Lavender Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake

Dear diary/public blog.

I have made some food!

I used to keep a real diary as a kid.  I have them stacked up, from about age eight up until I got married.

I stopped then.  I mean, I have one, but I have been married almost six years and still haven't managed to fill it up.

There are things in there.  Mostly doodles and lists.  I guess part of me figured the story was told by the time I got married.

Ha.

I re-read my high school and college years last summer and I cringed.  In high school, I was so high school!

It's so nice to have found something important to write about [food].

Do you keep a diary?  Do you write in it regularly?  Do you want your children/friends/future archaeologists to see it, or would you rather burn it than see it in the hands of anyone else?

(You like that?  Blogging about blogging?  META.)

**Don't forget!  The giveaway of the Sucrose Pendant from Boutique Academia is still going on!

It lasts until this Wednesday night.  For details and to join in, check out these blintzes!

Lavender Lemon Pound Cake (adapted from Bake Your Day)

Today we witness the return of one of my favorite flavor combinations - lavender and lemon.  Floral for sweet!  Lemon for bright!  They compliment each other well.  I wasn't so sure this recipe was seasonally appropriate at first...it's hard to imagine eating lavender lemon anything outside of June.  Maybe it's the colors?  But then I thought, naaah.  Dried lavender flowers are good all winter and lemons are in season right this second!  This recipe would have been totally fine with our pre-food preservation/globalized agricultural ancestors.  You know, if they actually had access to things like lemons.  And Greek yogurt.  Unless your ancestors were Greek...then you're good.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup 2% Greek yogurt (6 oz.)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon dried lavender

Preheat oven to 325.  Grease one 9x5" loaf pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the first four ingredients.  Set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Slowly add the sugar, still mixing, and cream for another four minutes.  The longer you cream your butter, the lighter your cake will be.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each for about a minute.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, mixing slowly.  Add 1/2 of the yogurt, then another 1/3 of the dry ingredients.  Add the last 1/2 of your yogurt, and the final third of dry.  Stop the mixer and mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and dried lavender by hand.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges begin to brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (the top of my cake stayed very pale).  Cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.  Slice and serve!