Recipe Review

Deep Purple! Blueberry-Lavender Buttercream Frosting

Elizabeth Passarella
Elizabeth Passarella
Elizabeth Passarella is the author of the essay collection Good Apple and a contributing editor at Southern Living. A former editor at Real Simple and Vogue, she has spent more than 20 years writing about food, travel, home design, and parenting in outlets including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Parents, Martha Stewart Weddings, Coastal Living, Airbnb, and The Kitchn. Elizabeth grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and now lives with her husband and three children in New York City.
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updated Jan 21, 2020
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

When we saw this cake, our first thought was, “White icing? Never again.” This is frosting, friends. Gorgeous, bold, sexy frosting. And we’ve got the recipe.

Ginny Branch Stelling of My Favorite Color is Shiny made this cake for a friend’s birthday. She admits that her first cake had to be trashed (there was a flour weevil incident), so this one is from a box. But we’re not interested in the cake; it’s all about that blueberry-lavender buttercream frosting draped over it. (P.S.: How cute are the paper flags?)

We contacted Ginny and she was nice enough to give us the recipe.

Blueberry-Lavender Buttercream Frosting

For the lavender simple syrup:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons dried edible lavender flowers or 2 tablespoons fresh edible lavender flowers

For the macerated blueberries:
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
10 ounces blueberries (about one pint)

For the frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

To make the syrup: Bring the water and sugar to a boil, then simmer until sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat, add the flower buds, and steep for about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how fragrant you like the syrup to be. Strain the syrup through a sieve into a heatproof bowl, removing the flower buds. Let cool.

In another saucepan, on low to medium heat, simmer the blueberries and lemon juice until the berries bubble and release their juices. Using the back of a wooden spoon, macerate the berries into a mushy, juicy consistency. Try to squish all of the blueberries, so they will be easier to blend. Pour the lavender syrup into the berry mixture. Remove from heat and let cool.

Using a hand mixer, cream the butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Add the berry mixture and the vanilla. Ginny says: “Depending on how thick you would like the consistency of the frosting to be, I added a little more softened butter and powdered sugar to the recipe. If you want a real thick and creamy frosting, add less berry mixture and make sure the mixture has cooled completely before adding. The heat of the berries can thin the frosting if you are too hasty.”

• Go visit Ginny’s blog: My Favorite Color is Shiny

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Related: Recipe: Blueberry Lavender Cream Pie

(Images: Ginny Branch Stelling)

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