Today’s Weather Forecast: A sweet mix of sunshine and clouds. Probability of celebration is 100%.
Did I mention that I have a bit of a thing for clouds these days? Yummy ones, that is (you may remember these cloudy sweets). Maybe it’s a subconscious need to escape the everyday, or to float above reality to la la land for awhile, but every time I bake (it’s been known to happen) clouds are on my mind. A little while back I woke up with an undying need for something lavender & lemon, which has also been known to happen, so I made some Lavender & Lemon Shortbread cookies — these little things are so delightful. I love the kind of shortbread that just melts in your mouth with all of its buttery goodness, and the recipe I use is one I’ve adapted from Joy of Baking–it never disappoints. I cut little L&L clouds and felt that they were just too cute to be gobbled up and long forgotten. So I decided to create some cupcakes to perch them upon, to celebrate the awesomeness that is Lavender & Lemon even further.
And it’s to not say that these cupcakes need to be cloudy, because are pretty special all on their own–the cupcakes themselves are light, tender, citrusy Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes, topped with tangy homemade Lemon Curd and topped with Whipped Lavender Frosting. If you’ve never baked with culinary lavender before, you’re in for a real treat–the lovely flavour of the lavender doesn’t come across floral, but rather compliments the sweet vanilla and lemon flavours like a dream (you just don’t want to overdo it by adding too much — less is more).
I also thought it would be neat to make my own cupcake wrappers for these, because I wanted something pastel and lavender with a cloud-like scalloped edge. I found a scrapbook paper that I loved and went ahead and cut out some wrappers — this is so easy! For the template, you can check out this simple post from Skip To My Lou. I snipped the tops with the “cloud” style (I didn’t make that up) scallop scissors from the craft shop and secured the backside with a glue stick. Once you learn this simple trick of making your own wrappers, the possibilities are literally endless. Sometimes the liners that we bake the cupcakes in look so cute and, unless they’re really thick, they absorb a lot of the grease of the cupcakes and a lot of the colour is lost. I can see making these little wrappers becoming a wee bit addictive!
I think these cupcakes would make the cutest and yummiest addition to any spring or summer party, shower, dessert table, picnic, birthday or, of course, a lovely Mother’s Day treat. I just adore this flavour combination, and it’s always fun to watch someone’s face light up when you tell them that they just ate lavender–suddenly they feel pretty fancy. It’s hard to not smile when you take a bite of summer.
Even if you stopped at making the Lavender & Lemon Shortbread Clouds, well I’d be okay with that too. They are such a tasty little treat and look pretty darling alongside a cup of tea. With only a handful of ingredients, they’re also pretty quick and easy to make. To make this cutter, I used a simple small flower cookie cutter and gently squished it into a cloud shape — it works!
Or you can always whip up some Lavender & Lemon Shortbread Unicorns and call it a day — the world will forgive you. (For those who will want to know more about this fancy cutter in particular, it’s made by Tovolo — I just don’t see it on their website anymore. Sorry!)
Or you can do as I do, and make the L&L Shortbread Unicorns, eat and share most of them before you can actually photograph and blog about it, then make another batch of the shortbread, turn them into clouds, make the following recipes, stack it all up and watch them beam . . .
Escape to La La Lavender & Lemon land . . .
- 1 cup 2 sticks (227 g) good quality unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup 60 g confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar/icing sugar)
- 1 teaspoon 5 ml good quality pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon 15 ml dried culinary lavender
- 1 tablespoon 15 ml grated lemon zest (rind)
- 1-1/2 cups 190 g all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup 75 g cornstarch (corn flour)
- 1/4 2 g teaspoon salt
-
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed (I use #4 on my KitchenAid mixer) the butter until it is smooth and very creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
-
Add the confectioners' sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract, then stir in the dried lavender and lemon zest.
-
Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until they are incorporated. Make a ball of the dough and seal in plastic wrap. Once in the wrap, flatten the dough into a disk and chill for one hour (at least--can be longer).
-
When you're ready to roll and cut the cookie dough, preheat oven to 350°F and place the oven rack in the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or two baking mats.
-
Roll the dough 1/4" thick on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut desired shapes, place on baking sheets and chill in the refrigerator or freezer for about 15 minutes.
-
Bake until very light golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheets on wire racks.
Cookies will keep in an airtight container for about 1 week, or can be frozen.
[cupcake batter recipe adapted from Canadian Living]
Here is the recipe for the Lemon Curd.
- 1 cup 2 sticks (227 g) good quality unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup 60 g confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar/icing sugar)
- 1 teaspoon 5 ml good quality pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon 15 ml dried culinary lavender
- 1 tablespoon 15 ml grated lemon zest (rind)
- 1-1/2 cups 190 g all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup 75 g cornstarch (corn flour)
- 1/4 2 g teaspoon salt
-
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed (I use #4 on my KitchenAid mixer) the butter until it is smooth and very creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
-
Add the confectioners' sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract, then stir in the dried lavender and lemon zest.
-
Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until they are incorporated. Make a ball of the dough and seal in plastic wrap. Once in the wrap, flatten the dough into a disk and chill for one hour (at least--can be longer).
-
When you're ready to roll and cut the cookie dough, preheat oven to 350°F and place the oven rack in the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or two baking mats.
-
Roll the dough 1/4" thick on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut desired shapes, place on baking sheets and chill in the refrigerator or freezer for about 15 minutes.
-
Bake until very light golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheets on wire racks.
Cookies will keep in an airtight container for about 1 week, or can be frozen.
[cookie recipe adapted from Joy of Baking]
- Some of the items I used to make these cupcakes are Stainless Steel Scoop
for measuring perfectly-even cupcakes, Culin
ary Lavender, and Nielsen-Massey Vanillas 8-oz. Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract
).
- To get frosting super smooth (no air bubbles), use a silicone spatula and in an aggressive side-to-side motion, pushing the frosting back and forth against the sides of the bowl (you will hear a sort of paddling sound). Do this every so often while you use the frosting–it keeps it super smooth. You can also add a few drops (just a few!) of water for ideal spreading/piping.
- Just a note about purple–all purple gel colours will yield a very different colour by nature, for example, Americolor Violet
is much more blue than purple (when compared), and Americolor Electric Purple
is more magenta than blue. Those differences in addition to the fact that you’re adding it to an ivory base (this butter frosting), can really alter the look of the finished cupcake, so you’ll want to play around with small frosting samples in bowls before tinting the entire batch. (I ended up making the frosting all over again to achieve the shade I liked best). Just be careful not to go too far with these concentrated colours, because it can get too intense quickly.
- You can find a wonderful cupcake wrapper template at Skip To My Lou.
Good luck & enjoy!
These are La la lovely!! Now I want to have a tea party just to make these pretty treats!!
Wow! These look so good!
Gorgeous, as always! I love the homemade cupcakes liners and recently made some myself using glassine and rice paper. So dreamy…and yes, addictive.
Oh Rosie, How I love to peak over at your website, so much dreamy cloud nine fun going on. I recently saw a stack of books Bakerella was looking at and I know its just a matter of time until you will have a book of your own among them all too . I wonder what you will choose as your cover?
I love lavender lemonade so the idea of turning it into a cupcake sounds so dreamy!
saw culinary lavender plants for sale yesterday at one of the dc farmers market and this post is pushing me to find one of my own this weekend . . . adorable!
Such a pretty cupcake with delicious flavours (cookies too :)!)
Beautiful cupcakes! I had no idea you could freeze lemon curd, I must keep that in mind. Making cakes and cupcakes in stages is so much easier / less stressful than doing it all at once.
I love these!!! So pretty in pastel. And I think I forgot to mention that I loved the cookies when I had one! So delicious! xo
I SWEAR you must have read my mind from afar I was just telling my mom this morning that I wanted to make lavander and lemon shortbread cookies I even went to our neighbors and picked some huge juicy lemons to make them with! See great minds do think alike!! :o)
These are simply stunning! Awesome job!!
Dreamy! I’ve been dying to bake with culinary lavender…maybe these would be a good excuse!
Oh my! I love anything lavender flavoured. I never thought I would like it because I had heard other people refer to a shortbread as tasting like dish soap — but I think they had a bad batch because everything I have made with lavender is so lovely! These look delicious, would be super fun to make with my kiddos too! I hope you come out with a book Rosie…I will be first in line to buy it. :)
I have to be honest, I don’t care much for lavender in food. These however look so good I may have to try them anyway. Thanks for the info on the unicorn cookie cutter, that thing is adorable.
Do you photo style your gorgeous children or did she just *happen* to looking all adorable in purple (love the tiny painted nails btw, so squee) when you took the photo? :D
I love these!!! They look amazing!
I’ve never worked with culinary lavender before because I was afraid that it would taste… well… plant-y. Glad to know that it pairs well with vanilla and lemon. Considering that lavender vanilla is one of my favorite scents on the planet (Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy… mmmm…), I’ll have to get my mouth in on the action and bake up some of these treats!
These look like little purple clouds from Heaven. Gorgeous!
I really love lemon and I’ve made lemon cupcakes before. But I really really don’t like lavender. I have a recipe for cupcakes that use lavender and I’ve been avoiding it …. but these look so fab I might just try it! :)
so cute, I love the look of them.
So pretty!
Rosie, these are darling! Everything I could want in a cupcake. And lavender? Yes, please. Seriously good stuff, as always.
These cupcakes lit my day, and made me really, really happy. They are so cute, and I’m always ok with some (sweet) clouds like these. A bit of summer is what I needed! Super lovely, Rosie! xo
So cute! I wish you were my mama so I could have adorable sweet treats all the time!
I wanna be your next door neighbor ……. Look heavenly …..
I cannot believe the timing of this post! I plan to host a lavender/lime color scheme party for my daughter in June and am wondering how you think culinary lavender pairs with lime? I would love to do your cupcakes replacing all the lemon with lavender…or if not advisable maybe i’ll switch to lavender & lemon. Looking forward to your expert opinion.
*can not
so, so beautiful!
Rosie – another fantastic, delicious looking post! Glad I didn’t see that awesome unicorn cutter last month when I made cookies for m 4 yr old’s rainbow, unicorn, and princess party or I would of become obsessed with trying to get one! Your work is so amazing, I love it!
Hi there, You can purchase the Unicorn cutter still ,on Ebay made by Kitchen Craft, not Tovolo…http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290884947898 .They ship worldwide.
That’s odd–it’s identical to mine, which is Tovolo. Either way, I don’t recommend using it, just based on the ease of use (or lack thereof)!
Beautiful!
These look absolutely heavenly!
What a wonderful combination of flavors! I love how you always bring every dessert up a notch :). Beautiful Rosie!
Hi, I’m from Australia and love your website and posts. You have such creative ideas! Congratulations on a great job!
These are so beautiful! Great shots for a great recipe! I can’t wait to try my hand at these :)
These look absolutely divine! I have been looking for a recipe with lemon and lavender and came across this one on Pinterest. As soon as I saw it, I went out and bought everything I needed to make them….I hope mine come out as beautiful as yours. The only thing is that your recipe for the shortbread cookies doesn’t include when to add the flour. It’s listed as an ingredient, but not as part of the directions. Keep doing what you’re doing, cause you are amazing at it!
Thanks, Kelly! And sorry about the flour info–I’ve added it to the recipe now. Thanks so much!
What a cupcake! I first tried baking with lavender a few years ago and absolutely loved it. These cupcakes look like something I would just adore.
Your cupcake taster has the most adorable purple fingernails! Okay, the lavender lemon shortbread made my sweet tooth do a complete somersault. The shortbread alone would be completely addicting, but coupled with one of those gorgeous cupcakes, I’d be in real trouble. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Your desserts are perfect, as usual! I love the way you take your pictures, everything look so light and bright. Your lavender cupcakes are simply gorgeous!
These are lovely and I’ve finally decided I DO need to get some Culinary Lavander which I’ve seen around in many recipes but never thought I really needed… until now. Thank you for sharing!
I have a serious crush on these ones. They are so cute and dream like
I am currently enamored of all things baked that are lavender and any shade of purple! Marvelous cupcakes!
These are delicious sounding and oh so cute too! I love lavender and lemon together!
Absolutely ethereal and gorgeous! You are awesome. :)
I am soo into lavender right now as well! It’s so versatile- lemon, chocolate, vanilla, peppercorn… I love it in dark chocolate truffles, and I’ve been using a lavender simple syrup in hot chocolate. Absolutely delicious! Your cupcakes look fantastic- super fresh and Spring-ready!
These cupcakes look adorable and I love the lemon and lavender combination. I can’t wait until my lavender starts blooming so I can try these guys.
Lemon, lavender, shortbread, unicorns…no wonder you’re feeling up in the clouds!
I just stumbled upon your website today and I love it! I’m really curious about the reverse creaming method and had a question! I’ve been experimenting with substituting oil for butter in some cake recipes – not swapping the butter out completely though. If I wanted to try the reverse creaming method, when would I add the oil? Seems like I’d aerate the dry ingredients, then add the butter and some of the liquid. Would the oil go in with the rest of the liquid later?
Thanks so much!
So perfect! I would love to make this for Mother’s Day, where can I find the Lemon Curd recipe?
i baked last saturday…in italy we’re usually to say MERAVIGLIOSI…WONDERFUL!
These look so gorgeous! Can’t wait to try them!
These look just amazing!! So incredible cute and yummy :)
Wow! Those are so cute! And they look so delicious! Thanks for sharing :)
So ethereal and beautiful. I really don’t think I’ve ever called a cupcake ethereal before, but if ever one was, then it’s this one. Just gorgeous, as always, Rosie!
I just made these and they came out beautifully! I adapted the buttercream a bit. Here are my pictures! http://cannellavita.blogspot.com/2012/05/lemon-lavender-cupcakes.html?utm_source=BP_recent
Hello! I am only a novice baker…Im only 17! Other than that this may be a funny question but how did you get your frosting looking like that? How did you make the frosting swirl so beautifully? Could you possibly post a tutorial on different ways ti frost? Thank you, I love your site!
I just made these as a test run because I am making them for the mayor and they are quite possibly the best cupcakes I have ever made. I followed the recipe exactly and they were perfect, I will make these again and again! Thanks Rosie :)
Hi Rosie! I love your site and have learned to love to bake thanks to your informative and beautiful posts. I am head over heels with swiss meringue buttercream (thanks to you) and wondered if you thought a lavender version of SMB would work as well in this recipe? Thanks!
Did you know your picture was posted on http://stuff.icanhascheezburger.com/2012/06/30/cute-kawaii-stuff-epicute-lavender-for-a-rainy-day/?
Hi Rosie!
My name’s Ally and I’m from Syd, Aus. I came across your blog the other day when i was looking for a good vanilla cake recipe (I made the classic vanilla birthday cake for my best friend and it was a success) and am slowly trawling through the pages of your gorgeous recipes.
I made these lemon cakes today and they are divine. Your website is providing me with endless hours of entertainment while I’m on my uni holidays! Baking your cakes are so much better then researching for my Honours thesis haha. Thank you thank you
Hi Rosie!
My name’s Ally and I’m from Sydney. I came across your site when I was looking for a good vanilla cake recipe (I made your Classic Vanilla Birthday Cake for my best friend’s 22nd and it was a huge success). I’m slowly trawling through all your gorgeous recipes and I made this one today. The lemon cakes were absolutely divine. Instead of lavender icing (unfortunately I had no lavender) I made a cream cheese icing which worked well.
Just wanted to say thank you for providing me with endless hours of entertainment! I really should be spending my time researching my honours thesis but this is just so much more fun. Thanks again for sharing all your recipes (and pictures of your beautiful baby girls!)
Ally
I love your recipes!! Just wondering, how do you get your cupcakes to rise evenly and all the same size?
rosie, i tried making this recipe twice (using whole milk the first time and heavy whipping cream the second time) and it was delicious! however, i was not able to get my frosting to be piping consistency like yours! :( any ideas what i may be doing wrong?? (i didn’t want to keep adding more confectioners sugar as it was getting too sweet…) thanks!
I made this for me and my twin sister’s birthday, and it was fabulous! Thanks for your great recipe!
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipes. I made these and my family went crazy. My husband, who is not a sweets lover, said these are his new favorite dessert.
I made these for 20 women at a quilting retreat and they were raved over! I absolutely loved them and can’t wait to make them again! Divine!
Where can I find the Unicorn cookie cutter?
The flavours, Lavender and Lemon, sounds delicious and wonderful for this time of year! Love the idea of the little clouds too.
I just made these tonight for Easter and they are GREAT (I may have snuck one, just to “make sure they were acceptable for guests”). However, I did substitute regular all-purpose flour for cake flour, and it made them more muffin-like than cake-y. However, the combination of the lemon curd (which is pretty much my favorite thing ever) and the lavender buttercream was just awesome. The lavender is very subtle in the frosting, but it adds a lovely spring-time note. I didn’t make the shortbread because, good grief, I had enough to do! Maybe next time, now that I have some left-over lavender! Thank you for the recipe(s)!
I just finished with the cake part of the lemon lavender cupcakes! They are perfect! Not to sweet but amazing flavor…I can’t wait to finish them off with the lemon curd and lavender buttercream. My mom and grandmother are going to love them….I’m putting them on the cupcake bouquet I’m making for them,!
Hi, Rosie,
at first – great thanks for blog, your recipes and your ideas!
And then a comment about the unicorn cutters – may be these, sold by the link could be helpful? http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=3670&step=4
These cupcakes are so lovely. I love the smell of lavender but I actually never thought about incorporating them in food. Thank you for this amazing idea!
Hi Rosie, I tried this recipe twice and followed to the T but the cupcakes shrank and pulled away from the liner. I even tried with different liners thinking it could be the quality but had the same results. Wondering if the batter was overbeaten? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Hi there, do your cake/cupcake recipes work in high altitude?? I’m in Colorado where the altitude is 5280 :) Thank you!!
I made these yesterday, got distracted and mixed up the butter portions on the 2 recipes. So my cupcakes were made with 3 sticks of butter! Suprisingly, They turned out soooo good..the edges were just a little crispy. Can anyone tell me if its just a fluke or can I do that with all cupcake recipes?
This recipe looks phenomenal! I want to bake these asap! Do you think I could use the milk and vinegar concoction instead of buttermilk? I have used it before for other recipes and it always worked.
This is so cute! Love the flavor combinations too!
I made these about a month ago and they were delicious! I’m coming back to repeat and now I can’t seem to find the recipe for the cupcakes/frosting! It just has the cookie recipe twice!! Oh no, need this tonight!! Please help!
I made these about a month ago and they were delicious! I’m coming back to repeat and now I can’t seem to find the recipe for the cupcakes/frosting! It just has the cookie recipe twice!! Oh no, need this tonight!! Please help! !!!
I would also love your cupcake and frosting recipe. I can’t seem to find them either!!
I wanted the cupcake recipe but the cookie recipe is showing twice, instead of the cupcake recipe :-( Too bad, we saw the pictures and were excited to bake it!