Love it? Share it!

Light and Refreshing Summer Dessert Recipe

Lavender: I love the color. The scent. And even the taste — combined with sweet flavors like honey or vanilla and mixed into lattes, ice cream, shortbread … why not cupcakes?!

For a summer dessert that’s not too heavy or rich and just perfect when the temperatures start to soar, bake these lemonade cupcakes, made a little more complex with the addition of culinary dried lavender. Frost with the honey cream cheese frosting from my healthier fruit pizza — again, with a drop of lavender flavoring for a sweetly floral taste.

The pairing of the citrus with the lavender is just right: the tart lemon offsets the floral flavor so that the lavender isn’t overpowering, just interesting. Top your cupcakes with a lemon slice candy and a sprinkle of lavender buds for the prettiest summer treats.

These purple confections would be perfect for a tea party, bridal shower, baby shower, or other girly event — but for the record, it was #DoneWithFun Daddy who requested something lavender-citrus this summer.

You know I love my shortcuts, so this recipe starts with a French vanilla cake mix and adds a can of lemonade concentrate for that extra citrus tang. This isn’t a fluffy cupcake — the batter uses sour cream and cream cheese for a richer, denser cake that pairs particularly well with the fluffy cream cheese frosting.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure policy for all the boring details.

Print

Lavender Lemonade Cupcakes

Lemonade cupcake recipe adapted from GenuisKitchen.com

Servings 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Lavender Lemonade Cupcakes

• 1 can (6 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate (thawed — discard 3 Tbsp)
• 1 18.25-ounce French Vanilla cake mix
• 8 ounces light sour cream
• 3 ounces light cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese
• 3 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp finely ground dried culinary lavender

Honey-Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup grass-fed butter, softened (1 stick)
• 8 ounces light cream cheese, softened (1 brick)
• 1.2 cup + 2 Tbsp raw honey (the lightest color works best)
• 1 drop food-grade lavender essential oil or 1/4 tsp lavender extract

Instructions

Make the Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with paper liners.

   

2. In a clean coffee grinder, measure 2 tablespoons dried culinary lavender.

   

3. Pulse until finely ground. You may need to shake the coffee grinder while pulsing — just make sure to hold the lid tightly in place!

   

4. Make sure lemonade concentrate is fully thawed and cream cheese is softened before beginning to mix the batter.

   

5. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, add cake mix, ground lavender, sour cream, cream cheese, and eggs. Mix on medium speed until combined,

   

6. Discard 3 tablespoons of lemonade concentrate from can. Add remainder of can to the cake batter and mix on high speed until thoroughly combined, about 3 minutes.

   

7. Batter will be naturally speckled with lavender. Add 5 drops of Americolor Electric Purple and 2 drops Americolor Electric Blue gel food color to batter and mix to combine, if purple cupcakes are desired. Adjust food coloring to achieve desired shade.

   

8. Use ice cream scoop to fill cupcake liners about two-thirds full with batter.

   

9. This recipe makes 36 small cupcakes. To make 24 larger cupcakes, fill cupcake liners about three-quarters full.

   

10. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

    

11. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Make the Frosting

1. In a medium mixing bowl, add softened stick of butter and softened brick of cream cheese and mix on high to combine until fluffy.

2. Add vanilla extract and 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp raw honey. Mix on high to combine. Frosting will be smooth and thin.

3. Add 1 drop of culinary-grade lavender essential oil (such as Young Living Vitality) or 1/8 tsp lavender extract and mix once more to combine. For a deeper lavender flavor, use 2 drops essential oil or 1/4 tsp extract.

   

4. Allow frosting to chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes before adding to a piping bag and piping cupcakes.

   

5. Top each cupcake with lemon candy slice and sprinkle of dried lavender. (I cut my lemon candy slices into thirds.)

   

6. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve — frosting softens quickly at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

• If you do a lot of cake decorating, the Americolor Electric Colors kit is a much better value — this is the kit I use for all my pastels and my brights because it’s so versatile.
• All essential oils are not created equal. You MUST use a culinary-grade, safe-to-ingest lavender essential oil if opting for oils. That’s why I use Young Living Vitality. I trust the company’s purity standards and Seed to Seal guarantee.
• Jamie’s Hive to Table 100% Raw Honey & Comb is my favorite raw honey for this frosting (and for everything else!) I find it at Walmart, believe it or not.

I just can’t get enough of the pretty color, and the scent of the dried lavender. It was like a spa in my kitchen as I baked and decorated.

So, what do you think: yay or nay to floral flavors? Tell me in the comments below, share on social media with #NeverDoneWithFun and tag me to be featured in my Stories if you try this recipe yourself!

Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for more ideas and inspiration for cultivating creativity amid the chaos of #momlife.

For another garden-inspired dessert, check out my easy succulent cupcakes. No flower flavors here — just a perfect white chocolate buttercream crafted into intricate succulent shapes. Or make buttercream Oreo sunflowers to top your favorite cupcake of choice — they taste so much better than fondant flowers!