violet cupcakes

Violet Cupcakes

These forest flowers are pretty enough to eat—try them in these delicate cupcakes. A rule of thumb for cooking with violets: the deeper purple the flower, the sweeter its flavor. Make sure your violet patch is pesticide free.

These forest flowers are pretty enough to eat! Try these simple spring recipes featured in Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
  • 2 1/3 cups violet sugar
  • 8 egg whites
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift the flour, salt and cream of tartar together. Using an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add egg whites, unbeaten, alternating with sifted flour, salt and cream of tartar mixture. Beat well. Add buttermilk, then vanilla. Beat until blended. Add soda and water mixture. Beat until blended. Pour into a jumbo-sized (3 1/2-inch) muffin tin lined with muffin cups. Bake in 350° oven 20 to 25 minutes or until golden on top. Cool, then frost with violet frosting (view recipe here). Makes one dozen cupcakes.