Lovely Lavender Loaf with Blueberry Icing

The three L's, lovely lavender loaf... this cake has real summer vibes and is perfect for the weekend when you just want to sit outside and chill in the sunshine, and eat of course! I have dabbled with lavender in baking before, but with raspberries, it was one of my very first blog posts which I did way back in July 2014. OMG, that was over 2 years ago. How time flies! (See said post here.)

This time I thought to try it with blueberries instead and it worked just as well. I used the juice of blueberries by just mashing them with a fork and then straining. This left enough liquid to create a thick sweet layer of pinkish icing. 

In the cake itself I used only milk infused with the lavender, this gave the right amount of floral essence as any more would have been too much like your Grandma's soap.  (I also think that having little bits of flower throughout the loaf is a bit unpleasant for my liking, only to be felt like you're chomping on potpourri. ) 

But, having said that, I couldn't help myself with the decoration! You gotta have just a few scattered on top, it's too pretty to avoid! Stereotyping an' all...this is a rather girly cake, sorry Dad. ( I must say this isn't one of his personal faves to be quite honest.) Oh well, me and my mum like it.

Note: Make sure the loaf cake isn't too hot before putting the icing on or else it will just melt all down the sides into one gooey heap. 

Alternative: If you don't have blueberries this would also work well with crushed raspberries, making sure to also strain through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. Or if your prefer, a simple water icing would work well too. Just add a tablespoon of water at a time, stirring after each addition until you have a thick consistency. 

Lovely  Lavender  Loaf  with  Blueberry  Icing

Ingredients:

175ml milk 3 tbsp fresh lavender (flower only) 120g butter, softened 190g caster sugar 2 eggs ½ tsp vanilla extract 250g plain flour 1 ½ tsp baking powder
For the icing: 90g blueberries  165g icing sugar, sieved A few lavender heads for decoration - optional

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/ 325°F/ gas 3. Grease and line a 9x5 inch loaf tin.  Pour the milk into a small saucepan with the lavender heads. Put over a medium heat and warm to a gentle simmer. Then remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. 
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and and vanilla. Then add the flour and baking powder. Mix until just combined. Pour the milk through a sieve to get rid of the lavender and add the milk to the cake batter. Stir slowly to combine. 
Transfer to the prepared loaf tin and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean. 
Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack and peeling off the parchment paper. 
To make the icing, crush the blueberries in a small bowl with a fork until it is liquid. Strain to remove the skin. Add the blueberry juice to another bowl with the icing sugar and beat until it forms a thick gloopy consistency. Spread over the top of the warm loaf cake. Decorate with a few lavender heads sprinkled over the top if preferred,  then leave the cake to cool completely. 
Store in an airtight container.