Lavender Almond Angel Food Cake

I love lavender so much. I realized it is getting serious when I gathered ingredients for this cake, and I was disappointed to find that the local store that carries lavender flowers was out. I went home to figure out what to make instead, just to realize I had a small bag of flowers, plus another whole jar – and that’s in addition to all of the tea and oil.

This cake combines lavender with another one of my favorite flavors – almond! I love using almond extract in place of vanilla for lots of different cookie and cake recipes and the results are delicious. Angel food cake is so light that this makes for an ideal dessert for spring and summer, especially with the flower garnish.

If you’re also obsessed with lavender and happen to live in Maryland, don’t miss the Maryland Lavender Festival in June! It sells out quickly so be sure to get tickets soon. 🙂

Ingredients

• 1 and 3/4 cups sugar
• 12 egg whites
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pulse the sugar in a food processor or blender until fine in texture. In your stand mixer or with a hand mixer, mix the egg whites, almond extract, water, and cream of tartar until peaks begin to form. Add the sugar and continue to mix until stiff peaks form. Gently mix in the cake flour (I used a wooden spoon) until thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into a fluted cake pan and bake for 35 minutes. Garnish with dried lavender flowers on top.