Pound Cake with Lavender and Apples
This simple cake is Chef Bouterin’s grandmother’s recipe, a dense pound cake scented with lavender, apples, and lemon. It is wonderful just plain, but it can also be dressed up with sauces and fresh fruit.
Ingredients
- Rome Beauty - 1/2 large, or Golden Delicious apple
- Eggs - 3 large
- Sugar - 1 cup
- All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup
- Baking Powder - 1/8 teaspoon
- Corn or peanut oil - 2/3 cup, or melted unseasoned butter
- Grated Lemon Zest - 1/2 teaspoon
- Unsprayed dried lavender flowers - 2 tablespoons (available in specialty food stores)
- Pear Liqueur - 2 tablespoons, or kirsch
- Lavender sprigs - 6
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter a 6-inch round, 3-inch high kugelhopf mold or a round mold of similar capacity. Sprinkle a little flour in the mold and turn it to coat all sides; dump out the excess.
Peel and core the apple, then quarter it and cut into 1-inch slices. In the bowl of a mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar. Add the flour, baking powder, and oil or melted butter and beat on slow speed to combine. Stir in the apple, zest, lavender, and liqueur. Pour into the prepared mold and bake for 30 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch. Take out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then unmold onto a rack and let cool.
To serve: Serve slices warm or cool, plain, dusted with confectioner’s sugar, or with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Garnish plates with a lavender sprig.
