Blackberry Lavender Lemonade Cupcakes
Moist, fluffy, super-lemony cupcakes filled with bright blackberry lavender jam and topped with a perfect blackberry lavender buttercream. The flavors of lemon, blackberry, and lavender all complement each other without being overpowering. These cupcakes are as elegant as they are delicious.
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I feel like lavender is one of those timeless ingredients that was super popular five years ago yet which I still keep seeing here and there. And I’m okay with that. In fact, I almost ordered a honey lavender oat milk latte at the farmers market a few months ago but opted out to save calories for lunch. Balance and all that nonsense. I still think about that latte. I wonder if it’ll still be available next time I make it to that farmers market?
I did buy culinary lavender at the beginning of the pandemic, but all I did was make a lot of really gross keto lavender simple syrup (fun fact: if it doesn’t have calories, it’s not worthy of being called syrup). This was not a suitable substitute for the latte I skipped.
Recently, my sister gave me the perfect excuse to finally get all fancy and make blackberry lavender jam for her drive-by baby sprinkle. I mean, if you have to have a drive by anything, it might as well be as fancy as possible, right?
And how cute do blackberry lavender lemonade cupcakes sound?
As cute as they are good. Really good. Like, one of my favorite things I’ve baked in a long time.
How to make blackberry lavender lemonade cupcakes
The night before, cold infuse your milk with peeled lemon zest.
Make the blackberry lavender jam and let cool. Ideally, do this at least a day before to give it time to set.
Make the lemonade cupcakes. Process finely grated lemon zest with your sugar.
Sift then whisk dry ingredients.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.
Alternate adding half the flour, then strained milk and lemon juice, then remaining flour.
Bake 12-15 minutes. Let cool.
Make the blackberry lavender buttercream. See my note below about letting the jam double as your concentrate. You can also make this ahead.
Cut out about 1/2 inch deep/wide piece of cupcake and fill with jam.
Top with buttercream.
Enjoy!
Tips and notes for this recipe
Save time by letting the jam double as your concentrate
To maximize blackberry and lavender flavors, I made a concentrated blackberry lavender sauce specifically for the buttercream. You can reserve some of the jam for this, but the lavender will be pretty faint. One way to make up for that is to leave about 1/2 cup jam in the pot, add a little more (1/2 teaspoon max) lavender, and keep cooking that for 5 minutes then strain and let cool. This should still leave you with enough jam to fill the cupcakes.
Cold infusion and lemon sugar make these cupcakes!
Cold infusing milk is my new favorite technique. Yes, it takes planning ahead, but it creates this beautiful lemon flavor without risking you scald the milk if you were to heat the milk and lemon. And it’s honestly very hands-off. I also fully believe that pulsing the sugar and lemon zest makes a better lemon flavor. It releases the oils from the zest, which is key in getting that authentic, natural lemon flavor. If you don’t have a food processor, you could simply rub the sugar and zest with your fingers or stir and press against the sides of a bowl with a wooden spoon until fragrant. (However, I highly suggest getting a mini one! This is the newer model of the one I have, and how cute is this wireless one?!)
Store in an airtight container
While these are incredibly moist cupcakes, lemon cake/cupcakes are notorious for drying out. The oil helps keep these moist for at least 3 days, but to extend the shell life, you’ll want to keep these in a truly airtight container. Additionally, it’s best to make these as close to when they’ll be eaten as possible. I made mine the night before and they were perfect, even while being kept out on the lawn in these cute to-go boxes (which are so not airtight).
Make your own cake flour
This is incredibly easy! There are just two things you need. The ratio is generally that you replace 2 tablespoons of each cup of flour with 2 tablespoons cornstarch. So for this recipe you’ll want to use 1/4 cup plus 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch. You can measure out the flour, remove that much then add in that much of cornstarch, but I prefer this method: in my empty 1 cup measuring spoon, I add 2 tablespoons cornstarch. I then spoon in enough flour to go over the top and level it off with the back of a butter knife. Repeat for the second cup. Then, for one of the tablespoons of flour, add 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch then spoon flour over that and level it off as before.
After you’ve created your mixture, it’s imperative that you sift the homemade cake flour at least twice, ideally 3 times.
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Blackberry Lavender Lemonade Cupcakes
- prep time: 50-55 minutes
- bake time: 12-15 minutes
- total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes (plus cooling time--see recipe for what can be made the day before)
servings: 24
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup(184g) whole milk
- peeled zest of 2-3 lemons
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (244g) cake flour, spooned then leveled (see note above for making your own)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) sea salt
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cups (335g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (12g) grated lemon zest (2 large lemons)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (27g) avocado or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon (13g) vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (58g) fresh lemon juice
- one batch blackberry lavender jam
- one batch blackberry lavender buttercream (see note above for using jam in place of concentrate in the buttercream)
Instructions:
- It’s recommended to make the blackberry lavender jam at least the day before, so it can set. The blackberry lavender buttercream can also be made ahead or while the cupcakes cool.
- The night before you plan to make the cupcakes, use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest (avoid the white pith) of 2-3 lemons. Add this to your milk in a sealed jar. Refrigerate until ready to make the cupcakes.
- When you take the butter and eggs out to warm up, strain the lemon peel from the milk and let it come to room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 (350 if at high elevation). Line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
- In a food processor, pulse the sugar and grated lemon zest. You can also rub it together with your hands or stir with a wooden spoon, pressing against the sides of the bowl, until fragrant.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift then whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter on high until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the lemon sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl as necessary, at least once.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium until light and fluffy (about 30 seconds) and scraping the bowl after each addition. Add the oil and vanilla and mix on medium until well blended.
- Add half of the flour and mix on low until just barely blended. Add the milk and lemon juice and mix on low until just barely blended. Add the remaining flour and mix on low until just barely blended. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix on low another 3-5 seconds, just to mix it all. Don't’ worry if there are a few streaks of flour.
- Divide evenly between your cupcake liners, filling about ⅔ full (no more than ¾ full). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle cupcake comes out clean. Check early, around 10 minutes, as climate, elevation, and individual ovens can cause the bake time to vary.
- Let cupcakes cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Assemble your cupcakes. When the cupcakes are cool, use a cupcake corer or knife to remove about a ½ inch deep and wide chunk of cupcake from the center. Fill with blackberry lavender jam, just until level with the cupcake (don’t overfill).
- Frost with blackberry lavender buttercream. You can either use a piping bag and a 1M piping tip, like I did. Or you can frost with an offset spatula or butterknife, but start from the edge to help seal in the jam or it will spread into the buttercream (which could have a fresh, springy look if you want!).
Enjoy!
Cupcakes should be stored in a truly airtight container. If using a typical cupcake caddy, wrap the seam with plastic wrap to preserve freshness. Cupcakes will last 3-5 days at room temperature.
Split up your time by making the jam and buttercream ahead. Buttercream can be kept on the counter overnight or refrigerated 1-2 weeks or frozen 1-2 months, both in an airtight container. Jam can be kept refrigerated about a month or frozen up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature on the counter. If chilled longer than overnight, it may need to be stirred or quickly whipped with a mixer.