There is something so chic and spring-y about using lavender in a recipe and these cupcakes are no exception. Add a little lemon zest to the batter or buttercup and they will carry any special occasion through the summer. These are perfect for a baby or bridal shower or birthday – or just any ol’ day of the week!
The cupcake recipe calls for 2 cups sugar and I use 1 heaping tablespoon of lavender. Put the lavender in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse several times to begin to break up the lavender buds. Add one cup of sugar to the lavender and continue to pulse until the lavender is fully incorporated into the sugar. Add the second cup of sugar to the food processor and pulse two or three times just to incorporate – don’t pulverize the sugar into powder! It should just be well mixed. The longer you allow the sugar and lavender to sit together the more intense the flavor will be in the final cupcake. Culinary lavender is available ay many grocery stores but I encourage you to make a field trip to a specialty foods store just for the heck of it!
For the cupcakes – which are the closest I’ve come to recreating a classic bakery style vanilla cupcake AND are awesome because you don’t need baking powder (which I NEVER have at my house!) –
Simple Cupcakes
- 1-1/4 cups self-rising flour
- 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
- 2 cups lavender infused sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Pre-heat the oven to 350 and line two regular size cupcake tins with liners.
Sift the flours and salt together into a large bowl and set aside. (For what it’s worth, I totally use my mesh wire strainer as a sifter and put my bowl in the sink. Contain the mess, man!)
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar in three parts, scraping the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula, until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, combining well between eggs.
Combine the milk and vanilla and alternate adding the milk/vanilla mixture with the dry ingredients. Mix well in between additions but do not over beat! Scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly to insure the batter is well combined.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake tins (I use an ice cream scoop for uniformity!). Bake for 15 – 18 minutes (my oven takes 17…) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Do not over bake! These guys dry out kinda fast.
Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
- 3 sticks of just room temperature butter
- 3 c. sifted IMPERIAL powdered sugar (using my mesh strainer, over a bowl, in the sink!)
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3 tsp vanilla extract (a vanilla bean added in wouldn’t hurt…)
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter for 8 to 10 minutes until really light, fluffy, and pale. Add half the sugar on low (I use my measuring cup to slowly add the sugar so it doesn’t cover the kitchen in sugar dust). Then add the milk and vanilla and after it’s completely incorporated add the remaining sugar. When all of the ingredients are combined, raise the speed to medium and whip the icing for 5ish minutes. It will be so light and fluffy!
If you feel comfortable tackling Swiss Meringue Buttercream (with lemon!) – it would absolutely, perfectly compliment the delicate flavor profile of the cake. But regular old buttercream will do, too.
