Peaches, olive oil, and lavender become unlikely friends in these peach olive oil cupcakes with lavender mascarpone buttercream. Perfect for summer entertaining when you want to impress your guests with a #TrendingInTheKitchen touch.
[Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Pompeian. As always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep me inspired in the kitchen.]
Real talk here:
I might never get over cupcakes.
I mean, can you really ever get over what is undeniably the perfect cake:frosting ratio??? Admittedly, I’m a frosting lover (but only when it’s not sickeningly sweet and actually tastes like something other than pure sugar), so perhaps I’m a little biased.
Also, I pretty much came of age in the cupcake-lovin’ era.
BUT STILL.
Cupcakes are my go to when it comes to entertaining. They’re the perfect canvas for trying out new flavor trends or mixing and matching flavors in ways you didn’t think was possible, which is critical for impressing dinner guests or just keeping your husband on his toes.
Bonus that because they come packaged in a friendly, welcoming format that people recognize as something to love, they’re more willing to step out of their comfort zone and taste something new.
For instance, despite having made multiple floral-infused treats over the years, I have yet to win my husband over with a flowery baked good. Even if I don’t tell him its there, he somehow knows that it’s a little too “out there” for his taste buds.
Until now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have a winner.
He basically inhaled these, as did my in-laws who happened to be over for a casual summer feast. These are people who like eating regular, normal things and have been known to say that they think Mexican food is exotic.
BUT THEY LOVED THESE.
And so did I.
Part of their glory comes from their Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil infusion. The robust fruity flavor of the olive oil brings out the sweetness of the peaches while keeping the little cakes themselves insanely moist and light.
And then there’s the frosting. Holy moly it’s good.
Ground lavender gives it an indescribable depth of flavor – it’s lemony, citrusy, and flowery all at once.
Apparently flowers are the new herbs, and so while it used to be super trendy to put basil in your frosting, the #TrendingInTheKitchen thing to do these days is to use flowers instead. Heck yeah, I’m into it. The only dilemma I usually come across is finding organic fresh flowers that I would feel comfortable ingesting. However, lavender is so easily accessible in dried form that it’s not even an issue.
In summary: get these on your summer entertaining docket.
And, vive le cupcake!!
- ⅓ cup Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1¼ cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup peach jam
- 2 peaches, pitted and chopped into ¼-inch dice
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 peach, pitted and thinly sliced, to garnish
- 1 tsp dried lavender, finely ground
- 8 tbsp butter, room temperature
- 8 oz mascarpone, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Heat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the olive oil and sugar until well combined, about 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed. Add in the egg. Mix again for 4 minutes on medium-high speed.
- Meanwhile, in a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add a third of the flour mixture to the batter, then half of the milk. Repeat another third of the flour and the remainder of the milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add in the remaining flour and mix until just combined.
- Fold the jam into the batter. Toss the peaches with the remaining tablespoon of flour, then fold into the batter as well.
- Fill the muffin tins until they are ⅔ full. Bake until golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Combine the dried lavender, butter, and mascarpone in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until combined, about 1-2 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on high speed for 4-5 minutes, or until fluffy.
- Pipe onto the cooled cupcakes as desired.
- Garnish with peaches if desired.
my husband is also a bit of an anti-flower type of guy, and to be honest, not much of a cupcake fan… so I would be living dangerously with these babies.. LOVE THE IDEA!
and they are giving me the thoughts of macarons too…. some way to get those flavors in mac form
😉
I was looking for a unique cupcake recipe and this was it! I thought the peach jam plus fresh peaches would overwhelm the cake but it was moist and had just the right amount of peach flavor. The light mascarpone frosting was a perfect balance to the cake. Overall a huge hit!