a lavender pregnancy cake recipe

so, as most of you already know ... i am quite pregnant these days. as a result, i crave food all day long and if i do not eat something sweet at some point throughout the day ... i feel incomplete. i knew today was expected to be exceptionally muggy and cloudy outside, so i figured my littles and i wouldn't be doing much. a perfect opportunity to bake a cake, right?! ... i think so. i flipped through my recipe book and decided i would try something new ... something unusual, yet hopefully still delicious. i already have a recipe for lavender cake, so i thought i would tweak it a bit to incorporate pregnancy tea ... it only seemed fitting. :) so, here is what i came up with and i must say, it is rather delicious!

1. make your lavender pregnancy milk

• two pregnancy tea bags (i got mine at the health food store)
• two cups milk
• one and a half tablespoons culinary lavender (also health food store)

add tea bags, milk and lavender in a saucepan and slowly heat ... you want it super hot, but not boiling. quickly bringing milk to a boil can scorch it and you will taste it ... not good.  after hot, remove from heat, cover and steep for about twenty minutes. lastly, strain away lavender and remove tea bags. set your lavender pregnancy milk aside.

2. now you will need to make your cake

• two and one fourth cups cake flour
• two and a half teaspoons baking powder
• one teaspoon salt
• one and one fourth cups sugar
• one stick unsalted butter, room temp
• two large eggs
• two teaspoons vanilla
• two thirds cup lavender pregnancy milk

preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two, nine inch round cake pans by greasing, flouring and lining with parchment paper. next, sift flour, baking powder and salt together. set aside. now, in a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter together. add in one egg and at a time and then add vanilla. finally, add flour mixture and lavender pregnancy milk to sugar mixture ... alternating. start and end with flour mixture. this process takes a bit a time, but it is important that all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly. also, remember to constantly scrape the sides of the pan between add ins. now it is time to bake your cake for about twenty to twenty five minutes ... until a toothpick comes out clean. flip your cakes onto cooling racks.

3. frost that cake!

• half cup solid shortening 
• one stick butter, room temp 
• one teaspoon vanilla
• four cups sifted powdered sugar
• two to three tablespoons lavender pregnancy milk

mix all ingredients together and frost your cake. remember to wait until your cake is completely cooled before slapping on that frosting. decorate however you choose and enjoy!

SIDE NOTE: you do not have to use pregnancy tea for this recipe. if you are not pregnant, simply use a different tea. i think chamomile tea or an orange spice would be rather delicious, too. to learn more about pregnancy tea and what it's all about, go here. also, if you want your cake to have a more bolder taste ... just add another tea bag or two when making your milk. i only used two because i wasn't sure how strong it would be and i didn't want to over do it.

one last thing! your kiddos can also eat this cake! perfectly safe and they will hopefully love it as much as mine did :)