Today we will show you how to make a vegan chocolate lavender cake with a creamy lavender and banana filling. We promise you this much: this cake is going to have a rich taste of lavender and chocolate, it won't be filled or topped with added sugars, and we will use wholesome vegan ingredients. Because after all, who said cake has to be unhealthy?
With our recipe, you can enjoy a flavourful slice without breaking your diet. A portion of our lavender cake has only 16% of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of carbs, just 15% RDI of fats and a whopping 25% RDI of fibres!
You may wonder what is so special about lavender. Edible lavender is one of the best ways to add the fragrance of spring into your dishes. The beautiful purple flowers are so versatile. They can be used to make cakes like this one, or cocktails and smoothies. Moreover, lavender is a well-known anti-anxiety agent that can soothe your nerves. Chocolate also has similar calming properties, so this cake is the perfect treat to relax after work.
Our goal at Foodaciously is to help you cook healthy and exciting new food, regardless of your diet or food intolerances. We put it in the heavy testing so that you can enjoy wholesome dishes with little effort. Here we have found the right mix of ingredients to make this lavender cake healthy, vegan and also gluten-free. Let's take a quick look at how we have done this!
We have replaced wheat with oatmeal for added taste and to get rid of gluten. To bind the ingredients together and to get a moist dough, we swapped eggs with soy yogurt and oil.
For the filling, instead of using double cream or other fatty ingredients, we used only three simple components:
Lavender tea (which is just water and lavender flowers).
Bananas.
Potato starch (or any other starch, like arrowroot).
Cocoa powder can easily overwhelm other ingredients, so to get the lavender flavour to stand out, we substituted most liquids in the recipe with lavender tea.
Baking vegan and gluten-free cakes is no easy task, but we have put together easy-to-follow steps below that will make this a success. Remember to read the tips at the bottom of the page as well, for extra help. Now, let's have some fun!
Can I use Greek yogurt in this cake?
To make this recipe vegan and dairy-free, we have opted for soy instead of classic yogurt. But if you aren't allergic to dairy or prefer to eat dairy over plant-based products, we suggest you use greek yogurt instead.
Greek yogurt is a rich source of proteins and calcium, making it an enriching choice for this recipe. Moreover, this type of yogurt is denser than other yogurts, helping to make the chocolate cake dough moist and creamy.
We recommend you choose plain unsweetened Greek yogurt that is full fat or low-fat. Avoid going for fat-free versions which usually are more processed and don't work as well in baked goods.
Can I make this cake using lavender essence instead of flowers?
Yes, you can. We like using lavender flowers as they are more versatile and less refined than lavender essence. But if you don't have the florets at hand, we will tell you how to make our lavender cake recipe above using lavender essence.
In truth, there is one advantage in using the culinary lavender essence or oil instead of the flowers. With the liquid form, you won't have to worry about turning the flowers into tea first. So you will save some time.
But lavender essence is much more potent than the florets, and you cannot replace the two ingredients by equal volume or weight.
The ratio of lavender flowers to essence is 1 tbsp to 3 drops. One tablespoon of lavender flowers weighs around three grams, so if a recipe uses three grams of flowers, you can use three drops of essence instead.
In our cake above, we used lavender flowers both in the dough and in the filling. Here is how to modify the recipe to use lavender essence in two simple steps:
In step one, make the lavender tea using three drops of essence instead of one tablespoon of flowers.
Follow the rest of the recipe as is.
We said it was simple right?
In case you didn't know, lavender essence contains alcohol. If your diet or religion discourages the consumption of alcohol, then we suggest you use lavender flowers and follow our recipe above.
Is this chocolate lavender cake gluten-free?
Our chocolate lavender recipe is gluten-free because we have used oat flour instead of wheat flour.
If you have never baked gluten-free and vegan cakes before, and are used to using plain wheat and butter, you should know the results won't be the same. Vegan and gluten-free cakes are way more wholesome, but also crumblier. The lack of gluten and fats makes it harder for the dough to stick together. If your cake comes out too brittle, eat it with a fork! It's a small price to pay for a much healthier bake, in our opinion.
Oatmeal is rich in fibres, proteins and minerals, and is one of our favourite gluten-free flours. They are a nourishing addition to any diet.
There are other flours you can use instead of oatmeal, like almond flour, coconut flour, or a mix of rice flour and buckwheat flour. But we chose oat flour for our lavender cake because we didn't want to have other flavours diminishing the floral taste of lavender. Chocolate is already overwhelming enough, so having added coconut or almond taste was not ideal for this recipe.
But if you want to use other flours, take a look at our gluten-free matcha cake, where we used a mix of almond and rice flour. When following the steps to make the dough there, you can replace almond flour with coconut flour with a 1:1 ratio, if you like coconut.
Is it ok to freeze this cake?
If you made too much of this cake and are afraid of it going to waste, then you can freeze it. You could also store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
If you opt for the freezer, we will give you a few tips below on how to do it well.
The ingredients we used in our chocolate lavender cake recipe are quite low-fat. As such, the water content in the dough will freeze the cake hard. Therefore, the cake will take a bit longer to thaw compared to fattier bakes.
Before freezing the cake, cut any leftover into single portions. Then, store every single serving into a separate zip-tight bag, or box. If you don't have enough containers, try to keep the slices from touching. This way, the single portions will not stick to one another.
That's it! As we approach summer, you can serve a slice of a cake with a scoop of your favourite ice cream.
Ingredients
| Culinary Lavender | 2 tbsp |
| Water | 400 mL |
| Oat Flour | 500 g |
| Baking Powder | 30 g |
| Baking Soda | 1 pinch |
| Salt | 1 pinch |
| Cocoa | 75 g |
| Maple Syrup | 250 g |
| Rapeseed Oil | 70 mL |
| Vanilla Extract | 1 tsp |
| Soy Yogurt | 380 g |
| Potato Starch | 30 g |
| Beetroot Juice (optional) | 11/2 tsp |
| Bananas | 3 |
Step 1
In a teapot, bring water to a boil with lavender flowers and simmer for five minutes. Then turn off the heat, and allow steeping for five more minutes.
Drain the tea filtering out the flowers with the help of a sieve, and let it cool down while you prepare the chocolate cake batter.
Step 2
Make sure the yogurt is at room temperature before you start preparing the dough.
You can make oat flour by blitzing the oat flakes in a food processor until they are finely ground.
In a large mixing bowl, combine oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
Then add the vanilla, oil, soy yogurt, 200 g of maple syrup, and 250 mL of lukewarm lavender tea and whisk until the cake mixture is smooth.
Step 3
Transfer the cake batter into a rounded 23 cm (9 inches) baking tin lined with parchment paper.
Next, bake the lavender cake in the oven at 180°C (356°F) or 160°C (320°F) for fan ovens for 45 minutes.
The cake is ready when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Then, remove it from the tin and cool it down over a wire rack.
Step 4
While the cake is cooking, prepare the lavender cake filling.
In a pot, combine 100 mL of lavender tea, 50 g of maple syrup, potato starch, and mashed bananas.
To give a cute pink tone to the filling we have added beetroot juice, but you can use a red food colourant or acai berry powder. Or leave as is if you don't have any of these extra ingredients at hand.
Turn on the heat and keep stirring until the cream thickens, then remove from the heat and allow to cool down.
Step 5
Now slice the cake in half horizontally. A cake cutting wire is ideal for this, but a sharp knife will do as well.
Then, spread the lavender tea filling over one half of the cake with the help of a spatula (1).
Next, cover the cream with the top half of the chocolate cake.
You can garnish this lavender cake with dark chocolate shavings for extra flavour (2).
Tips
As this lavender cake recipe is vegan and gluten-free, it's prepared without eggs and wheat flour. Instead, it relies on the binding properties of the oats, yoghurt, and oil to hold the batter together. Therefore, the baked cake might be slightly crumblier, so be careful when handling the top of the cake before and after spreading the lavender filling.
For extra goodness, you can add dark chocolate chips to the lavender cake batter.