Lemon Lavender Ombre Cake

By Inger Mar 25, 2022 Cooking & Recipes, Desserts & Snacks 12 Comments

Lemon Lavender Ombre Cake is festive & flavorful with a lemon brightness that balances the floral lavender. Perfect for dessert, brunch or tea!

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to help in the creation of the #SpringSweetsWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

I’ve always admired ombre cake. With a series of layers, in graduated colors, it has a elegant look that’s both impressive and trendy. So when I was looking for my latest concept in the “lemon lavender” flavor combo, a thought came to mind. How about a layer of lavender, then a layer of lemon yellow, topped with vanilla.

Yes, it’s not technically an ombre cake since they are different colors, not shades of the same color, but I think it’s a look that works.

Why You’ll Love This!

Great flavor. Lemon and lavender are an amazing flavor combination. And if you’re nervous about going with something floral, the balancing lemon may make this the perfect place to start.

Impressive Presentation. Who would have though that a bakery look like this ombre cake is (relatively) easy to do at home!

Easiness Cheat. While I made my cake batter from scratch, you can use a vanilla cake mix, divide it, and add in the color and flavors.

What You’ll Need

I received and used some wonderful ingredients from our sponsors for this Lemon Lavender Ombre Cake! The cake is flavored with lemon and lavender paste from Taylor and Colledge. Then I decorated the tops with sprinkles from Sweets & Treats!

The lavender paste, in particular has made my life so much easier. I used to add a tablespoon or so of dried lavender to the sugar in the recipe the night before. This allowed the lavender to flavor the sugar, which in turn helped spread the lavender flavor throughout the recipe. But this tastes identical and is so much easier! And I never need to strain out lavender buds.

Ingredients:

Egg whites. These add lightness and loft to the cake layers.
Granulated sugar. This adds sweetness and structure.
All purpose flour. Provides the main structure. Spoon and level your flour rather than scooping. This is one recipe that can’t handle extra heaviness.
Cornstarch. This lightens the flour.
Baking powder. This contributes to the rise and lightness.
Butter, milk. These add richness and moisture.
Salt, lemon paste, lavender paste, vanilla. These provide the main flavors for the layers.
Purple and yellow colors. I used gel colors. It’s easy to get the color too dark. To add the tiniest bit at a time, I dip a toothpick in the gel, then in the batter, repeating as needed.
Stiff frosting. I suggest this Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but feel free to go with your favorite as long as it’s strong enough to hold up (or just do a normal flat layer of frosting and skip the decorative frosting balls)

Special Tools:

Tall round cutter. Depending on the height of your cake layers, you may need a taller round cutter. I bought a set in multiple sizes.
Electric mixer (optional). Since the whites are not beaten to stiff peaks, you can mix everything by hand. But it’s easier with a mixer.

Step by Step Directions

In a small bowl, mix milk, egg white. In a mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.

Add in the butter and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles wet sand. Mix in the remaining milk and add the egg white mixture in three additions

Divide evenly between 3 bowls. Color and flavor first bowl lavender, second bowl lemon/yellow and third bowl vanilla.

Spray three same-sized pans with non-stick spray. Pour each color of cake batter into its own pan and bake.

Cool the cakes, remove from pan and further chill in the refrigerator (which makes getting clean cuts easier). Cut cake rounds in all three colors.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip with a stiff frosting like Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Pipe small circles on the top of the lavender layer in the following pattern. Place one in the middle and a series of others in a circle around that. Top with a yellow layer and pipe similar circles on top of that. Top with the white layer, then add a large dot of frosting and colored sprinkles to that.

Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed.

How to Serve

Lemon Lavender Ombre Cake is a little more work than an everyday dessert but it us perfect for a special event. It would be lovely for an Easter or Mother’s Day brunch. Or set these out for a special tea or coffee get together.

Other Lemon Lavender Recipes

I have been in love with the lemon and lavender flavor mix ever since the summer my oldest worked at a local restaurant. One day, as a special dessert, they had lemon lavender cupcakes. We both fell in love and staked out the dessert list the whole rest of the summer!

Prior to this, I thought I didn’t like floral flavors and my daughter really needed to convince me. But the combo was magical. Since then I have done my own lemon lavender cupcakes . And I even did a lemon lavender shortbread that placed third at the Wisconsin State Fair baking competition!

Hmm, what should I try next!

Tips & FAQs

To reduce crumbling when you cut your cake rounds, chill the cake first.

This is baked at a lower temperature, 325 F, than cake is typically baked at. The idea behind this is that you get a more even rise versus a higher spring in the center. I still had more rise than I hoped for but it was workable.

Don’t bake in glass. I didn’t have three 8 x 8 metal pans, so I used a glass pan and learned that baking is completely different in glass. The outside cooks faster and the inside cooks slower, which gave me a dark edge and a big center rise, both of which made it more difficult to cut flat circles. For more on baking pans, see All Recipes.