Last weekend we were invited to a birthday party at the beach which called for some baking. Rather than tackle something new (never a good idea with me if you’re relying on it turning out respectable!), I turned to one of my all time favourite recipes, which always goes down well: lavender cupcakes. These are really simple to make by adapting your own basic cupcake recipe & have a lovely delicate, summery flavour.
The recipe
To start with infuse about 125ml milk (although I normally use cows milk, I don’t see why a non-dairy alternative wouldn’t work) with lavender (6-8 springs) by bringing to the boil in a saucepan then removing from the heat & covering with foil for around 20 mins before staining.
Then follow your own basic cupcake recipe (I use Nigella Lawson’s ‘fairy cakes’ one) but reduce the amount of vanilla essence (if using). At the end, add in 2-3 tablespoonfuls of the lavender milk to your batter to loosen the mixture.
Cook as you normally would then make up the icing/frosting by mixing icing sugar with the remaining lavender milk till you get the consistency you want. I add a little food colouring to the icing to make them a lovely pastel purple colour but you can leave this out if you prefer a more natural look!
I had fun decorating these in 3 different styles: yellow & purple sugar stars, multi-coloured ‘hundreds and thousands’ (sugar strands) & a sprinkle of fresh lavender petals – so pretty!
As usual, Molly was attracted to the kitchen by the sound of the electric whisk – she has got it into her head that just because I let her do it once (the time I baked liver brownies) she gets to lick the bowl whenever I do any baking! & what can I say… it’s not as if the bowl doesn’t get washed thoroughly afterwards… 
Feeling rather inspired by all the lavendery goings on, I curated a Treasury featuring some lovely items being sold by my fellow EFA & McEtsy team members. Can’t you just smell the lavender…
& did you know that lavender makes a great food for bunnies & guinea pigs? Not only do they enjoy nibbling on it, but it also masks any less-wanted odours. EFA member, Nicole of Brizel 4 The Animals is selling some of her organically home grown lavender mixed with rosemary as treats for these little furries. It’s a shame greyhounds seem to enjoy it more in cake form!!
Bunny Guinea Treats lavender rosemary Organic Mix 2 ounces
Description
A special dry mix of french lavender and spanish rosemary are up for grabs in this listing… bunnies and guineas alike can delight on these treats !
You can mix it in the hay or drop little nibbles as you so desire. The herbs are tasty, yummy in fact, and since the mix has a beautiful natural scent its great for odor control too 
Organically home grown on my land, far far away from city smog, up in the mountains of Northern California
