Cooking with Wine

PREPARE THE GLAZE
The night before you plan to make the cake, add 1 tablespoon dried lavender to a half cup of Elderflower Liqueur (St-Germain). Let sit overnight in a jar, then strain the liquid and discard lavender.
MAKE THE CAKE
Preheat oven to 350°.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, add butter and sour cream. Beat on medium until butter looks smooth and creamy. Scrape sides with a spatula and continue mixing for another 1-2 min.
Add sugar slowly and continue to beat until fully combined and the mixture appears light and fluffy - approx 3-5 min. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for another 1 min.
Break 2 whole eggs one at a time into a ramekin or small bowl and add to mixer. Wait until each egg is mixed in before adding the next. Next, add the 2 egg yolks one at a time.
Add elderflower liqueur and ¼ cup of the tonic water. The tonic water will make the mixture look curdled initially, but this will smooth out once the flour is added.
Add half of the flour and mix until the batter looks smooth, then add the remaining tonic, followed by the remaining flour. Mix for 3-5 more min until batter is smooth.
Stir in zest. If you prefer a stronger meyer lemon flavor you can add more zest to your cake.
Spray your bundt pan with non-stick vegetable oil cooking spray then dust with flour. Alternatively you can use shortening instead of cooking spray, but I find the spray more manageable.
Cook at 350° for 45 min or until a wooden toothpick/skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle. If you are concerned about the cake getting too brown, move to a lower rack.
About 10 min before the cake is done, prepare the sauce.
PREPARE THE SAUCE
Mix 1 cup sugar, with ¼ cup water, and ½ cup Elderflower liqueur, and the juice of half a meyer lemon in a saucepan over medium high heat.
Bring to a boil then add 1 stick (½ cup) butter. Stir until butter is melted and let simmer until cake is done.
Once cake is done, pull from the oven and poke multiple holes deep into the cake throughout.
Pour sauce over cake until thoroughly soaked. Don't be afraid to use a good amount of the sauce. Let cake soak for 10-15 min.
Place a flat plate over the cake pan then flip over and lightly tap to loosen cake from pan.
Remove bundt pan carefully.
LAVENDER ELDERFLOWER GLAZE
Mix 3-4 tablespoon lavender-infused St. Germain to 1½ cups confectioner's sugar, and add 1 drop of rose water (optional). Mix thoroughly. If you want the glaze to be thinner, add more liquid until desired consistency. I prefer a thicker glaze for presentation. To achieve the bright lavender color, I used a drop fuchsia and one drop purple Americolor food dye. Adjust colors as you see fit for your needs.
Place cake on a wire rack over a cookie sheet.
Pour glaze over cooled cake.
Pour extra glaze on as desired.