This lavender buttercream recipe is perfectly balanced with a hint of honey and delicate floral notes. It’s such a delicious frosting!!

It uses a Swiss meringue buttercream base, which gives it a silky smooth, fluffy texture. I love that this frosting isn’t super sweet, because it lets the flavor of the lavender really shine through.

I used it to make my earl grey lavender cake and matched the decoration of the cake to the flavor of the frosting!

If you have a huge sweet tooth and are a bigger fan of American buttercream, you can use that as the base in the recipe instead.

How Do I Incorporate Lavender into Buttercream?

Incorporating that delicate lavender flavor takes a little bit of work! Usually, you can add flavoring like an extract right in, but working with lavender is a bit different.

I’ve found the best way to do this is to steep dried culinary lavender in simmered milk.

Once the mixture has sat for about 15 minutes, strain the milk with a fine mesh strainer.

This makes a delicious, concentrated lavender milk.

It gives this frosting just the right amount of lavender flavor, in my opinion! If you prefer a more intense flavor, steep an additional tablespoon of dried lavender in your milk.

Or if you like a subtler flavor, you can steep less lavender or steep the same amount for less time.

Coloring This Lavender Buttercream

If you want to color this buttercream, I recommend using gel food coloring. Liquid food coloring can work too, but you won’t be able to get as strong of a color.

Swiss meringue buttercream is harder to color than American buttercream, so I really love using gel food coloring in this recipe.

Gel food coloring is incredibly concentrated, so it allows you to use less. A small drop will create a beautiful, bright color.

Substitutions and Swaps – Lavender Buttercream

While I love this recipe just the way it is, I know some of you might not have all these ingredients on hand.

Below are some swaps and substitutions that can be made in this recipe.

Egg Whites – A great vegan substitute for 1 egg white is two tablespoons of aquafaba (chickpea liquid).

Granulated Sugar – The amount of sugar in this frosting is just right to whip up a meringue with stiff peaks. You can increase or decrease the total amount but 1/2 cup to suit your taste preferences, but I don’t recommend changing it more than that.

Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter in this recipe. Just be sure to omit the salt that this frosting recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter or shortening in its place.

Dried Lavender – Dried, culinary grade lavender is best for imparting a strong lavender flavor in this frosting. However, you can use 3 Tbsp of fresh, organic lavender in its place.

Honey – The honey in this frosting recipe is optional, but I really think it rounds out the flavor of the frosting. If you don’t have any on hand, you can omit it from this recipe.

Tips for Making the Best Lavender Buttercream:

• If the frosting breaks / curdles, just keep mixing! It should come back together with the help of your stand mixer. For more troubleshooting tips, check out this post.
• Traces of grease in your mixing bowl can prevent your meringue from forming stiff peaks. You can wipe down your tools with lemon juice or vinegar to make sure they’re grease-free.
• Eggs are easiest to separate when they’re cold.
• Heat the egg white / sugar mixture to 160 F to make the egg whites safe to eat. I like to use a digital thermometer to track the temperature.
• Whip the meringue until the peaks are stiff enough to defy gravity.
• Use vanilla bean paste and a good quality honey to really amp up the flavor of this frosting.
• Make sure the butter is at room temperature and add it in slowly (1 Tbsp at a time).
• Mix the finished buttercream on the lowest speed with a paddle attachment for a few minutes to make it smooth.
• 1 batch of frosting is enough to fill and frost a seven- or eight-inch layer cake, or frost about 3 dozen cupcakes.

Making This Lavender Frosting in Advance and Storage Tips

This lavender frosting can be made ahead of time, or you can save any leftover frosting.

It can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Be sure to give it a good stir once it thaws to room temp to get the consistency nice and smooth again.

A frosted cake can last in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month. The buttercream locks in all the moisture, keeping the cake fresh and delicious!

If you cut into the cake and have leftovers, use any remaining frosting to cover the cut section to keep it moist and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this lavender buttercream recipe, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Please leave a rating and comment below.

Don’t forget to tag me @chelsweets and use #chelsweets on social media so that I can see your amazing creations!

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