Lemon Cupcakes with Lavender Icing

These lemon cupcakes with lavender icing are a match made in heaven.

I stumbled across lavender syrup during one of my day trips and have since fallen deeply in love with this delicious purple floral elixir from Steed & Company Lavender Farm.

The first recipe with this syrup involved cocktail hour – a bubbly Lemon Lavender Fizz Cocktail. But now, it’s time to move on to my favourite course – dessert!

Because lemon and lavender paired so well in the cocktail – time to give it a try in cupcake formation!

lavender cupcakes

Lemon Cupcakes with Lavender Icing

Ingredients

  • Box of lemon cake mix (and the ingredients necessary to make the cake)
  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 1/4 cup of Crisco
  • 4 tbsp. lavender syrup
  • 2.5 cups icing sugar (plus extra, if needed)
  • Violet gel food colouring
  • Coarse sugar and dried lavender stem (optional, as these are decorative)

Directions

  1. Bake cupcakes according to box instructions.
  2. Once cooled, poke holes in the top of the cupcakes with toothpick.
  3. Dip pastry brush in small bowl with 1 tbsp. of lavender syrup and brush over the tops of cupcakes. (you may need more/less syrup depending on how many cupcakes your box makes). Set aside.
  4. In stand mixer, blend together butter and Crisco until combined.
  5. Add remaining 3 tbsp of lavender syrup and mix well.
  6. Add in icing sugar, 1 cup at a time and blending until smooth until you achieve the right consistency. Again, you may need to add more/less icing sugar depending on how soft or hard you like your icing.
  7. Add small amt. of gel food colouring and mix to get the desired colour.
  8. Decorate your cupcakes with icing.
  9. Top icing with a sprinkle of coarse sugar and dried sprig of lavender (optional).

Joyful Hostess Tip : When using gel food colouring, a little goes a loooong way. To achieve a softer pastel colour, use a toothpick to apply a tiny amount into the icing and blend. If the colour is too light, repeat the process until you get the desired effect.

hydrangea cupcake trends 2023

Need a no-fail buttercream icing for your next cupcake recipe? Here’s the recipe I used when I was a cake decorator – so you know it works! 😉 Happy decorating!