On Wednesday we created our delicious Lemon & Lavender cupcakes. We whipped up a batch of vanilla cupcakes, piped them with two-toned swirls of buttercream and adorned them with all natural lavender florets. The light, fragrant flavour of the lavender combined with a subtle zing of lemon encouraged us to think further about fruity and floral flavours perfect for the summer months.
The florets are a great form of decoration, especially in spring and summer, and prove to be the perfect way to bring the outside in! The soft bursts of fresh lavender are a fantastic addition to the creamy texture of the lemon & and lavender buttercream.
Makes approximately 12 cupcakes
For the cupcakes…
226g self raising flour
226g butter
226g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 Bourbon Vanilla Pod
Step one: Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 3/325F/170C
Step two: Cream the butter with sugar, flour and then the eggs. Add the tiny flecks inside the Bourbon Vanilla Pod and mix well.
Step three: Set out twelve cupcake cases in your pan and fill each case 2/3 full.
Step four: Bake from around 12-18 minutes or until a golden brown on top and leave to cool on a counter.
For the buttercream…
We make our buttercream using our own intuition. We’ve tried countless recipes; all of which failed to pass our test (and stability) tests. It’s best that you begin to develop and ‘eye’, ‘feel’ and ‘taste’ so that you know when your frosting is perfect for you. For starters though, the recipe below is a rough guide…
250g butter
250-350g icing sugar
1-2 teaspoons of Lavender Extract
1-2 teaspoons of Lemon Extract
Yellow Food Gel Colour Paste
Lilac Food Gel Colour Paste
855 piping tip/nozzle
Piping bags
Lavender Florets
Step one: Cut your butter into small cubes and cream your butter until soft. Gradually add icing sugar until a good consistency.
Step two: Separate your buttercream into two halves. Add some Lemon Extract with Yellow Food Gel Colour Paste to one half. To the other add Lavender Extract with some Lilac Food Gel Colour Pastee.
Step three: To get a fun two toned/dual flavoured effect scoop your lavender buttercream down one half of a piping bag fitted with an 855 piping tip/nozzle (this tip/nozzle creates lovely ruffled buttercream). After doing so the other half of your bag should be free for you to add your lemon buttercream.
Step four: Now you can pipe lots of generous and tasty swirls of buttercream on top of your cupcakes! Finish with a sprinkle of fragrant Lavender Florets and they’re ready to enjoy!
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