Since yesterday was Halloween and I didn’t want to feel left out, I thought I would bake up a treat.

I love the flavor combination of lavender and lemon and someone brought mini lavender lemon cakes to school on Friday, which made me want to try to make a version that us folks with food allergies could eat. Over the summer I experimented with the flavor combination by making lavender lemonade, which I highly recommend you try when the weather turns warm again.

It’s important to use culinary lavender to insure there are no pesticides on the little dried florets. I was able to get mine in the bulk spice and herb section of my local natural foods store.

For the frosting I used an adaptation of a cashew cream recipe posted by Ali over at the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen blog. It’s a wonderful website that everyone who is interested in nutrition or has food sensitivities should know about.  The founders of the blog also have a great cookbook that I use all of the time called The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook.

I adapted the cupcake recipe from a book called Gluten Free Baking Classics which my mom gave me a long time ago and I’ve never used before.  The recipes in the book aren’t dairy-free, but it still gives you some good tips for gluten-free baking.  I used less sugar and oil in my recipe and I think they came out okay.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Lavender Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes-

½ cup erythritol, a natural sugar-alcohol with minimal calories and impact on the blood sugar*

¼ cup agave or honey

2 large eggs

¾ cup rice flour

½ cup tapioca flour

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. xanthan gum

¼ cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid (coconut oil is solid at room temperature)

½ cup coconut milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. lemon extract

2 tsp. lemon rind from an organic lemon

For the Cashew Cream Frosting-

¾ cup raw cashews

½ cup dried lavender florets

2 tbl. agave or honey

1 tsp. lemon rind from an organic lemon

3 tbl. coconut milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. lemon extract

1 or 2 tbl. water, if needed

Instructions:

For the Cupcakes-

1.)   Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Place cupcake liners in a cupcake baking pan.

2.)   Beat eggs and erythritol (or sugar, if using) with an electric mixer at medium speed for one minute.  Add all other ingredients and beat at medium speed for one minute.  Add about a tablespoon of lavender to the batter and mix well.

3.)   Spoon batter into cupcake liners.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

4.)   Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting-

1.)   Take approximately ¼ cup of culinary lavender and pour boiling water over it.  Let steep for 10 minutes and strain out lavender flowers.  Let water cool just a bit so it is warm and then add raw cashews.  Soak for 2-3 hours.  Soaking allows nuts to release certain substances (enzyme inhibitors) to improve digestibility, as well as softens them up so they cream nicely.

2.)   Strain off water from cashews.  Place all ingredients for frosting in a blender and mix on high until smooth and creamy.  Add a little water if needed.  Set frosting in fridge to cool and thicken.

3.)   When cupcakes are done cooling…spread frosting on cupcakes, sprinkle with lavender, and enjoy!

*If you choose to use regular sugar instead of erythritol, just use ¾ cup natural sugar and omit the agave or honey.