Last Updated on September 1, 2022 by Sabrina Currie
Creamy vanilla lavender buttercream frosting is beautifully fragrant with a delicate floral flavor. This adds extra delicious flavor to vanilla, lavender and lemon cakes, cookies and cupcakes too. With only 5 minutes of active time, this is done in a snap! (V, GF and DF option)
The most romantic and inspired flavor for weddings, bridal and baby showers, aromatic lavender frosting is heavenly. Use this on regular cakes, as the filling for sandwich cookies or top lavender cupcakes for the ultimate sweet treat. If you don't have lavender, you can order French culinary lavender here.
This American buttercream recipe is quick, easy and made with basic ingredients. I made this especially to pair with my Lavender Earl Grey Cake. (If you like cream cheese icing, check out the frosting for Easy Banana Bread Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting or the Cheesecake Frosting on these Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies. It can be used for cakes as well.)
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This was inspired by my Traditional Lavender Milk Tea and pairs well with this small Chocolate Cake Recipe too. For more yummy lavender tips, check out Best Ways To Preserve (And Use) Your Lavender.
Ingredients
Just 5 main ingredients and optional lemon juice and zest whip up into this extra special lavender buttercream recipe.
- Culinary Lavender - Using fresh lavender flowers or dried lavender buds steeped in milk makes for a more natural lavender flavor than using lavender extract (a decent second choice) or lavender essential oil (not recommended). Culinary grade simply means it's kept clean of dirt or other contaminants. Lavandula angustifolia, aka English lavender is the most commonly used cooking lavender, though many other species are edible and delicious too. If you grow your own lavender without herbicides or pesticides, your own lavender is culinary grade.
- Milk - I've used whole milk and recommend that but you can use cream, 1% or 2% MF milk if you prefer.
- Butter - Unsalted butter is the baking standard. If you use salted butter, do not add any extra salt to the frosting.
- Optional Lemon - Adding a small amount of fresh lemon zest and lemon juice really wakes up this frosting and is excellent when paired with the lavender earl grey cake. A hint of lemon really goes well with vanilla and lavender cakes.
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Video
Instructions
Start by steeping the lavender flowers in milk and letting cool to room temperature. From there, everything gets beaten thoroughly into a silky smooth, creamy frosting. Easy, right?!
Place milk in a small saucepan and place on medium heat until steaming, stirring occasionally. (Be careful not to scorch/burn the milk.)
Remove from heat, add lavender and let steep until milk comes back down to room temperature.
This can be expedited by putting it in the refrigerator after the lavender has steeped for at least 5 minutes.
Strain milk through a tea strainer or fine mesh sieve into a small bowl to remove lavender flower from the milk.
In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add lavender steeped milk, butter,
powdered sugar, vanilla and salt.
Beat with stand mixer and paddle attachment or electric handheld mixer until smooth and sit forms stiff peaks. Add lemon zest and juice if using and beat again.
(If you don't have a hand mixer, you can make this in a food processor instead, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.)
Keep covered until ready to use to retain the smoothest frosting texture - icing will dry and form crust quickly.
If you are going to decorate the cake by piping, place ½ of frosting into a pastry bag (aka piping bag) fitted with your desired piping tip.
How To Frost A Cake
- Spread a thin layer of icing on your cake plate. This will help the cake stick to the plate without sliding around (or off!)
- Level first cake layer by slicing any high parts off horizontally as needed and place top side up the cake plate.
- Apply a few small dollops over the top of the cake and spread into a thin layer of frosting on the first layer of cake.
- Level the second layer if needed, and place on top of the frosted layer, top side down.
- Frost with a thin layer of crumb coat and let it dry slightly to form a crust.
- Finish by icing with a thicker layer of top coat, smoothing with an offset spatula dipped in hot water if you like.
- Decorate as desired!
Substitutions
Real butter gives excellent creamy flavor to buttercream. If you are vegan or don't tolerate milk well, you can make the following substitutions.
- Dairy Free and Vegan - You can use your favorite, unsweetened plant based milk and vegan hard margarine in this frosting to make it DF and Vegan. Choose the best quality margarine you can as this will greatly affect the flavor of the finished frosting.
- Lemon Extract - If you don't have a fresh lemon, you can substitute ¼ teaspoon of lemon extract if you like.
Variations
- Color - The lavender used doesn't impart any color. If you would like, add in a few drops of food coloring to achieve a pale lavender color. If it looks too blue, add a drop or two of red or pink food coloring too.
Equipment
A stand mixer with paddle attachment makes this easy but an electric hand mixer and sturdy bowl will work just as well.
You can use a food processor for this too. Just combine all ingredients into the bowl of the processor and process until frosting consistency is creamy and smooth.
Storage
Lavender buttercream frosting will easily last a week in the refrigerator if kept covered. It may keep longer but if you plan to keep it longer, I recommend freezing it.
To freeze frosting, place it in an airtight container in the freezer. It will keep for 3+ months this way.
To thaw, remove from freezer, keep loosely covered and let thaw 2-3 hours at room temperature. Beat it or give it a good stir to ensure it's smooth and use as normal.
Thanks for reading along. Let me know if you make this, how you liked it! And if you do like it, please consider leaving a star rating or comment to let others know your thoughts. And if you love easy recipes, bookmark this site! As a busy mom with a full time job, I know the importance of getting good food on the table fast.
Related Recipes
If you have any questions or comments, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. I try to answer any recipe related questions quickly as I know you might be in the middle of making it.
Also check out my FREE PRINTABLE meal planner to make menu planning and grocery shopping a breeze and my shopping guide. And if you like this recipe, I would love it if you give it a star rating in the recipe card.
Cheers and happy cooking, Friends! Sabrina
Happy baking!
Sabrina
📖 Recipe
Easy Lavender Buttercream Frosting (Icing)
Ingredients
- ½ cup Milk 1%, 2% or whole milk
- 1 Tablespoon Lavender Buds
- ¾ cup Butter, Unsalted
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt (Omit if using salted butter)
- 1 teaspoon Each: Lemon Zest and Juice Optional
Instructions
- Heat milk to steaming, being careful not to scorch. Add lavender and steep until milk comes back down to room temperature, then strain to remove lavender flowers.
- Beat butter, powdered sugar, lavender milk, vanilla and salt in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add lemon zest and juice if using and beat again. Keep covered until ready to use - icing will dry and form crust quickly.
Ella says
I could not get this buttercream solid enough to frost the cake with, even after adding ~1/3 cup of powdered sugar and putting it in the fridge for over an hour (re-beating every ~15 minutes). I think 1/2 cup of milk is way too much, the frosting was closer to liquid. It's a shame, because the flavor was good and it was a waste of ingredients.
Sabrina Currie says
Hi Ella, I am so sorry it didn't go well. I have made this recipe numerous times with great results. My best guess is that the milk or butter were too warm. It is important to chill the milk after steeping, to room temperature before beating with sugar and butter. Other than that, I'm not sure what went awry. The video also shows the exact steps and result which may help figure out what happened.
Jenna says
You might want to specify if the butter should be cold or room temp. You don't specify in your recipe, but then your video seems to show room temp butter being put in the bowl. This is very confusing to someone who doesn't have much of a baking background
Sabrina Currie says
Thank you Jenna, I will update that.
Rita says
Can I add the lavender flowers to the icing once it is whipped up. I hate to discard the actual flowers. Thank you ~ Rita
Sabrina Currie says
Hi Rita,
You could but I don’t recommend it as it will give your guests an unpleasant texture in the icing. Instead, try rinsing them off, dip in sugar and dry and perhaps use as a garnish.
L. Spell says
Perfect! Baked as directed. Thank you!
Sabrina Currie says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s much appreciated.
Nancy Macias says
I made this for my daughter for her birthday cake. She found the recipe and we both were excited to try it. It is now our favorite cake! And we love the lavender frosting. I left the lavender flowers in the cake batter and it didn't seem to effect the texture, we quite enjoyed it. Gave it a nice floral aftertaste.
Sabrina Currie says
That’s so wonderful, Nancy, thank you so much for sharing your experience.
Happy birthday to your daughter!