This Chocolate Lavender Cake is a beautiful light sponge which is perfect for parties and as a show-stopper cake. Sandwiched together with smooth chocolate buttercream and decorated with even more lavender on top. I hope you enjoy this delicious chocolate sponge cake.
With summer just around the corner, I am already looking forward to the smell of sweet lavender and hearing the buzz of bumble bees. This light and tasty chocolate lavender cake is the perfect recipe to share with good friends and a cup of coffee.
Why you’ll love this Chocolate Lavender Cake recipe
Chocolate and lavender are two flavours that you wouldn’t think pair well together – but oh boy do they! The flavours complement each other perfectly and in this light and airy sponge, they couldn’t be better.
Making a lavender frosting is so much fun, it can be whipped up to go with any sponge cake or even to decorate a brownie.
Lavender cake recipes are so unusual so they are always a show stopper. I have brought this chocolate cake to parties, coffee mornings and even the occasional bake sale and it always goes down a treat.
Ingredients
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
Chocolate
The world’s best ingredient! Chocolate makes all my bakes better, but I am a big chocolate lover so maybe I’m a little biased. You’ll need some cocoa powder and dark chocolate for this recipe. Both available at most supermarkets.
Edible Lavender
You can’t eat all types of lavender but for this cake I used English lavender as this is edible. You can buy it online or pick it up from your local cake decorating shop. The smell of the lavender is wonderful.
You can order your edible lavender from Amazon – Aff link.
How to make Chocolate Lavender Cake – step by step
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
You make this lavender cake in a few simple steps. You’ll need to grease and line your cake tins to start and preheat the oven.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water or in short bursts in the microwave. Grind up some edible lavender in a pestle and mortar.
Cream together the butter, sugar and ground edible lavender until light and fluffy.
When the chocolate is cool to touch add it to the mix.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
Sieve the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder into a bowl and then fold it into the mix gently.
Divide the mix between the three tins and bake until light and fluffy. Allow them to cool on cooling racks before decorating with the lavender frosting.
How to decorate the Chocolate Lavender Cake
To decorate I added a small ring of dried edible lavender around the outside of the cake on top of the icing. It looked gorgeous and instantly made it obvious what the flavour could be.
I would only use a very small amount of edible lavender for decorating as it can taste a little grassy when eaten on its own. When mixed into the cake and frosting it’s delicious.
In the fridge, I found some strawberries and I wanted to add them too. I love strawberries and chocolate and they go so well with the lavender. Just slice your strawberries and lay them across the top of your chocolate lavender cake.
To add the ring of dried lavender I cut a 6 inch circle from greaseproof paper and placed it top. Once I had added the lavender I removed it to get the lovely outline of edible lavender.
Top Tips
Grind your lavender down before adding it to your cake mix. This helps it to mix in and for the flavour to disperse evenly through the chocolate lavender cake.
For this chocolate lavender recipe, I recommend letting your cakes fully cool in the cooling rack so that when you begin to decorate with the lavender buttercream frosting it stays thick and in place. Otherwise it might melt and run around.
This chocolate cake is perfect for parties, it can be sliced thin enough to go around but everyone still feels very satisfied.
Serving Suggestions
This chocolate lavender sponge cake is perfect on its own. You don’t need any additional decorations. Simply cut and serve.
You can decorate your cake with strawberries or sweet fruits (or more chocolate) but I would just pour a little cream over your slice and enjoy.
Equipment
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Substitutions and variations
You can swap out the flour for a gluten-free alternative if you would like to make this a gluten-free chocolate cake, or you can swap the eggs and butter for a vegan alternative. Making a vegan chocolate cake is much easier than you think.
Storing Chocolate Lavender Cake / Making ahead of time options
You can store this cake in an ai- tight box for up to 3 days. You don’t want to put it in the fridge as over-chilling your cake isn’t ideal. I would however ensure your cake is stored in a cool, dry cupboard.
Top Questions
Does chocolate and lavender go together?
What does lavender cake taste like?
What does lavender taste like in cake?
How can I add lavender to cakes? How do you use lavender in a cake?
Can I use normal lavender in my cake?
FAQS
Does chocolate and lavender go together?
Yes, chocolate and lavender are an unlikely pair but they go so well together. The sweetness and richness of the chocolate with the light subtle flavour of the lavender is perfect together. Especially in cake.
What does lavender cake taste like?
The lavender cake tastes wonderful floral and the aroma of the cake is beautiful and delicate. The key when making it is to not use too much lavender. What you will notice above all is the smell. Less is more with floral ingredients.
What does lavender taste like in cake?
Lavender tastes light and floral in a cake. You can smell the lavender more than you can taste it but it just adds a hint of floral notes in every bite.
How can I add lavender to cakes? How do you use lavender in a cake?
To use lavender in a cake you can use lavender extract which is concentrated so you don’t need to use much. Or you could also use edible dried lavender which you will need to ground down using a pestle and mortar. Or you can add edible dried lavender to caster sugar and let the flavour and smell absorb.
Can I use normal lavender in my cake?
When baking you must use edible lavender! Normal lavender isn’t edible and can cause stomach ache or worse. Please order your edible lavender plants or dried from a proper place. I am now growing an edible lavender plant which is ready to be used for the next cake.
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Recipe
Chocolate Lavender Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 300 g unsalted butter
- 300 g golden caster sugar (or regular caster sugar)
- 4 tbsp Lavender (dried edible lavender)
- 100 g dark chocolate (or milk)
- 6 large eggs
- 220 g self-raising flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 100 g cocoa powder
Filling and decoration
- 225 g unsalted butter
- 450 g icing sugar / confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons milk (you might need less or more)
- 280 g dark chocolate
- edible lavender (to decorate)
- cherry jam (or your favourite jam)
Instructions
Making the chocolate lavender cake
- You will need three 8 inch cake tins, greased and lined.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/ 160ºC fan/ 356ºF.
- Melt the chocolate over hot water (making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water) or in short bursts in the microwave.100 g dark chocolate
- Using a pestle and mortar or a food processor grind the edible lavender up.4 tbsp Lavender
- Cream together butter, sugar and ground edible lavender until light and fluffy.300 g unsalted butter, 300 g golden caster sugar
- When the chocolate is cool to touch add it to the mix.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.6 large eggs
- Sieve the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder in to a bowl and then fold it in to the mix gently.220 g self-raising flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, 100 g cocoa powder
- Divide the mix between the three tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Allow to cool in the tins for a bit before removing and leaving to cool fully on wire rack.
Making the chocolate lavender buttercream
- Melt the chocolate over a pan of hot water or in the microwave on short bursts. Then set aside to cool.280 g dark chocolate
- In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer cream together the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and milk. Give it a good mix for 3 minutes and it will be super creamy and smooth.225 g unsalted butter, 450 g icing sugar / confectioners sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 5 tablespoons milk
- Add the melted, now cooled, chocolate and mix in.
Assemble the chocolate lavender cake
- When the cakes are cold, sandwich them together with a layer of jam and then the chocolate buttercream. (I love using cherry jam for this recipe)cherry jam
- On the top tier cover it with a gorgeous layer of buttercream and a sprinkling of edible lavender. Don’t add too much as it is pretty strong.edible lavender
- Serve with fresh fruit and enjoy.
Notes
- To make a smaller cake you can divide the mix in half and share between 2 8 inch cake tins.
- It will last about three days in an airtight container in a cool place.
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Originally published August 2015. Updated February 2024.
what an incredibly pretty cake! this looks stunning. – love the glossy ganache. I love the neat tiers you have here Sisley.
Thank you so much Nazima, I’m still very surprised they were so neat. It’s a first for me 🙂
This cake looks so pretty Sisley, and I love the combination of flavours you’ve used. Definitely a showstopper here!
Thank you Lucy. It’s nice to make something which stood so proudly in the middle of the table.
That’s beautiful. Don’t worry about finding a bigger tin – just use it as an excuse to eat it more quickly 😉
That’s my kind of thinking! 🙂
How pretty! I’m so intrigued by this flavour combination xx
It was very good. It seemed very grown up and would work so well as a proper afternoon tea!
I loved the really dark chocolate I used in this cake, perfect with the floral lavender. It not only tasted great but looked beautiful too.
We loved the unusual combination of flavours. I grow my own lavender so I’ll definitely be making this again.
I decided to make this as it was something a bit different and everyone loved it!
Such a great flavour combo, I wasn’t convinced at first but now I’m converted!