with Lavender Elderflower Glaze
Ok, y'all! This cake was a crazy experiment that turned out to be AMAZING! I made it to represent some of my favorite cocktails, which typically include gin, lemon and St-Germain elderflower liqueur. Additionally, I had a bunch of meyer lemons that I had recently purchased and needed to use up. So, of course, I turned to the almighty internet for inspiration for this amazing Meyer lemon elderflower cake .
You know what you get when you Google "Elderflower cake?" Well, apparently you get several copy-cat recipes of the more recent royal wedding cake. Yep, I had no idea that flavor combo was even trending. Seems like I need to update myself on the royals....
Anyway, long story short, and several unwanted royal wedding news sites later, I decided to just go for it and combine my baking knowledge with a few inspirational recipes... and this Meyer lemon elderflower cake was born! Other favorite dessert ideas are: Brown Butter and Pecan Rum Cake, Chai Spiced Rice Krispies Treats with Nutella Cream Drizzle, and Spiced Chocolate Ganache Tart with Biscoff Cookie Crust.
📖 Recipe
Meyer Lemon Elderflower Cake
Ingredients
Cake (6u0022 bundt)
- ¾ cup butter
- ½ tablespoon sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1.5 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon Elderflower Liqueur (St-Germain)
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup (4oz) Elderflower tonic water (Fever Tree) (divided in half)
- Zest of 1 meyer lemon (more as desired)
Sauce
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup elderflower liqueur (St-Germain)
- ¼ cup water
- Juice of half a lemon
Lavender Elderflower Glaze
- ½ cup elderflower liqueur (St-Germain)
- 1 tablespoon dried lavender
- 1.5 cups confectioner's sugar
- Rose water (optional)
Instructions
PREPARE THE GLAZE
- The night before you plan to make the cake, add 1 tablespoon dried lavender to a half cup of Elderflower Liqueur (St-Germain). Let sit overnight in a jar, then strain the liquid and discard lavender.
MAKE THE CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, add butter and sour cream. Beat on medium until butter looks smooth and creamy. Scrape sides with a spatula and continue mixing for another 1-2 min.
- Add sugar slowly and continue to beat until fully combined and the mixture appears light and fluffy - approx 3-5 min. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for another 1 min.
- Break 2 whole eggs one at a time into a ramekin or small bowl and add to mixer. Wait until each egg is mixed in before adding the next. Next, add the 2 egg yolks one at a time.
- Add elderflower liqueur and ¼ cup of the tonic water. The tonic water will make the mixture look curdled initially, but this will smooth out once the flour is added.
- Add half of the flour and mix until the batter looks smooth, then add the remaining tonic, followed by the remaining flour. Mix for 3-5 more min until batter is smooth.
- Stir in zest. If you prefer a stronger meyer lemon flavor you can add more zest to your cake.
- Spray your bundt pan with non-stick vegetable oil cooking spray then dust with flour. Alternatively you can use shortening instead of cooking spray, but I find the spray more manageable.
- Cook at 350° for 45 min or until a wooden toothpick/skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle. If you are concerned about the cake getting too brown, move to a lower rack.
- About 10 min before the cake is done, prepare the sauce.
PREPARE THE SAUCE
- Mix 1 cup sugar, with ¼ cup water, and ½ cup Elderflower liqueur, and the juice of half a meyer lemon in a saucepan over medium high heat.
- Bring to a boil then add 1 stick (½ cup) butter. Stir until butter is melted and let simmer until cake is done.
- Once cake is done, pull from the oven and poke multiple holes deep into the cake throughout.
- Pour sauce over cake until thoroughly soaked. Don't be afraid to use a good amount of the sauce. Let cake soak for 10-15 min.
- Place a flat plate over the cake pan then flip over and lightly tap to loosen cake from pan.
- Remove bundt pan carefully.
LAVENDER ELDERFLOWER GLAZE
- Mix 3-4 tablespoon lavender-infused St. Germain to 1½ cups confectioner's sugar, and add 1 drop of rose water (optional). Mix thoroughly. If you want the glaze to be thinner, add more liquid until desired consistency. I prefer a thicker glaze for presentation. To achieve the bright lavender color, I used a drop fuchsia and one drop purple Americolor food dye. Adjust colors as you see fit for your needs.
- Place cake on a wire rack over a cookie sheet.
- Pour glaze over cooled cake.
- Pour extra glaze on as desired.
Aleisha says
I can't get over how beautiful this is!
Angela and Mark says
Thank you so much! Please let us know if you try it!
Priyanka Puri says
Love this recipe and so want to try it! Want to ask if there is any replacement for elderflower liquor and tonic? Elderflower extract is all I can get here in India… would hugely appreciate your inputs
Angela and Mark says
Ooo good question! You would need to replace the liquid in the recipe with something else... potentially milk. Or you could try a regular flavored tonic with the Elderflower extract and adjust the ratio to account for the removal of the liqueur. You will also need to account for the removal of the liqueur, or replacement, to make the sauce soak. You could use a different liquor like gin or rum, although it will change the flavors a bit. Id love to hear what you try and how it turns out!!
YtheWait says
This is an amazing recipe and a beautiful recipe. Thanks for sharing this.
Angela and Mark says
Thank you!
ashok says
Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
Angela and Mark says
We are so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! Thank you for your comment and we hope your friend enjoys it as well!
Order Food Online says
I liked this recipe and I will try this at home keep share this kind of recipes