Lavender Vanilla Bean Cake

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*This post contains affiliate links. Please read disclosure to learn moreWhen I think of june I think of flowers blooming everywhere and people starting to really get into gardening for the summer. So why not enjoy a lovely lavender vanilla bean cake that is light, airy and coated in the most luscious buttercream you will ever have?The lavender in this cake is very subtle and not at all overpowering as it is only found in the buttercream and is nowhere in sight in the actual cake. It's perfect for a cute little tea party or picnic get together.Now if you don't have lavender than that is no problem at all! You can use dried rose petals, hibiscus or you can even use your favorite tea if you want to! Or you don't need to use any floral flavors at all and can just keep it simply vanilla. There is no wrong way to make a cake flavorful and everyone has different taste buds.

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Above are some products that I personally use and recommend for this recipe and to have for everyday use. When I make a cake, I will always use 6 inch cake pans. Now you don't have to use this cake pan size, but if you decide to use a different size than you will have to use some trial and error with the baking time. Baking is a science! So adjusting baking times will always be a given especially since not all ovens work the same way.

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Lavender Vanilla Bean Cake

light vanilla bean cake with a lavender ermine buttercream.

makes one 3-layer, 6-inch cake

cake

• 2 cup cake flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean (scraped)
• 1 1/4 cup milk

buttercream

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp dried lavender
• 5 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• pinch salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter (room temp)

cake

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line three 6-inch pans with parchment paper. in a large bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk together. in another bowl, combine the oil, eggs, egg whites, vanilla bean, vanilla, and milk and whisk together. pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until fully combined. place the batter in the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. let the cake cool for 10 minutes then carefully remove them from the pans to continue cooling. wrap in cling wrap until ready to use.

buttercream

1. in a saucepan combine the lavender and milk and place over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. turn off the heat and cover with a lid and let stand for 30 minutes. strain out the lavender and place the pot with the milk back on the stove. whisk the sugar, flour and salt in a separate bowl and then slowly whisk into the milk. add the vanilla. turn the heat on to medium/high and whisk the mixture constantly until it starts to thicken, about 8-15 minutes. (this depends on if you have a gas or electric stove top.) once thick, remove from the heat. put the mixture into a bowl. place cling wrap directly over the mixture so a skin doesn’t form. let cool until room temp. once at room temp, place the butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. whip until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. add the flour mixture, a spoonful at a time, into the butter mixture. once the flour mixture is all added, whip on high for about a minute. the buttercream will resemble whipped cream.

Slice and Bake Cookies

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This was originally supposed to be posted back in February, but I got into a funk and just didn't feel like doing anything at all. So the pictures aren't the best but at least these slice and bake heart cookies themselves are pretty freaking great. Plus they're cute!

You can use this technique to make all kinds of cute slice and bake cookies. Instead of using a heart shaped cutter you could use a Christmas tree for the holidays or a pumpkin for Halloween. There are really so many different ways you could go about making these cookies as your own! You can even try to make your own design! How fun would that be?!

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Above are some products that I personally use and recommend for this recipe and to have for everyday use. One thing these slice and bake heart cookies have in them is princess extract. Now this extract is delicious and is one of my favorite things to have in my kitchen at all times. It's a mix of vanilla, lemon and almond extracts and when they are all combined they make an addicting concoction. 

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heart cookies

cute slice and bake cookies with a heart in the middle and surrounded with sprinkles. perfect for valentines day

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp princess extract
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• food coloring
• sprinkles

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. in a bowl, combine the salt, baking powder, and flour; set aside. in another bowl, combine the butter and sugar and cream together with a paddle attachment until fluffy, about 1 minute. scrape down the sides of the bowl then add in the egg and princess extract. mix until incorporated, about 1 minute. scrape down the sides of the bowl again and then gradually add in the dry ingredients.

2. separate the dough in 1/4 and 3/4. take the 1/4 amount of dough and color it with your desired color of choice. roll out the colored dough and using a small heart cutter, cut out multiple hearts shapes. stack the heart shapes and place on some cling-wrap and roll it. freeze the dough for about 15 minutes until firm.

3. taking the remaining dough, roll out multiple long ropes of the dough and then carefully mold them around the heart shaped log. freeze for a couple minutes until firm and i found it easier to rub a little water on the dough and then press the sprinkles in firmly. carefully cut the cookies with a sharp knife into 1/4 inch thick pieces. place on a lined sheet pan and bake for 10-12 minutes. let cool.

Spank Me Cupcakes

chocolate blood orange cupcakes with white chocolate raspberry ganache

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These spank me cupcakes are filled with a pop of intense flavor. Chocolate, blood orange, raspberry. It's a party in your mouth. Plus that name though! The name was inspired by the sprinkles. My mom signed me up for a sprinkle subscription box with Fancy Sprinkles, so every month I get a box of 3 new bottles of sprinkles and they each come with a unique name. This particular bottle was called "spank me", so of course it sounded super naughty and thought it would be a good fit for a valentine's day cupcake.

Change it up!

Instead of making these spank me cupcakes with blood orange, which can be hard to find, just replace it with the juice of a regular orange. Blood orange is a winter fruit, and not all grocery stores will have it, so it can be pretty hard to find.

Instead of doing raspberry in the ganache, you can easily do strawberry or even blueberry if you want. Or you can just keep it as a simple white chocolate ganache. It really doesn't matter what you do, it's really just there to add some more flavor and make it a lot more fun.

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Products I recommend for making this dessert.

Above are some products that I personally use and recommend for this recipe and to have for everyday use. My absolute favorite is the BlueQ oven mitts. I have a collection of them and I love them! They are great quality and it’s nice to have a kitchen item with a sense of humor.

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spank me cupcakes

a dark chocolate blood orange cupcake that is filled with a raspberry white chocolate ganache and a simple buttercream

cupcakes

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup blood orange juice
• 1 tbsp blood orange zest
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

ganache

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 3/4 cup white chocolate

buttercream

• 3 sticks salted butter
• 4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-3 tbsp heavy cream

cupcakes

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line cupcake pans with liners. in a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt and mix until incorporated. in another bowl, combine the oil, eggs, blood orange juice and zest, vanilla, and buttermilk and whisk together. pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until fully combined. scoop the batter in the cupcake pan and bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. let the cake cool for 10 minutes before frosting.

ganache

1. combine the heavy cream and raspberries in a small bowl and microwave for 1 minute. stir and mash the raspberries then strain through a fine-mesh sieve. add in the white chocolate and microwave for another 30 seconds until the chocolate has melted. let chill until cool.

buttercream

1. put all of the ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. start slow and then gradually increase the speed. whip on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.