The Happy Home Cook: Lemon Cake with Thyme and Lavender

The Happy Home Cook features cherished recipes of Filipino dishes from well-known foodies and contributors. If you have a recipe that you are proud of and would like to share, please send it along with a photo of the dish, your two-sentence bio and your picture to submissions@positivelyfilipino.com.

Judy Ann Santos with husband Ryan Agoncillo and children Yohan and Lucho (Photo by Raymund Isaac. Reposted with permission from Anvil Publishing)

Everyone in the Philippines knows Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo as a TV and movie actress, wife to actor Ryan Agoncillo and mother to Yohan and Lucho. With Judy Ann’s Kitchen (Anvil Publishing, 2015), she emerges as a passionate and creative cook, trained at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies, and now a cookbook author.

Aside from a variety of recipes with Judy Ann “twists” (for example, sinigang na munggo), Judy Ann’s Kitchen also includes such helpful sections as cooking preparation tips, pantry essentials, ingredient substitutes, table settings and ways to make your kids eat balanced meals.

"Judy Ann's Kitchen" (Photo by Raymund Isaac. Reposted with permission from Anvil Publishing)

Edible lavender oil and edible flowers make this cake a nice addition to your dessert. The light taste of lavender cleanses your palate, especially if you’ve just had a rich meal. Perfect nightcap ito with tea or coffee.

Ingredients

¾ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon rind, finely grated
1 tbsp orange rind
5 drops lavender oil
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup goat’s milk yoghurt
1 ¾ cup caster sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
2 tbsp thyme leaves
Dried culinary lavender

1. Preheat oven to 160°F.

2. Place vegetable oil, eggs, lemon rind, orange rind, lavender oil, orange and lemon juice, yoghurt and caster sugar in a large bowl. Whisk to combine ingredients.

3. Sift flour into the bowl and stir mixture until smooth.

4. Pour batter into a well-greased 24-cm, non-stick Bundt tin pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

5. Decorate with thyme leaves and dried culinary lavender before serving.

Makes about 8 slices.

Lemon Cake with Thyme and Lavender (Photo by Raymund Isaac. reposted with permission from Anvil Publishing)