Lemon Lavender Angel Food Cake
Lemon Lavender Angel Food Cake is light as a feather, not too sweet, tender and moist. Lemon zest and lavender flowers add a bright and beautiful flavor to this classic cake.
When I created my Classic Angel Food Cake recipe I did extensive testing into the absolute best way to make the cake. Visit that post to see all the details that went into perfecting the recipe.
How to make Lemon Lavender Angel Food cake
- Whip the egg whites at medium speed until soft peaks form.
- Slowly add the sugar, then increase the speed to medium high until full peaks form.
- The process takes about 8-10 minutes.
- In a food processor, pulse the lemon zest and lavender into the sugar then add the flour.
- Fold the sugar mixture into the meringue with a whisk to retain as much air as possible.
- You can see the little flecks of lavender in the cake batter.
- Spread the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Rap the pan on the counter a few times to dislodge any large air bubbles.
- Cool the cake in the pan upside down on a cool rack.
Storage
- Angel Food cake will keep, covered, at room temperature 2-3 days.
- The whole cake or individual slices can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 3 months.
Pastry Chef tips for making Lemon Lavender Angel Food Cake:
- Use fresh egg whites, not pasteurized. Previously frozen unpasteurized whites are fine.
- Use a clean bowl and whisk. A tiny bit of grease will collapse the egg whites.
- Adjust the amount of lavender to your taste and based on the potency of the flowers.
- I like to use a hand whisk to fold the flour into the meringue. You can switch to a spatula once most of the flour is incorporated.
- Use a tube pan so the cake bakes from the middle and sides.
- Don’t grease the pan and don’t use a non-stick pan.
- Cool the cake upside down.
I know it’s a bit of a pain to end up with a dozen yolks left over, but the yolks can be frozen. You can also use fresh frozen whites since they are not pasteurized.
Now that you’ve made this recipe what should you do with the extra yolks? Check out this collection of recipes that use extra yolks for some great ideas.
More lavender recipes:
- Crisp Lavender Cookies
- Blackberry Lavender Preserves
- Lavender Macarons
- Lavender Honey Ice Cream
- Apricot Lavender Shortbread
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
Lavender Lemon Angel Food Cake
Lemon Lavender Angel Food Cake is light as a feather, not too sweet, tender and moist. Lemon zest and fresh lavender add a bright and beautiful flavor to this classic cake.
slices
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Ingredients
- 2 each lemons
- 1 tablespoon fresh or dried lavender flowers (see note)
- 12 oz granulated sugar (1 ½ cups, divided)
- 4 ½ oz cake flour (1 cup, see note)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 12 large egg whites (room temperature)
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
- 1 oz water (2 tablespoons)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Have an angel food or tube pan, ungreased, ready for the batter.
- Use a rasp grater to finely zest both lemons. Combine the lemon zest and 1 tablespoon fresh or dried lavender flowers with half the sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 10-15 seconds to grind the lavender and mix the ingredients. Add 4 ½ oz cake flour and ¼ teaspoon salt and pulse 3-4x to evenly distribute the ingredients. Remove the blade and set the bowl aside.
- In a large mixer bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk12 large egg whites on medium speed (#6-7) until very frothy. Combine 1 oz fresh lemon juice and 1 oz water. With the mixer running add the liquid in a slow stream. Continue whipping until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, gradually add the remaining sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high (#7-8) and continue whipping until stiff peaks are formed. The total whipping time will be about 8-10 minutes.
- Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the meringue and use a whisk to fold in the flour until it’s almost incorporated. Sift and fold in the remaining flour mixture in two batches. Fold just until all the flour is incorporated. The batter will still be quite fluffy.
- Scoop the batter into the tube pan and spread to even layer. Rap the pan on the counter a couple of times to dislodge any large air bubbles. Bake until the cake is lightly browned, springs back when pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and immediately invert the pan over a cooling rack. Leave the pan inverted until the cake is completely cool.
- Run a small spatula or paring knife around the sides of the cake to loosen and release the cake from the pan.
- The cake will keep, well-wrapped, at room temperature for several days.
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Notes
If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.
Adjust the amount of lavender based on the potency of your lavender and your personal preference.
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
Does lemon juice replace cream of tartar?
yes.
How strong is the lavender flavor of the cake? I want mine to be quite strong and am considering adding lavender extract (specifically for baking) on top of the dried lavender. Has anyone experimented with this before?
As the recipe is written there is a light but discernable lavender flavor. Of course that will vary based on how fresh your lavender is, etc.
Sorry I meant batter
Can I use this exact recipe and just use the battery for cupcakes?
I think it would probably work but I haven’t tried it myself. I would use cupcake liners so the batter can grip the paper and rise.
This came out super moist and fluffy, and very tasty – thanks for the detailed instructions. It is a bit too sweet for my taste, though (This is the first time I tried making angel food cake, and I had forgotten how sweet most of them are). Do you think this recipe would still work if I cut down the sugar amount in the flour mixture? (say, by half?) and/or if I added more lemon juice?
Yes, angel food cakes are on the sweet side. But the sugar in the recipe does more than just sweeten the cake. The sugar also tenderizes and moistens the cake. Without any tenderizing/moisturizing fat in the cake this is important. If you reduce the sugar too much the cake will at some point become rubbery and dry tasting. I haven’t experimented to see how much you could cut down the sugar without compromising the texture of the cake. If you want to try it I would reduce it slightly and see if you still like the cake texture. As far as adding more lemon juice you could replace the water in the recipe with lemon juice. That could possibly change the texture of the cake because of the extra acidity. But again, I haven’t tried it so couldn’t say what the outcome would be. If you try making any changes let us know how it worked out. Also, I love eating angel food cake with unsweetened or very lightly sweetened cream to balance out the sweetness. Also some fresh fruit helps balance out the flavor.
Eileen, I have been recent to sourdough baking and have been using your site almost exclusively and recommending it to a friend who wants to do sourdough since I gave her some starter. I was surprised when I saw that the lemon lavender angel food cake was your recipe as well when I came back to your site to rate it. It is a five star cake, In fac,t it is the best angel food cake I have ever eaten. Thanks so much for your recipes.
Hands down my daughter’s favorite recipe yet! 5 star