About a month ago it was my birthday, so I decided that I wanted to make a dessert to celebrate! (Yes I am posting this super late, but better late than never!) Now, usually, if you know me at all, you know that I would TOTALLY go for something chocolate, because well, that's just me. BUT I'd been wanting to experiment more with using essential oils in cooking, so I decided to try something that would be (hopefully) pretty good and that would allow me to try something new with the oils. Turns out, it WAS really good!!! I ended up taking the cupcakes to a team meeting (with other oilers) and they LOVED them- yay!
Side note: I ONLY recommend cooking with and ingesting Young Living brand essential oils. You can look at my
previous post to find out why it's the only company I trust, but even if you don't take it from me, Young Living oils are the only ones that are GRAS (generally recognized as safe for ingestion) by the FDA and are food-grade quality. Anything else you use migghhhttt a). cause the taste to be different and/or b). contain chemicals that might not be the smartest to ingest.
Anyway, I found the original cake recipe
here, and the icing recipe
here! However, I did make some modifications from the original recipes, since the recipes didn't use essential oils like I did. :-)
Got all the supplies ready to go!
I LOVEEE lemon zest!! Mmm! The recipe above originally called for the zest of 2 lemons, but I only used the zest of 1 lemon + 12 drops of Lemon EO. YUM. It was the PERFECT balance of fresh and tangy!
YAY! Finally out! The batter was thick, so the cake turned out to be more of a moist lemon pound-cake consistency, which was actually really delicious with the lavender icing.
Finally, after waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting....they were cool enough to ice. :-) The original icing recipe used dried lavender instead of Lavender EO. I just used the essential oil and it worked wonderfully! BUT you ONLY need 1 or maybe 2 drops oil. Start with less, trust me. The lavender is VERY potent and if you put too much, your icing will taste like a bar of soap.
Final touches. :)
Ta-da!! Lemon Cupcakes with Luscious Lavender Icing. Perfect for your next summer event, or the next time you want to try cooking with your YL essential oils. :-)
Yields 18 Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk, at room temp.
2 eggs + 1 yolk, at room temp.
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups gluten free flower, sifted
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temp.
Zest of 1 med-large lemon
12 drops Young Living Lemon Essential Oil
Directions:
1). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 standard sized muffin pans with baking liners.
2). In a medium bowl, combine and stir the eggs, 1/4 cup of buttermilk, and vanilla. Set aside.
3). The the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients, including the sugar, together on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and blend on low speed for 30 more seconds, then add remaining buttermilk and mix on low speed until just moistened. Increase to medium speed and blend for 1 1/2 minutes.
4). Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add egg/milk mixture in 3 separate batches. Beat on medium speed for 20 seconds in between additions. Stir in the lemon zest and essential oil.
5). Divide the batter between the liners, do not fill liners more than 2/3 full!
6). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 15-20 minutes). Be really careful not to over-bake. When done, place the hot pans on wire racks and carefully (they're really hot!!) remove the cupcakes to let cool. Allow to cool completely before icing.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk (give or take, play around with it until you get the consistency you want)
1/2 cup butter, softened (NOT melted)
about 5c. powdered sugar
salt
1-2 drops Young Living Lavender Essential Oil (I'd stick with one, personally)
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I don't recommend the pre-bottled stuff)
2 tsp. fresh lemon zest
Directions:
1). Beat butter and 2 tbsp of milk together in an electric mixer, add a nice pinch of salt
2). Add 2.5 cups of powdered sugar and beat until incorporated.
3). Add lemon zest and juice, and Lavender Oil
4). Begin alternating between additions of more sugar (about 1/2 c. at a time) and milk (no more than a few teaspoon's at a time). Taste test frequently to determine if you need to add more sugar or milk, based on the flavor of the lavender. Keep an eye on how thick it is becoming. Play around with it a bit, and make it how you like it. If the lavender is too strong, add more powdered sugar. If the icing is too thick, add more milk.
5). If you'd like, use gel food coloring to tint the frosting. Liquid food coloring has the potential to make the frosting runny, so stick with gel if you can.
6). For best results, chill the icing 30-45 minutes before piping on cupcakes (I totally forgot this step when I made it, hence why my icing looks more runny) :)
Enjoy and happy baking!!
If you're curious about how to get some Young Living oils, I can hook you up. Just
click here to read my post about it!
