttered, sugared and lined with parchment.
- Step 7 Bake 1 hour if using one pan, 35 minutes if using two pans until springy to the touch and a center tester comes out clean. Let cool in the cake pan 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to finish.
- Step 8 Meanwhile, make the frosting:
- Step 9 Melt the white chocolate and set aside to cool slightly (not enough so that it re-hardens).
- Step 10 Using a mortar and pestle, grind the lavender with 2 TB sugar. Set aside.
- Step 11 In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a wire whisk, add the cream and remaining sugar. Whip to stiff peaks and then fold in the white chocolate and lavender sugar. Let sit in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
- Step 12 Assemble the cake once cooled by placing the jam and 1/3 of the cream in between the two layers. Use the remaining whipped cream to completely cover the rest of the cake.
I actually made this recipe twice. The cake tastes good and I love the icing. However, is there supposed to be baking soda in this recipe? Each time my cake turned out quite dense and rose quickly on the sides but flattened in the center. I’ve always made my own rising flour from scratch so that I know it’s fresh, so I considered that that might have been the reason for the issue. However, I’m really just wondering if the reason for the sugar cookie-like texture is from the lack of baking soda? I thought maybe that’s just how a Traditional Victorian Sponge cake was supposed to be, but I researched other recipes and they had baking soda and recommended even re-whisking if you forgot it. Anyway, very creative recipe and beautiful pictures!
That’s interesting! The cake has always been on the denser side for me (the recipe I got originally came from my Peyton & Byrne book of British baking). I could see how adding some powder would give it some additional lift and I’d actually be up for trying it, but I didn’t find this to be flat in any case.Thanks for the feedback and when I get around to making it again, I’ll try with some bp. Whenever I use self-rising I’m always afraid it will be “old” since I don’t use it a ton, so maybe that is also the issue? I’m so glad that you’ve made it (twice!) and loved it as much as I do, despite the issues!