Vegan Raspberry Lavender Cake

Today is my Birthday, and the last couple weekends I have been choosing fun activities to celebrate it, because everyone gets a Birthday month right? So a couple of weekends ago we did something I have always wanted to do, visit a lavender farm!  We went to The Lavender Barnyard in Farmington MN, and it was such a magical experience!  I love using lavender in recipes, scenting my home with it and using it in personal care products so when I found out there was a local lavender farm I could visit I was all in!  This place is awesome, a little farm with rows of different varieties of lavender growing, and we picked our own bouquets.  They even had peaceful classical music playing in the background, it was therapeutic in a way.  Who wouldn't want to hang out in a lavender field?

We took the bouquets home and dried them, and I wanted to use some in a recipe.  This was an organic lavender farm after all, so it is perfect for that!  I had been dreaming of a lavender birthday cake, so I decided to make one this year! I love berries and lavender together, so what I decided on was a Vegan Raspberry Lavender Cake!  Which I knew would be totally delicious!

For the cake layers, I used my vanilla cake recipe and added in some of the dried lavender.  This cake recipe is really easy to make, and always turns out nicely.  I use whole wheat pastry flour for the flour because it is what I prefer and have on hand but if you would like to use all purpose flour that would work as well, or even a gluten free all purpose flour if you wanted to make this gluten free.  I have used Bob's Red Mill gluten free baking all purpose flour with success.

The cake smelled so heavenly while baking!  Aromatic vanilla with a hint of lavender is one of the best smells ever!  This delicious cake deserved some delicious frosting and filling! For the frosting I made a simple vegan buttercream, and flavored it with freeze dried raspberries to give it an intense raspberry flavor.  I like the freeze dried ones because they don't add excess moisture and they taste like the essence of raspberry!  Also they make the frosting a lovely color!  I just buzz them into a powder in the blender and add them to my frosting along with the powdered sugar.

For the filling I used some of Eric's Dad's home made raspberry jam.  It is the perfect balance of tart and sweet and I knew it would be perfect in my cake! Raspberry filling with vanilla cake is my favorite! I could not wait to try the finished product, I even topped it off with some lavender flowers because they are so pretty!

The cake was so heavenly! Soft and sweet, aromatic with vanilla and lavender so good with the sweet tart raspberry jam and luscious filling! It was everything I imagined it would be!  The perfect birthday cake for me this year!  If you are a fan of vanilla, raspberries and lavender, this is right up your alley!  Next time you feel like baking a cake, definitely give this Vegan Raspberry Lavender Cake a try!

Vegan Raspberry Lavender Cake

Makes one 2 layer 6 inch cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder (1/2 tsp plus 1/4 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp golden ground flax seed mixed with 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp filtered water, allowed to sit 15 minutes)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp avocado oil or other neutral oil
• 1/2 cup plant based milk (I used Oatly but you can use what you prefer)
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp dried lavender flowers

Frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups vegan butter, I used Earth Balance (at room temperature)
• 2-3 Tbsp plant based milk (I used Oatly, but you can use what you prefer), add 3 then if needed add another if frosting comes out too stiff
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp raspberry powder
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Filling:

• 1/3 cup raspberry jam

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees, and line 2 6 inch round cake pans with parchment on the bottom and oil the sides.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and sea salt and whisk to blend.
3. Add the flax eggs, avocado oil, oat milk, vanilla and lavender and beat with an electric mixer for about a minute (or 3 minutes if doing it by hand with a whisk).
4. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly between the two of them.
5. Place the cakes in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes until the cakes are done in the center (you are able to insert a toothpick into the center and it comes out almost clean with a few moist crumbs).
6. Remove from the oven and let cool 20 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans by cutting around the sides, placing a plate on top then inverting it and tapping on it.  Allow them then to cool completely once they are out of the pans.
7. To make the frosting, beat the butter with the milk, vanilla and raspberry powder until fluffy.
8. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, and beat until completely mixed and light and fluffy (if the frosting is too stiff add that other Tbsp of milk).
9. When ready to frost, Place one cake layer on a plate, spread about 1/4 inch thick layer of the frosting over it.  Pipe a half inch thick line of frosting along the outside edge.  Spoon the raspberry jam into the center and spread out evenly inside the piped line.
10. Place the next cake layer on top.
11. Spread the remaining frosting on the top and down the sides of the cake evenly, then place the rest of the frosting in a pastry bag and use it to decorate the top.  This frosting recipe makes enough that you should be able to do some generous piping decorations on top, because I like a lot of frosting!
12. Serve the cake and enjoy!