Strawberry Lavender Cake

I love baked goods made with herbs from my garden.

Last year I made this strawberry basil cake with candied basil and basil cream, it was so good.....but I wanted to use lavender this time.

I have so many lavender plants in my garden, it was time I tried using some in baking.

First let me say, my lavender is organic, meaning, I do not spray it with pesticides (it doesn't need any), it winters over in my window wells, and I have had it for 8 years......therefore, "organic" and safe for cooking, in my book.

DO NOT use dried lavender from a craft store like Michael's, which is basically potpourri, and has lavender oil in it. Toxic.

I like to use Munstead variety, which is English lavender, but I also love the scent of Anouk, which some call butterfly or Spanish lavender. Some people spell lavendAR this way, but I think they are wrong.

This is a simple cake, and we loved it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I baked it in a 9" cast iron skillet for a nice rustic look.

I will not be mad at you if you skip the lavender, then it will just be a strawberry cake. :)

Strawberry Lavender Cake:

1 cup sugar
zest of a lemon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the skillet
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp lavender leaves (dried or fresh from an organic plant, preferably Munstead variety), chopped
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
2 tablespoons turbinado (raw) sugar (for the top)

It's pretty simple.

Grease a 9" pie plate or cast iron skillet.
Preheat oven to 325F.

Mix the sugar, with zest, butter, eggs, milk and vanilla.

Add in the lavender leaves and the dry ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle w/ turbinado sugar.

Bake 40-50 minutes until puffed.

Let cool and serve.

Delicious.