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 . . .
Lavender Shortbread Cookies
- 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.
For The Cupcakes
- For the Cupcakes:
- 1 cup (240 ml) (8 oz) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (230 g) cake flour, sifted
- 1-1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoon (8 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon (2 g) salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) (115 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Finely grated lemon zest (rind) of two medium-large lemons
- For the Frosting:
- 3 sticks (340 g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
- 3.5 cups (400 g) confectioners”™ sugar, sifted
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) whipping cream (35% cream), or whole milk
- 1 tablespoon dried Culinary Lavender
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare two standard muffin pans with your favourite baking liners and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the eggs, 1/4 cup of buttermilk, and vanilla. Set aside.Sift the cake flour 3 times.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients, including the sugar, together on low speed (I use the “stir” setting on my mixer) for 30 seconds.
4. Add the butter and blend on low speed for about 30 seconds, then add remaining 3/4 cup of buttermilk, and mix on low speed until just moistened. Increase to medium speed and mix for 1 1/2 minutes.
5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg/milk mixture in 3 separate batches; beat on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition. Stir in the lemon zest.
6. Divide the batter into your prepared liners, no more than 2/3 full.
7. Bake until a toothpick comes clean when inserted into the center of the cupcake (~15 minutes). Be so careful to not over-bake. Place hot baking pans on wire racks, then carefully (they”™re hot!) remove the cupcakes from the baking pans immediately to let cool. Let cool completely before frosting.
2. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the eggs, 1/4 cup of buttermilk, and vanilla. Set aside.Sift the cake flour 3 times.
4. Add the butter and blend on low speed for about 30 seconds, then add remaining 3/4 cup of buttermilk, and mix on low speed until just moistened. Increase to medium speed and mix for 1 1/2 minutes.
5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg/milk mixture in 3 separate batches; beat on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition. Stir in the lemon zest.
6. Divide the batter into your prepared liners, no more than 2/3 full.
Sweetapolita's Notes:
- 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 also achieve a similar shade with Sweetapolita Pretty Purple Oil Based Food Colour!
- You can find a wonderful cupcake wrapper template at Skip To My Lou.
for measuring perfectly-even cupcakes, 
ary Lavender
).
is much more blue than purple (when compared), and 
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 also achieve a similar shade with Sweetapolita 
