No one guessed it. Not one person. Lavender wasn’t the secret ingredient. It was Swede. Harry Eastwood’s Vegetable Cake Recipe is brilliant, in fact, all her recipes are great, and she uses lots of vegetables in her cookbook Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache.  Perfect for the vegetable box lover running out of recipes for parsnip and for those who love cake but not the calories, kids who hate vegetables, the list is endless. This cake is a winner.

I have a thing for lavender at the moment after an Iced Lavender Latte in New York. Sounds awful, doesn’t it? It was delicious, and like using a simple syrup, this had a decent glug of Routin 1883 Lavender Syrup.

Moist, full of beautiful lemon notes with a hint of lavender, without being too Yardley.

I’m sure she won’t mind me stealing this recipe – buy the book – there’s not a duff recipe in it.

Harry’s Lemon and Lavender Cake

Serves 8

200g swede, peeled and diced into cubes
120g clear honey
2 medium, free-range eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
1 heaped tbsp dried Lavender flowers
60g white rice flour (although I used self-raising)
60g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

For the Drizzle

3tbsp golden granulated sugar
2tbsp water
100ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the top

1tbsp golden granulated sugar
A few lavender flowers
19cm x 12cm x 8cm loaf tin

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Line the base of the tin with baking parchment and lightly brush the paper and the sides of the tin with a little vegetable oil then set aside.

Place the diced swede in a heatproof bowl with a splash of water and cover with cling film. Cook in the microwave on high for 7 minutes, until soft to the touch. Once cooked through, drain off the excess water and blend to a fine purée.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the honey and eggs for 2 minutes, until bubbly.

Add the lemon zest, lavender flowers, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt, and whisk again for 20 seconds. Once all the ingredients are fully incorporated, whisk in the swede purée to combine.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and put in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.

While the cake is cooking, prepare the drizzle. Dissolve the sugar in the water by heating slowly in a small pan. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, take off the heat and set aside. Add the lemon juice when the sugar syrup is cool.

Remove the cake from the oven, leave it in the tin and prick it right through to the bottom with a skewer. Drizzle the sweet lemon liquid over the cake. Do this while the cake is still hot and at its most absorbent. Finish off by sprinkling with the remaining sugar and lavender flowers.

Have you tried Sipsmith’s Lemon Drizzle Gin, read about it here.