Cakes (makes 18-20 cakes):

120g Sugar
120g Softened butter
2 eggs
100g Self-raising flour
30g cocoa
50g dark chocolate chips
A little milk

Frosting

25ml milk
1 dessert spoon culinary lavender
30g butter
Icing Sugar (Confectioner's sugar)
Purple food colouring (or mix blue and red)
Lavender flowers to garnish.


  1. Overnight, infuse the milk for the frosting with lavender, then strain, discarding the lavender
  2. Pre-heat oven to 180C
  3. Cream together butter and sugar
  4. Beat in eggs
  5. Sift flour and cocoa and beat in.
  6. Add sufficient milk to bring to a soft dropping consistency<
  7. Stir through chocolate chips
  8. Put about 1 heaped teaspoon of the mix into cupcake papers and bake for 10-12 minutes or until firm and springy
  9. Meanwhile, make the frosting by beating butter and icing sugar together, with infused milk, until a piping consistency (soft, but not runny) is achieved. For best style, add a little food colouring to make the icing a blue-purple. Pipe a swirl of icing onto each cake and top with a head of lavender.

This recipe makes rich, sophisticated, grown-up cupcakes. The frosting is subtle and a bit of an acquired taste, but adds a quirky sense of chic to your table. Excellent with a cup of Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea.

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