Is it spring yet? I feel like I’ve asked that almost every post for the past month—guess I’m ready for it. Lately I start with a coat on in the morning and by the end of the day I’ve ditched the coat and am in just my t-shirt with the windows rolled down. But my car air conditioner doesn’t really work. Apparently. Oh well.But why talk about car air conditioners when we could be talking about lavender and vanilla cupcakes? I am a big lavender fan. I’ve tried my hand at lavender ice cream and marshmallows, so now I’m moving on to frosting. What I love about this frosting recipe is that it’s a blend between a more traditional butter cream and a glaze. What I mean is: this frosting oozes. And it’s awesome!See? Oozy. It’s not your average frosting. I love how it turned out, coupled with the subtle lavender flavor. Yum! But first let’s focus on the cupcakes. I tried a new vanilla cake recipe (always trying new ones, it’s fun to find new favorites). What I loved about this vanilla cupcake recipe is that they reminded me of sugar cookies. 🙂Vanilla Cupcakes, adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes. Makes one dozen mini cupcakes.
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
Cream together the softened butter and sugar, until the mixture looks whipped. Now add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between. Then stir in the vanilla extract. In another bowl whisk together the flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stir to combine. Stir in half of the milk. Then stir in the rest of the flour, then the milk.
Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.Lavender Frosting
1 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon lavender buds
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
purple food dye (optional)
In a pot heat the milk and lavender buds over low/medium heat. Allow them to steep in the milk for 3-4 minutes (or longer if you want a more intense lavender flavor). The milk should become very fragrant. With a fine mesh strainer remove the lavender buds and reserve the milk. Return the milk to the heat and begin whisking in the all the flour. Keep the heat turned to a low medium and whisk until the mixture resembles a liquid (pour able) paste, like gravy. Remove from heat.
Cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Now add the flour mixture and blend until smooth. If you plan to use food dye add it here. Begin blending in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until you achieve the consistency you want. You may not need all the powdered sugar, or you may use slightly more. It kind of depends on how thick your flour paste turned out. You want the frosting to be nearly solid but still have some ooze to it. 🙂Use a sharp knife to cut out inverted pyrimads in each cupcake. This creates a little well for the frosting to sit in.Garnish with sprinkles. That’s a step. It’s a must.:) Enjoy these! xo. Emma
P.S. Got a sweet tooth today? Check out: White Chocolate and Nutella Truffles, Mocha Meringue Pie, Sea Salt and Chocolate Chip Cookies, Potato Chip Brownies and Raspberry Filled Cupcakes. Yum!
So cute and they must be delicious! I would love to make some this afternoon!
looks delicious! I bought lavender buds a while ago and have been looking for recipes to use them with.
I’m making these for Easter! I will also be trying a chamomile version with yellow frosting! You guys rock!
This looks so great! Can lavender buds just be bought at any grocery store?
I found mine on Amazon
My mom adores lavender– I should bake these for her on Mother’s Day ^_^
xo Melanie
http://thehalfginger.blogspot.com
Looks delicious! 😀
yummy!!!!, se ve súper rico
I made these and put 3 drops of red and 3 drops of blue food coloring – BIG mistake! It turned out a gross gray color. How do you get it that pretty bright purple?
I took the cupcakes to a happy hour birthday party at a bar, and at least it was dark so no one could see the ick color! Tasted good though!
Lavender is my wedding color! Maybe I should serve these cupcakes…
Mary
http://balancingitblog.com
The icing looks so perfect, such a great color! I really want cupcakes now…
♡♡♡
http://ofdistantdreams.blogspot.com
Interesting frosting!
Sweet! I recently got a bunch of dried lavender buds, and I think this will be the next thing I make (I also know to lower the amount because dried is more flavor packed than fresh!). I’ve been making baked goods and decorating my room in hopes the rain will stop coming and the sun will stay! Happy Spring!
Oh solovely cupcakes sweetie.
Many thanks for this recipe.
Now I´m following you in Bloglovin´
I hope your follow me back.
xoxo
www.sakuranko.com
oh dear heaven, have mercy.
This recipe is probably going to make me gain a million pounds.
Just wondering what cake flour is?
they look delicious! not a huge fan of lavender but these sound nice!
Yum!
Check out my blog: http://www.valengostyle.com
Oh my gosh! These cupcakes look delicious! Frosting is one of my guilty pleasures 🙂
These would be absolutely lovely for national Epilepsy awareness day next week on March 26th since there color is purple. I work for specialist and I’m pretty sure they would love this!!
xo
www.leslimarie.com
These cupcakes look super cute and delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.blogpspot.com