TASTE: Lavender Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Lavender Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting.
My gender reveal party ruined me. Ever since I tasted those delicious Magnolia Bakery and Sprinkles cupcakes, I've just wanted MORE. And since I don't want to use this pregnancy as a reason to eat the entire Earth, I'm trying my best to resist sweet-tooth cravings. Trying. My. Best. Well, all that went out the window when I glanced in my pantry and suddenly noticed those lovely lavender herbs. And in a wonderful flash of sugar-craving brilliance, this adorable recipe was born. I birthed it! (Prepping my baby speechin', obviously.)

I think this is a really great treat to make in honor of Easter. Especially for all of you who gave up sugar for Lent - this is a great way to break the fast! Yummy, pastel and fluffy, anyone can take a moment to revel in this precious-tasting confection. Go ahead, it's okay to make and share. Or hoard all alone in your bedroom. I mean, what?

Ingredients:
Lavender Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1.5 cups All-Purpose Flour (I like Bob's Red Mill White Flour)
- 3/4 cups Sugar (I use Sugar in the Raw and just blend it for about 15 seconds in my Vitamix to achieve a more refined texture)
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1.5 sticks of butter, softened
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 6 tbsp. milk
- 1.5 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp. dried lavender

Buttercream Frosting
- 1 stick of butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar (Also made in the Vitamix - Just blend regular sugar on high for 30 seconds!)
- 2-3 tsp. half & half
- 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
- Red & blue food coloring

// Steeping the lavender. Mmm. //

Method:
1. Bring the 6 tbsp. of milk to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat. Steep 2 tsp. lavender in the milk for 30 minutes. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tin with liners.

3. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.

// Beware: Too much time whipping up these frosted treats could result in a belly like this. (JK. You gotta do other kinds of stuff to get a belly like this.) //

4. Beat the 1.5 sticks of butter together with the sugar. Add in the steeped, strained milk (there should be no bits of lavender left in the mixture), along with the beaten eggs and vanilla extract.

5. Slowly pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture, taking a few moments to beat and combine, then adding a bit more.

6. Once the mixtures are combined, pour the batter into the cupcake tin, filling each cup to 2/3 full.

7. Bake in the center of the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden. Let the cupcakes cool for 15-20 minutes until completely cool. You don't want to frost while they're warm or they will get all melty. Ick.

8. To make the frosting, beat together the softened butter, powdered sugar, cream and vanilla together until slightly fluffy. Add the food coloring in, but don't add too much! Start with a drop of the red and a drop of the blue, then continue mixing/adding until you achieve the desired share of soft purple. Note: If you used Sugar in the Raw in place of white sugar, like I did, your frosting won't start out pure white. This will affect the desired color of your icing, so just bear with it and play with the food coloring. I still managed to achieve a purple-ish hue.

9. I don't have a frosting kit, so I just added the frosting into a large ziplock bag and cut a tiny corner out. I squeezed the frosting through this itty-bitty opening. If you want to add sprinkles, do so immediately after applying the frosting, so they dry together. Or you could skip this all-together and just frost the cupcakes with a spatula. And occasionally lick the goodness. Okay, lick the goodness a lot and just save a little to dress the cupcakes. Either way.

Voila! If you want to get really fancy, you can use a frosting tip inside your pastry bag. I kind of couldn't wait to munch on them... so I did it the quick way! And they're still so pretty! Oh, dear springtime, we're so ready for you!