Honestly, I hate lavender. There’s so few ingredients I don’t like but this is one. When my friend Fion requested lavender for her birthday, I got a bit nervous. I’ve never worked with lavender and since I dislike it, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to tell if my final product tasted right. I convinced myself that I should muster up the courage, and it wasn’t all that bad. I found fresh lavender at the farmer’s market, and I was lucky to find one with little purple flowers that I could decorate with. (Some varieties of lavender in the market didn’t have flowers.) I adapted from a well reviewed recipe to be safe and I think these turned out to be lovely little birthday cakes.
Lavender Cupcakes with Lime Glaze
~makes about 14 cupcakes
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh lavender leaves
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
Instructions –
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Heat milk and lavender in a small pot just until it starts to simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugar. (You can do it by hand of stand mixer.) Add eggs and beat until well combined.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter/sugar/egg mixture, then half of the milk, another third of flour, the rest of the milk, and the last third of flour. If you are using a stand mixer, stop using the mixer for the last addition of flour. Fold it in by hand, just until mixed.
5. Spoon into muffin cups, about 2/3 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes or untl toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Remove to wired racks and cool completely before topping with glaze.
6. To make the glaze, stir lime juice into confectioner’s sugar, until smooth. Put cupcakes on a wire rack with something to catch drippings underneath. Spoon the glaze over the cupcakes and garnish with lavender flowers.
