This might just be my favourite cake of the summer so far.
Fragrant lavender, loads of lemon and a homemade syrup poured over while the cake is still warm. And yes, it started with a cake mix from Le Moulin!
Proof that shortcuts can still be delicious.
For the cake:
1 pack Le Moulin Lemon Cake Mix
175g soft butter
3 eggs
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp culinary lavender
1 tbsp sugar
For the lemon lavender syrup:
70ml lemon juice
70ml water
70g honey
2 tbsp sugar
1½ tsp culinary lavender
For the icing:
1 Le Moulin icing pouch (inclided in the cake box)
Juice of ½ lemon
To finish:
Lemon zest
A wedges
A sprinkle of lavender
Makes 1 loaf cake (approx. 25 x 10 cm loaf tin)
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan.
Line a 25x10cm loaf tin with baking paper and butter the sides.
Crush the lavender together with the tablespoon of sugar using a mortar and pestle or your fingertips until fragrant.
Beat the butter with the lavender sugar until soft, then whisk in one egg at a time until fully incorporated, followed by the contents of the Le Moulin cake mix. Beat until smooth.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 50 mins until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Meanwhile, prepare the syrup by putting the lemon juice, water, honey, sugar and lavender to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes, then strain and set aside.
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, keep it in the tin and poke holes all over using a skewer or toothpick.
Slowly pour the syrup over the warm cake in stages, allowing it to absorb between each addition. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.
Once cooled, unmould the cake.
Mix the contents of the icing pouch with the lemon juice to form a thick glaze and drizzle over the cake.
Finish with lemon zest and a sprinkle of lavender, then decorate with a few lemon wedges. Leave to set for at least one hour before cutting.
