My Lavender Cupcake Recipe

As made for my good friend Amy and her new Husband Mark (Mentioned in a previous link : )

I thought it was only fair to share this tasty and summery recipe.

Do let me know if you enjoy trying this : )

Lavender Sugar:

Fill a Jar with Caster Sugar, and chop up roughly a couple of handfuls of freshly picked lavender.
Close the jar lid tight and leave for a week (Longer for a stronger taste)
Sieve the sugar to separate the dry lavender from the sugar, then use to bake/put in tea, whatever you wish to do with it.
(When baking, i used some fresh lavender, finely chopped to give the cupcakes some bite and colour, but this is optional).

Lavender Cupcakes:

(Adapt how you wish...i did make up this recipe, so you can add/remove/tinker to your hearts content : )

Makes 12
I did double this recipe to make more.

For the Sponge:

115g butter, softened
115g caster sugar (Lavender Sugar used)
175g self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk ( I used Skimmed)
Fresh Lavender, finely chopped.

For the Icing:

225g unsalted butter, softened (Room Temp is fine)
5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
450g icing sugar, sifted
40ml (2.5 tbsp) cold water

Purple Colouring for icing (Optional)
Sweets such as Love Hearts to Decorate (Optional)

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180*c and prepare a muffin/cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (Use an electric hand-held mixer to make easy work of this), then add the eggs and whisk in, one at a time until combined. Add the milk,  and mix in with a spatula until fully combined with the mixture.
Sift in the flour and fold gently until blended with the wet mixture.
Add the fresh lavender, should you wish to add this to the mixture.

2) Divide the cake mixture between your 12 cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. (Mine took nearer to 15 minutes).
Leave them on a wire rack to cool completely.

3) For the butter cream, beat the butter until soft with a hand mixer. Alternatively, you can use a food processor. Gradually beat in the icing sugar and water together.
Continue beating until frosting is light and fluffy. Towards the end, add the vanilla extract.

4) Using a piping bag, pipe the butter cream over the cake swirling movement (Mister Whippy style!) to cover the top of the sponge.
Place a Sweet on top to decorate.

5) Enjoy....possibly with a fork should you wish to be civilised : )




J x