I’ve gotten several recipe requests for the Lemon Lavender Cupcakes I made over the weekend. And so, here it is. Enjoy :)
Cupcakes
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ tsp. lavender buds
- ½ cup butter (room temperature)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup milk or half-and-half
- ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- Yellow gel food coloring (optional)
Filling
- ¼ cup lemon curd
Frosting
- 4 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
- 2 Tbsp. butter (room temperature)
- ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp. lavender simple syrup (1 Tbsp. lavender buds, ¼ cup sugar, ½ cup water)
- 1 and ½ cups powdered sugar
- Purple gel food coloring (optional)
Toppings
- Lavender buds
- Lemon zest
- Yellow or purple sugar, edible glitter, or edible pearls
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F; line a 12-count muffin pan with 9 paper liners. (Recipe yields 9 cupcakes)
- Put the sugar and lavender flowers in a food processor. Process briefly to combine.
- Tip the lavender sugar into a bowl with the butter. Beat together until pale and fluffy.
- Beat the eggs into the butter, one at a time, then sift in the flour and fold gently.
- Add salt and baking powder. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
- Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups. Bake for 18 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
- Use a paring knife to remove a “plug” from your cupcakes. Fill holes with lemon curd.
- To make simple syrup – In a small sauce pan, combine sugar and water and bring to a simmer until sugar is dissolved. Add lavender and simmer on low heat for 3 minutes. Strain liquid into a small bowl to remove lavender and let cool completely.
- To make frosting – Beat butter and cream cheese until well combined. Beat in vanilla and 1 Tbsp. simple syrup. Beat in powdered sugar, one half cup at a time. Add 1 more Tbsp. simple syrup and gel food coloring, if using.
- Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with toppings.
We also went to a chili and beer tasting cookoff, which was an exceptionally delicious dinner. We sampled 5 or 6 beers and all 17 chilis, catagorized as mild, medium, and hot – with cheese, sour cream, onion, bread and butter, and cornbread. Oh, man. Talk about good eatin’. Ted and I took notes so we could properly judge and cast our ballots. Clearly, we were invested. If you haven’t been to a chili cookoff recently, I’d highly recommend it.
