For a very long time, I have wanted to use culinary lavender. I saw a recipe months ago that used lavender in brownies and it just looked so fascinating. I was ready to make that recipe and...I couldn't find lavender in grocery stores anywhere. I checked Stop and Shop, Market Basket (who are we kidding? I doubt very much that I would have found lavender in their spice aisle. But I digress), Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, nothing. A search on Amazon found me lavender at close to $10, not including shipping and handling, which would have brought it closer to $20. I didn't need it that much.
At Christmas time I got a great gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma. I went off a few weeks ago to finally cash it in (when I would just look at the website online I found I wanted EVERYTHING, so going to the store in person just seemed like it might be better). I found a few fun toys that I didn't have in my repertoire of kitchen items, but as I was rounding an aisle I saw it: culinary lavender. For just a bit over $5. Done.
Okay, so now that I have culinary lavender in my kitchen, the question became, "what to do with it?" I could make those brownies, but then I'd still have nearly an entire jar left. Options! I needed options!
...and then we had our friends over for dinner this past weekend. I knew I wanted to make something with lavender in it for them. My friend Mia loves things that have lemon in it (remember this?), so I thought, "maybe I could do a lavender dessert, with a lemon hint in it!" A google search turned up lemon filled lavender cupcakes. Off I went.
Lavender is the weirdest thing to cook with. When I parceled it out into the bowl to use, I swear it smelled like the soap in my bathroom. Or a candle we have downstairs. It did not smell like something I was supposed to put in food. I went ahead anyway, hoping it might all turn out in the end.
The cupcakes were surprisingly easy to make, and really didn't smell overpoweringly of lavender when I was done. I had a feeling the lemon curd was supposed to be in the cupcake to help it keep soft and moist. I made that too, but next time I think I'll buy it premade. I'm always afraid of scrambling eggs when I do things like lemon curd, and I really think I did that with some of them. The curd tasted okay, but some of the egg kept getting stuck in the pastry tip I used to fill the cupcakes. If you're not afraid, go ahead and make your own, but if you hesitate, I'm sure jarred curd would work just fine. I used a different frosting than the one in the recipe only because I couldn't find lavender honey, and when I was ready to go ahead and make it myself, the recipe said I had to let the mixture sit for a week. Having only one day, I nixed it and went with a lavender buttercream I found on another site. No food coloring (mostly because I had no blue coloring to mix with the red I had to make purple) for the frosting, but no problems there.
The cake itself was kind of dry, but it was very mild with the lavender taste. If it weren't so crumbly, I might have had more! The curd (when I found it in my cupcake) was tasty, and helped to make the cake not stick so much to the roof of your mouth. The frosting was tasty but different, a buttercream that had lavender-infused milk in it. I'd definitely try it again though. They were unlike anything I've ever tasted before. It tasted like spring, and after the crappy weather we've had for the past few days, I needed it.
Lemon Filled Lavender Cupcakes (recipe from Yummymummykitchen.com)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. dried lavender
1/2 c. softened butter
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp. milk
Put the sugar and lavender flowers in a food processor. Pulse briefly to combine (a blender works too, and depending on the size of your processor bowl, you may want to do that instead to avoid large flowers in your cupcake).
Combine the lavender sugar and butter in a medium sized bowl and beat together until pale and fluffy, for a few minutes.
Beat the eggs into the butter mixture, one at a time, then mix in the dry ingredients and fold gently. Stir in the milk, then spoon the mixture into a prepared muffin tin (with liners or greased. I prefer liners).
Bake for about 18 minutes until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
When the cupcakes are cooled, take your lemon curd (either homemade or store-bought) and put it in a pastry bag filled with a small tip. Insert the tip into the top of the cupcake and fill it with lemon curd (be careful not to split the sides!). If you don't have a pastry bag (or a tip, and you don't want to use a plastic bag), you can pare out a portion of the top and fill it in with a spoon. If you use a pastry tip and bag, you can keep your cupcake intact! :)
Lavender Buttercream Frosting (recipe from Penguin in the Kitchen)
14 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 c. whole milk
1 tsp lavender
Purple food coloring (or red and blue to make your own) (optional)
Combine the milk and the lavender in a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
Cover the pan and let it sit at room temperature (take it off the stovetop!) for 15 minutes to help the lavender infuse in the milk. Then transfer it to the fridge for a half hour to cool down completely.
Beat butter and sugar together with a hand-held or electric mixer until well combined and creamy.
Add half of the lavender milk and purple food coloring (if using) and continue to mix well. Use your own taste on this: after adding in half, make sure it's not too strong. I actually found it too weak at this stage and decided to add the rest of the milk in. I also thought there wasn't enough sugar for me (I like my buttercreams a little bit thicker) so I added about another half cup. Feel free to add more or less to your taste.
Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes, or, if you're feeling particularly sassy, use a piping bag with tip to make them all fancy-like!
