2tbspearl grey lavender tea, alternatively, use 2 tbsp earl grey tea and 1 tsp culinary lavender
Lavender Buttercream
1 1/2cupunsalted butter, at room temperature
4 1/2 - 5 1/2cupsicing sugar
1tspculinary lavender, finely ground
3tbspmilk
Few drops purple food colouring
Lavender Macarons*
Instructions
Earl Grey Lavender Cake
Preheat oven to 350F and grease four cake pans.
In a small sauce pan, steep the earl grey lavender tea in the milk over medium heat. Once milk comes to a soft boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and let tea steep for 5 minutes. Set aside.
In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar together. Gradually add in the eggs, one at a time.
In a separate bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking powder, finely ground earl grey tea, and salt.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and mix on slow to combine. Gradually pour in the milk and add in the remainder of the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Divide the mixture evenly among the four prepared cake pans and bake for 35-37 minutes. Check for doneness a few minutes before the 35 minute mark by using a toothpick - if the toothpick comes out clean, you're good to go. You can also test for doneness by gently pressing your finger on the cake - it should spring back up.
Tip: I like to use an ice cream scoop to portion out my cake batter into pans to make sure each pan gets the exact same amount of batter. This is extremely helpful especially when you only have two cake pans and want to make sure you have enough batter for the second batch of cake rounds. I used a standard ice cream scoop and put seven scoops of batter into each 6-inch pan. I had enough batter left over for six additional cupcakes. Cupcakes require less cooking time, roughly 16 - 18 minutes to bake.
Lavender Buttercream
In a large bowl, cream the butter until it is pale and fluffy. Add the icing sugar, one cup at a time. Add ground lavender. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add in the three tablespoons of milk, one at a time, mixing between each addition. If buttercream is too thick, add half tablespoon of milk at a time until desired consistency is reached. Add in a few drops of purple food colouring and mix well.