Lavender Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Look how pretty things are today!
Lavender cupcakes, you guys! You have no idea how many exclamation points I want to use right now.
Lavender cupcakes are my new favorite way to welcome spring into this life. They are fresh and fun and delicious and beautiful. All the boxes are checked.
I have wanted to make these cupcakes for almost a year now. I had my first last year while on vacation in Boyne City and the combination was to die for. But then summer ended quickly, I never got around to it, fall flavors came into play and I had to wait and entire YEAR.
That’s tough for a millennial.
Anyway. Maybe that’s also where my cream cheese frosting obsession started last year. Granted I’ve always loved it, but this year I’ve been off my rocker. Cream cheese frosting everywhere! On everything!
As for the lavender cupcakes, I’m still kind of shocked that I love them. I mean, I love other lavender things (like I seriously can’t get enough of the iced lavender vanilla lattes in The Pretty Dish) but floral flavors are not something I go nutty over.
Until now!
And a big secret? I just used lavender extract in these cupcakes. I always make my own syrups and infused milk from lavender flowers, but in the name of easy cupcakes? Extract it is. I buy mine on amazon and you seriously only need a drop. So easy!
The cupcakes are straight up dreamy. Vanilla-y lavender cake. It’s fluffy and light and tastes so good.
But then it’s paired with the cream cheese frosting which is so super rich and decadent that it complements the cake in the best way possible.
Topped with a little spring of fresh lavender, they are almost too pretty to eat.
ALMOST. I’m not passing this up at all.
Lavender Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
lavender cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lavender extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
cream cheese frosting
- 2 8-ounce blocks cream cheese
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- fresh non treated lavender springs or flowers for topping
Instructions
lavender cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Fill a cupcake tin with liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set it aside.
- Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat it until creamy. Add the sugar and beat with the butter on high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the egg and egg white, mixing well on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add in the oil, vanilla and lavender extracts, beating on medium speed for another minute. With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the dry ingredients. Pour in the milk. Add in the other half of the dry ingredients and mix them on medium speed until the batter is combined.
- Fill each liner about 2/3 of the way full. Bake until the tops are set, about 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
cream cheese frosting
- Beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy. Beat in the sugar until combined. Beat in the vanilla extract. Frost the cooled cupcakes! Before serving, top with fresh lavender springs or flowers. If desired, you can add a drop of food coloring in (pink or purple) to color the frosting!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Now THIS is a perfect frosting to cake ratio if I do say so.
50 Comments on “Lavender Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.”
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These cupcakes look and sound delicious! Never tried anything with lavender before!
thanks natalie!
Jessica can I use regular flour?
yes! you can use regular all purpose flour – the cake may be a little dense, not quite as fluffy and tender as it would if you used cake flour. but the AP flour should work fine!
SERIOUSLY gorgeous.
I’m going to try and plant lavenders now. This is seriously the prettiest thing I’ve seen today.
thank you!!
Super stunning!
thanks liz!
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Do you have gluten lactose free ingredient substitutions? Thanks,
Steph
hi steph, i’m really not familiar with gluten free baking – certainly not an expert at all! i would look for a good gluten free vanilla cupcake recipe and then add the lavender extract. :)
These are so gorgeous!
thanks amy!
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These are beautiful and look so delicious. I just our the lavender extract on Amazon. I need these in my life!
thanks amy!!
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What frosting tip did you use for these? It’s such a subtle look
i used wilton 2A – it’s just the big fat round one! but i really beat the cream cheese frosting until it was super creamy, and that helped. I just put the tip in the center and pushed it out, then slowly lifted straight up!
Look incredible….totally intrigued by the lavender. Going to have to try
thanks alison!
Might one substitute a bit of lavender liqueur in lieu of the extract? It’s what I have on hand!
that sounds amazing!!! yes yes yes!
Would love to know how you frosted these and what tip you used. So pretty!
i used the wilton 2A – it’s just the big fat round one! but i really beat the cream cheese frosting until it was super creamy, and that helped. I just put the tip in the center and pushed it out, then slowly lifted straight up!
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Would lavender essential oil work?
Did you end up using lavender essential oil for these cupcakes? I was wondering if it would work, too and if so, how much to use. Thanks!
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These look amazing! Could you bake this into a cake and if yes how long would you bake the cake layers? Thanks so much. Just got me lavender extract!
Any thoughts as to where to get Lavender Extract? I looked on Amazon but shipping to canada is very costly and I haven’t found it anywhere else.
I have edible lavender (the flowers) but that’s all I’ve found.
I have edible lavender. Can I possibly make a simple syrup and use that instead of the extract?
hi wendy!! i wouldn’t do a syrup because you’d have to use too much syrup to get the flavor, and it wouldn’t work in the recipe. what i would suggest is taking your milk and adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of the dried lavender, heat it over low heat until just warm, then let it steep and cool for 30 minutes. this should give you some great flavor!
I have made this recipe twice now, the only thing I’ve changed from the recipe is that I used Avacado oil instead of vegetable oil , and I used dried lavender instead of extract.
Both times it has EXPLODED in my oven and caused the burned remains to catch fire.
The batter tastes phenomenal NOTHING looks wrong with it.
Is it because of the fact that I’m baking in Colorado and there was no suggestion for high altitude baking?
Im very sad and confused and have wasted my whole day with this.
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Hi! I made these for Mothers’ Day yesterday and my mom, dad, and I all LOVED them!!! Love this recipe!! I followed it as written. The cake and frosting are such a great combination. Thanks, Jess!
Just tried this recipe today. I used ground culinary lavender in place of lavender essential oil, and I think it gave the cupcakes a very rich, real floral flavor! Thanks for the recipe!
How much lavender did you use?
I believe I ended up using 1/2-1 tbsp of ground lavender. It turned out magnificent! This recipe is really really good, especially good with the fresh Lavender!
Thanks for sharing that tidbit about using culinary lavender since that is all I have on hand. Glad it worked well! :)
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Where can I find fresh non treated lavender springs or flowers for topping?  I’m just finding buds on Amazon.
These are quite frankly the best cupcakes I have ever made. They were moist and delicious for days. Thank you so very very much!
Can I use real lavender instead of extract?
I’d likevto know if I ca. Use lavender flowers instead of the drops. How much can I use.
I’d likevto know if I can use lavender flowers instead of the drops. How much can I use.