A wonderfully light summertime treat - these are a perfect contribution to potlucks, barbecues, and the like. I used this recipe.
I have only made these as mini-cupcakes, and I suspect they work best that way. The cream-to-cake ratio is perfect, and their cloudlike texture is complemented well by their delicate size.
The base is a plain vanilla cupcake, a nice frame for the other flavors.
The filling is a delicious, light, lavender-infused cream. Tiny dried lavender flowers are heated in a simple syrup of sugar and water until their sweet perfume fragrances the air. Then the flowers are strained and discarded, and the flavored syrup is drizzled slowly into freshly whipped cream. When people hear that these are lavender cream cupcakes, they tend to make the easy assumption that the lavender cream is the purple stuff on top...alas, the airy lavender cream is actually white in color, with a dollop tucked within each little cake. This is one cupcake in which I save the caps of the middles to cover the filling. With a heavier filling, I feel confident that the frosting and the filling will stay separate as they should, but with a filling as light as this one, it seems that it would just float away without a cake cap to hold it down. I still recommend eating the rest of the middles though.
Topping these confections is citrus cream cheese, tinted lavender, which is confusing but pretty. The citrus flavor can come from any combination of orange, lemon, and lime juice and zest. I use all three fruits when I make these cupcakes. Sprinkled over the frosting of my cupcakes is additional citrus zest - the bright orange, yellow, and green look striking on a pale purple background. In the original recipe, she recommends sprinkling additional dried lavender flowers over the cakes. I prefer the brighter colors and subtle effect of the zested fruit, and feel that citrus zest is more familiar and likely to be eaten than shriveled lavender flowers. Fresh lavender flowers, on the other hand, would be just lovely. Perhaps next time!
