Lavender! So easily overdone – I’ve had several incidences of making shortbread and cupcakes with too much in and getting a mouthful of flower; completely overpowering and unpleasant to eat. I’ve done the same with violet flavouring, and let me tell you that DOES NOT taste good in a cake, much more suitable in a topping but even a single drop is powerful! Having seen the beautiful lavender flowers growing on the hedge around our herb garden, I was inspired by the lovely sunny weather and afternoon tea in the garden with cups of Earl Grey and a pretty cupcake to eat. These cupcakes have a gentle lavender flavour, I think I’ve finally got the amounts right!

I found some lavender sugar in the cupboard that I’d bought ages ago and never used. It had flowers mixed with the sugar and had gently infused its flavour subtly in the sugar. This was perfect for the cupcake mixture! You could make your own lavender sugar instead of buying it from the shop and storing it for a few weeks. Just turn the sugar from time to time, to keep the flavours mixing. You can pick it up from Waitrose too if you can’t wait!

The lavender is complimented by the vanilla (I finally got some more vanilla paste, hurrah!) which I think enhances the flavour.

I just got a new Wilton 1M tip and I haven’t made any cupcakes for a while – today was the perfect opportunity to try and do some piping roses. They’re so pretty and don’t need much decoration. But I wanted to mix it up with some sprinkles to accentuate the purples and add some lavender flowers on top, so I did a swirl with a spatula and added the toppings. I think the latter looked better, don’t you think? I had a bit of emergency with it, I ran out of normal icing sugar and only had royal icing left! I had to make it half and half and they seemed to come out ok, but I would always recommend using normal icing sugar so it doesn’t go hard. The recipe for the buttercream is from Primrose Bakery’s Cupcakes book.

{Makes 12 normal sized cupcakes}

1 hour 10mins (including cooling time) – Prep time: 15 mins – Cooking time: 15mins – Icing time: 15 mins

Ingredients

For the cupcake

• 110g self raising flour, sieved
• 110g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 55g caster sugar
• 55g lavender sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla bean paste
• ½ tsp baking powder

For the frosting

• 500g icing sugar
• 110g unsalted butter
• 60ml milk
• ½tsp vanilla bean paste
• Purple food colouring
• For garnish: purple sprinkles, lavender flowers

Instructions

Oven temp: 180° (170°C Fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4

1. Put your cupcake liners in the muffin tin.
2. Beat the eggs with the caster sugar and lavender sugar until light and frothy. About 3-4 mins with a mixer or longer by hand.
3. Add butter, flour and baking powder into the mix in two parts, making sure the first is well mixed in before adding the second.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake liners evenly. Place the cupcakes in the oven for 15 minutes, until they feel springy to the touch.
5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
6. Make the frosting: Mix the vanilla, butter, milk and half the icing sugar until it is nearly smooth. Then add the rest of the icing sugar. Add a little food colouring to achieve a pale lavender colour.
7. Frost the cupcakes however you like then add a few lavender flowers (rolled gently in kitchen paper to release the smell) and sprinkles.

As some of you know Lay The Table has taken a move up North – Leeds in fact, and that’s meant I haven’t posted for a little while as I haven’t had internet access at home. On the upside, moving has allowed to me the opportunity to finally get a herb window box.

We went with zinc window boxes because they looked prettier than the plastic ones and at £9.99 each seemed like good value for money. We thought we’d need to buy seeds but Homebase offers a variety of herbs in various stages of growth – many of which are on offer (4 for £10 etc). We bought:

• rosemary
• thyme
• lemon thyme
• chives
• oregano
• strawberries
• lavender
• and sage

As the window boxes didn’t come with any hooks to secure them outside, we bought some metal cable and secured them to the ledge outside. They’re in quite a windy location but they seem to be holding up well! Hopefully once we’ll bring you some beautiful herb recipes soon!

All told, it cost about £55, including 2x window boxes, 8 plants, plus 2 bags of compost. I’m sure it isn’t as cheap as buying just what you need from the supermarket, but I like the thought of being a little bit more self-sufficient, and if the plants are well looked after, we can keep them for a long time making them a little more economical. All items purchased from Homebase.