The old adage that simple is better certainly applies in the case of this Lilac Coffee Cake. A light dusting of confectioner’s sugar and some gently placed lilac branches is all this moist and spongy cake needs to look superb! A perfect early summer treat, served with a tea or coffee – it really doesn’t get any better!

It’s lilac season, so it’s time to make the most of them, because, let’s face it – the season is super short! Sure, you can pile them into vases and set them in every room in your home, but did you know you can also bake with them? Lilacs are great baked into desserts like this Lilac Coffee Cake! Don’t believe me? Bake one and try to prove me wrong!
I’m not a big lover of sugary sweet desserts, which is why this particular cake is perfect for someone like me. The dominant flavour in this cake is lilac, and the sugary sweetness that you are likely to find in other cakes is nowhere to be found!
Don’t mistake me – this cake is anything but bland! In fact, I ate a slice of it without anything on it at all. It is super moist and soft and so delicately sweetened. If you’re a lover of lilac scent, this cake is for you! And, because it’s such a mellow cake, it’s perfect for pairing with a little bit of whipped cream and a piping hot cup of tea or coffee!
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DECORATING SKILLS ARE NOT NEEDED
My Lilac Coffee Cake is the ideal cake for me because my cake decorating skills are terrible! The dusting of confectioner’s sugar is my lazy attempt at cake decorating. I’ve tried many times to decorate a cake using frosting and fondant, but I can’t seem to master the art at all. I’ve purchased the frosting bags and tips in all shapes and sizes, but even they don’t help.
I think the main reason for my lack of cake decorating skills is that I consider myself to be a comfort food, self-taught, home cook. When I was growing up, food wasn’t about pretty, it was about family, friends, and filling your belly! This, of course, was long before the invention of Instagram and the term foodie was born.
I love pretty things, just like everyone else, but I also pride myself on catering to the home cook, just like me, who doesn’t rely on a fancy cooking apparatus, who doesn’t have any formal chef training, and who has one goal: get a great tasting dish on the table. It’s that simple.
With that said, however, I do think that this cake is the answer to all of us who suffer from that damn cake decorating disease. (Yes, I just wrote that!) A cake such as this is not only super delicious and moist, but I think it’s pretty as well. And, anyone – yes, anyone! – can make a cake look just as pretty as this one does! If you hurry, you can just catch the end of lilac season. A few branches of lilacs are all you need to gussy up your cake platter!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE
You will need Lilac Infused Sugar and Lilac Syrup to make this cake. You can make the cake with regular sugar and you can even substitute the syrup with extract, but the end result won’t be quite right. The cake will still taste delicious, but it won’t have the strong, aromatic lilac scent and flavour I mentioned in the introduction. The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.
- Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature!
- Lilac Infused Sugar – Making your own lilac sugar is easy to do. I have the instructions right here. It does take five days to make lilac sugar, so you can use regular granulated sugar if you must. The cake will still be delicious, but will not be as flavourful nor as scented as it should be.
- Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
- Lilac Syrup – Lilac syrup is very easy to make at home. Click here for the instructions. It only takes a few minutes to make and a few hours to steep and cool. If you don’t have any lilac syrup, you can vanilla extract. The lilac flavour and scent will be less than it should be, but the scone will still be delicious!
- Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
- Baking Powder – This is used to increase the volume of the batter and to add texture as well.
- Salt – This is a common ingredient in baking and cooking. In baking it helps to enhance and balance sweetness.
- Milk – When a baking recipe requires milk, I always use whole milk, unless otherwise stated.
- Lilac Petals – Read the next section on how to collect and clean lilac petals.
- Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar. It is used in frostings quite often. When dusted lightly onto cakes and cookies, it adds just a touch of sweetness, but more importantly, it looks very visually appealing!
HOW TO MAKE A LILAC COFFEE CAKE
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Next, in a bowl, beat together the butter and the lilac sugar until well combined. You can use a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy – about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Finally, add the lilac syrup and beat to incorporate.
Next, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture until well combined. The mixture will be very thick! Finally, add the milk and mix it into the flour mixture. The milk will lighten up the batter.
Pour the batter into a nine-inch round pan that has been greased and floured. Tap the cake pan firmly on your countertop or onto a wooden cutting board to flatten the cake batter into the pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Test to see if the cake is fully baked by inserting a toothpick into the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is ready. If not, bake for another 3-5 minutes and test again.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the cake pan for fifteen minutes. Remove from the cake pan and allow the cake to finish cooling on a wire cooling rack. When ready to serve, dust with confectioner’s sugar and top with lilac branches.

HOW TO GREASE AND FLOUR A CAKE PAN
The experienced baker knows all too well that it is important to have a well-greased cake pan. Too many of us home cooks have had the unfortunate experience of a cake sticking to the pan. It happens to all of us at some point, but the more experience we become, the lesser the chance of ruining a perfectly good cake.
Sometimes all you need to do is grease the pan. You can do this with butter, shortening, or with a non-stick cooking spray. Other times, you need to grease and flour the pan. In this instance, you grease the pan with butter or non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle in a coating of flour. I like to add a tablespoon of flour to the pan and maneuver the pan so that the flour moves around the inside of the pan, sticking to the grease to create a wall of protection between the pan and the batter.
Ensure the pan is fully coated, then turn the pan upside down and gently tap out any excess flour. This will prevent those ugly white spots once the cake is fully baked. Here’s a quick video that will show you just how to do it!

HOW TO GATHER LILACS
Use pruning sheers to snip clumps of lilacs from your tree. Fill your kitchen sink with cold water and dunk the lilac branches, one at a time. Gently shake the branch under the water and then lift it straight out. Do this several times. Transfer the branch and/or clump to a salad spinner and spin out the excess water. The lilacs may still be a bit damp, but they won’t be impossible to work with. Don’t be tempted to overwash and over-spin in the salad spinner. Lilacs are delicate, so treat them as such.
Here are the suggestions that I have followed. These are suggestions that I have read over the past few years from others who have prepared lilacs to eat. First, only use lilac petals from a tree that you know 100% has not been sprayed or treated with chemicals. Secondly, pick petals from trees that are not close to busy streets or highways. Those petals will be dirty with gas and diesel residue.
Please use pruning shears. Don’t break the branches with your hands or saw at them with a knife. This will damage the tree and you will want the tree to stay healthy for years to come. Oh, it’s also best to harvest the lilacs in the morning before it gets too hot. The petals have more moisture content in the morning.
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SEPARATING THE PETALS FROM THE STEMS
So, I know that lilacs look gorgeous spilling out of large vases. And, every year, I have at least two large vases filled with them. But, they are great for baking too! Once you have cut and washed your lilacs, now comes to the tedious part. Removing the petals from the stems is certainly not hard work, but it’s tedious! This is how I do it.
With all of my washed lilac bunches in a large bowl, and a smaller bowl for collecting petals close by, I find a nice shady spot on our back deck. Next, I fetch a cold drink and get ready to harvest. Working with one bunch of lilacs at at time, hold the top of the petal and pull. The purplish-pink petal should release from the stem. The idea is to leave behind all traces of green. If you get a few bits of green, it won’t do any harm. But, too much will throw off the taste of your recipe.
This process is long and labourious. To make this recipe, you will need two cups of lilac petals. That doesn’t seem like much, but it takes some time. You should learn from my mistakes too, because the first time I did this, I did not sit in the shade. I ended up getting a sunburn! When all is said and done, the Lilac Coffee Cake is beautifully fragrant and gently sweet.

LEFTOVER CAKE
If you have any leftover cake, you can store it for 3-5 days on your countertop on a cake stand with a lid. Alternatively, you can wrap the cake well with plastic wrap. Even though the cake is safe to eat after being left on the counter for a few days, this cake does lose its moistness after a day or two. But, never fear! If your cake becomes a little stale, pop a slice in the microwave for 10 seconds. It will soften it up quite nicely. And, since it is now warm, it is a good time to add a scoop of ice cream!
QUESTIONS?
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Lilac Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup lilac sugar https://www.lordbyronskitchen.com/lilac-infused-sugar/
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons lilac syrup https://www.lordbyronskitchen.com/lilac-syrup/
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups lilac petals
- confectioner's sugar, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a bowl, beat together the butter and the lilac sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy – about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add the lilac syrup and beat to incorporate.
- Next, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture until well combined. The mixture will be very thick!
- Finally, add the milk and mix into the flour mixture. The milk will lighten up the batter. Stir in the lilac petals.
- Pour the batter into a nine inch round pan that has been greased and floured. Tap the cake pan firmly on your countertop to flatten the cake batter into the pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Test to see if the cake is fully baked by inserting a toothpick into the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is ready. If not, bake for another 3-5 minutes and test again.
- Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool in the cake pan for fifteen minutes.
- Remove from the cake pan and allow cake to finish cooling on a wire cooling rack.
- When ready to serve, dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Nutrition
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Suzanne says
This looks so good! What a great way to enjoy seasonal flavors!
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?