Chocolate Cupcakes with Lavender Goat Cheese Frosting are tangy, sweet floral bites of wonderful. Oh, cupcakes.
How do you feel about putting goat cheese in a dessert? I know it sounds odd, but I promise, it’s unbelievably awesome. Actually, I’ve been kind of obsessing over the idea of goat cheese in sweet applications ever since I made these Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies for a holiday cookie exchange, last year. The cookies turned out so well, that I wanted to try goat cheese in other desserts, and specifically, I’ve been dreaming of pairing it with chocolate.
Thus, these Chocolate Cupcakes with Lavender Goat Cheese Frosting were born! I threw the lavender in there because I love the slight floral notes paired with the tangy goat cheese, and lavender is just one of those ingredients I find to be under utilized by everyone but me (I have an exorbitant amount of recipes that feature lavender on my blog…it’s kinda ridiculous).
These cupcakes taste downright sophisticated (along with being unreasonably delicious and addicting). The chocolate base is adapted from my favorite local, Seattle cupcake shop, Trophy Cupcakes. It’s perfectly moist, and somehow fluffy and dense at the same time. It’s my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe!
The frosting is a tangy, but sweet goat cheese buttercream that is lightly perfumed with lavender buds that have been ground into the sugar. Texture-wise, the frosting is very similar to a cream cheese frosting. It’s creamy and thick, which means it’s better for spreading than it is for piping, but hey, that’s easier on us, right? In fact, all I did was use a medium cookie scoop to dollop a blob on, and it kinda settled into little dome tops—super quick, and super cute!
If you wanted, you could try experimenting with other herbs in the frosting. I think both rosemary and thyme would be lovely, but I’ll always be partial to lavender 😉
We adore lavender in food! Don’t miss Megan’s lavender cream biscuits too. You could put a little blackberry jam on these cupcakes under the frosting, too, if you were so inclined.
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Chocolate Cupcakes with Lavender Goat Cheese Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/4 cups Dutch Processed Cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon Instant Espresso Granules
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 3 large Egg
- 1 1/2 cups Milk
- 3/4 cup Canola Oil
- 2 3/4 cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Boiling Water boiling
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon Lavender Flower Buds plus more to decorate (optional)
- 9-10 ounces Goat Cheese soft
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter at room temperature (1 stick)
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 cup Confectioners Sugar
Instructions
- Line two standard muffin pans with cupcake liners; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, espresso granules, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs, milk, and oil. Add in the sugar and beat to combine. Add in the dry ingredients and beat for around 2 minutes until fully combined. Pour in the boiling water and beat on the lowest speed until just combined.
- Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Allow them to sit while you preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a couple crumbs clinging to it. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes in the tins before turning out onto metal racks to cool completely.
- In a food processor, process the granulated sugar and lavender together until very finely ground and powdery.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the lavender-sugar, goat cheese, butter, and salt for at least 5 minutes. Add in the confectioners’ sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating to combine, and scraping the bowl after each addition. When all of it has been added, increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 10 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (or a large spoon), scoop about 2 tablespoons of frosting onto each cupcake. Sprinkle with more lavender buds, if desired.