This Blackberry Lavender Bundt Cake is so beautiful, it is the perfect centerpiece and one of my favorite dessert recipes for your next party or holiday. Made with a sour cream base cake, fresh culinary lavender and blackberry preserves, it bakes up like a spice cake with a deep berry glaze.
I love Bundt cakes because they are so easy and they don’t have to take all day to bake and frost. Plus you can fill the middle with fruit and it looks so scrumptious. I served this after dinner this weekend and it was delicious.
It tastes wonderful with some Blackberry Iced Tea, and if the lavender wins you over, try it in my Lavender Lemonade and Lavender Cheesecake recipes too.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 60 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 12 slices
- ⚡ Calories: 592kcal per slice
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: A cinnamon spice cake crumb with floral lavender and a dark blackberry glaze
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, one bowl of batter and a two temperature bake
Quick Answer
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer, add the eggs one at a time with the vanilla, then whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground lavender and salt in a separate extra large bowl. Alternately mix the flour mixture and sour cream into the batter, stir in the blackberry preserves, and pour into a greased and floured 12 cup bundt pan. Bake 15 minutes at 300 degrees, then increase to 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes more. Once the cooled cake is out of the pan, heat the remaining seedless preserves in a saucepan, whisk in powdered sugar to your desired consistency, drizzle over the cake and top with fresh blackberries.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Sour cream is the crumb insurance. Its fat and acidity keep a big, dense bundt moist through a long bake, where milk alone would dry out.
- The two temperature bake is deliberate. Fifteen minutes at 300 degrees lets this large batter set gently before the 350 degree stretch, so the outside does not overbake while the center catches up.
- Ground lavender, not whole buds. A quick pass in a spice grinder spreads the floral note evenly; whole buds land as perfumey pockets.
- One teaspoon is the lavender ceiling. Under that, it reads as a fragrance next to the cinnamon; over it, the cake tastes like soap.
- Preserves beat fresh berries in the batter. Fresh blackberries release water and sink; preserves blend in for even berry flavor and a tinted crumb.
- Alternating flour and sour cream keeps the batter from curdling or toughening; each addition has something to absorb.
- The glaze is just warmed preserves and powdered sugar, so it tastes like the inside of the cake instead of plain sugar icing.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is a true centerpiece. The fluted shape and dark berry glaze do the decorating for you, no frosting skills required.
- Easy for how it looks. Bundt cakes don’t take all day to bake and frost, and this one is a single batter with a drizzle.
- A flavor nobody expects. With cinnamon and lavender it is close to a spice cake, and the blackberry keeps it from feeling wintery.
- Make it ahead. The cake freezes beautifully wrapped well; make the glaze right before serving.
- Perfect for a tea table. It sits happily next to my tea party desserts at a garden tea party or a Mother’s Day tea.
- One pan, more cakes. The same bundt pan makes my lemon cream cheese bundt cake and red, white and blue bundt cake.
Key Ingredients
Pantry baking staples plus two special ingredients: seedless blackberry preserves and culinary lavender. Quantities are in the recipe card below.
- Softened Butter and Granulated Sugar cream together into the base of the batter.
- Large Eggs and Vanilla Extract for structure and warmth; add the eggs one at a time.
- All Purpose Flour, Baking Soda and Salt make up the dry mix.
- cinnamon gives the cake its spice cake character.
- Lavender Buds. Get fresh culinary grade lavender buds that I had bought and grind it in an herb grinder or with a pestle and mortar. I have a spice grinder so I took a teaspoon and ground the lavender a little bit. It goes with the color and makes the cake a little more unique, but you can decide if you want to add it or not.
- Sour Cream keeps the big crumb moist and tender.
- Blackberry Preserves. One cup goes into the batter, and seedless preserves (I used sugar free) become the glaze with powdered sugar.
- A 12 cup bundt pan. For this cake I used this 12 cup bundt pan, sprayed and floured so the details release cleanly.
See the recipe card below for exact quantities and full instructions.
Variations & Substitutions
- Skip the lavender. This cake will taste great with or without it; without, it is a lovely blackberry spice cake.
- Swap the preserves. Raspberry or boysenberry preserves work the same way, seedless for the glaze.
- Sugar free preserves are what I used, and nobody could tell.
- A different bundt pan? This recipe makes enough batter for a 12 cup pan. In a smaller pan you will have leftover batter, and you should only fill the pan two thirds full.
- Mini version. The batter method matches my spring mini bundt cakes if you want individual servings; start checking well before the 40 minute mark.
- More lavender baking. The floral and citrus pairing also carries my Earl Grey cupcakes with lavender icing.
How to Make Blackberry Lavender Bundt Cake
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees, and spray and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. The step numbers below match the numbered photos.
- Cream the softened butter and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add one egg at a time, scraping the sides, then add the vanilla.
- In a separate extra large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground lavender and salt together.
- Alternately mix part of the flour mixture and part of the sour cream into the batter.
- Add the blackberry preserves and mix until the batter turns an even berry color.
- Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
- Smooth the top, bake for 15 minutes at 300 degrees, then increase the heat to 350 degrees for an additional 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool, then remove it from the pan. Once it is completely cool, heat the remaining seedless blackberry preserves in a saucepan.
- Whisk powdered sugar into the warm preserves until the glaze reaches your desired consistency.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and top with fresh blackberries if you like.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Use an extra large bowl. There is a lot of batter, and it needs room for stirring; make sure your bowl holds 12 cups of batter.
- Always use the freshest ingredients, including the eggs, lavender and baking soda.
- Room temperature eggs and butter cream and combine far more evenly than cold ones.
- Do not skip the spray and flour. A fluted pan grabs onto any bare spot, and this cake is too pretty to lose a shoulder.
- Make ahead: once cool, wrap the cake well in plastic wrap and then in foil or a large bag for freezing. Make the glaze once thawed, right before serving.
- Glaze a fully cooled cake. On a warm cake, the blackberry glaze runs straight off instead of setting in ribbons.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
Serve slices after dinner with a pot of Earl Grey or a glass of blackberry iced tea, with a few fresh blackberries on the plate. The floral note makes it a natural for an afternoon tea menu, and it holds its own on a dessert table next to lemon bars and mini peach cobblers.
If you are building a whole spread, my tea party planning guide covers the table, and the leftover culinary lavender goes straight into lavender lemonade.
Blackberry Lavender Cake FAQs
With cinnamon and lavender, it is similar to a spice cake. The blackberry preserves in the batter tint the crumb and add berry flavor throughout.
This cake will taste great with or without lavender. If you use it, do not use more than 1 teaspoon, and grind it first so it distributes evenly.
This recipe creates enough batter for a 12 cup pan. If you use a smaller pan you will have leftover batter. Only fill the pan two thirds of the way full.
Use fresh culinary grade lavender buds, which are grown for eating. Craft or potpourri lavender can be treated and is often far stronger. Grind the buds in an herb grinder or with a pestle and mortar before adding them.
It is a large, heavy batter. The gentle start lets the cake set evenly before the higher heat finishes the bake, so the outside does not dry out while the center cooks through.
Yes, bundt cake is great for making ahead. Once cool, wrap it well in plastic wrap and then in foil or a large freezer bag. Make the glaze once the cake is thawed, right before serving.
Blackberry Lavender Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons of Vanilla extract
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon lavender buds Use a Grinder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 cup Blackberry preserves
Glaze
- 1/2 cup Blackberry preserves seedless
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Spray 12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray and flour.
- Cream the butter and sugar in mixer.
- Add one egg at a time, scrape sides. Add vanilla.
- In separate extra large bowl mix flour, soda, cinnamon, lavender, and salt together.
- Alternately mix part flour, part sour cream into the batter.
- Add Blackberry Preserves.
- Pour into bundt pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 300 degrees and then increase heat to 350 degrees for an additional 40 to 45 minutes.
- Let cool then remove from pan.
- Once cake is completely cool heat remaining blackberry preserves in sauce pan.
- Add powdered sugar until desired consistency. Drizzle on cake and then add fresh blackberries optional.
Despina says
Looks so yummy!
Ashley says
Hi there! Visiting from Skip the Housework. I don’t think I’ve had lavender in any baked goods besides macarons. This looks so delicious! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Pinned!
Barb @ A Life in Balance says
My favorite bulk food shop had lavender up front with the teas. I thought of buying some. Now that I’ve seen your cake, I will go back and buy some.
Jess says
What a great recipe, I need to pin this asap! Have a great week 🙂 xo
Heather Mh says
What a beautiful cake. It sounds so good. I love blackberries.
Diana Rambles says
I’ve really been enjoying blackberries lately! So yummy!
Kim @ The Baking ChocolaTess says
Love that you added lavender. Pinning and thanks for sharing. Visiting from the Pin Junkie Pin Party
Carlee @cookingwithcarlee says
How funny that I saw this on Foodie Friends Friday today. My coworker and I were talking about lavender in baked goods just today. I have only ever had it in shortbread cookies and she was thinking of trying a lemon cupcake that had lavender in the icing. We will definitely have to play around with it some more! This looks great!
Joanne/WineLady Cooks says
Thanks for sharing your Blackberry Lavender Bundt Cake this weekend with Foodie Friends Friday party. It’s a delicious Mother’s Day dessert. Pinning/sharing
We look forward to seeing you again soon with another delicious recipe.
A FFF co-host,
Joanne/WineLady Cooks
Lou Lou Girls says
Okay, I’m drooling right now! Looks so good. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you on Monday at 7, we can’t wait to party with you! Lou Lou Girls