Parma Violet Cupcakes

Soft, fluffy cupcakes flavoured with lilac syrup and parma violets, topped with a creamy violet buttercream, decorated with violet sprinkles and a parma violet

As promised, I have made some parma violet cupcakes with my lilac syrup!

Parma violets were definitely one of my favourite sweets when I was little, and whenever I come across them in sweet shops now, I’m always very tempted to buy a pack! When I tasted my lilac syrup, it reminded me so much of parma violets that it inspired me to make some parma violet cupcakes!

I was delighted that I managed to get hold of some parma violets in a little sweet shop where I live, so I bought a few packets for these cupcakes.

I brought these into work and people were really excited by the flavour, and seemed to enjoy them. So if you are looking for a fun and exciting cupcake that is a bit of a blast from the past, then I fully recommend this recipe!

I will be bringing these along to Fiesta Friday #71!

Variations: If you don’t want to make lilac syrup, you can just use parma violets and increase the sugar content of the cupcakes.

Ingredients: Makes 18 cupcakes

The Sponge:

• 150g butter
• 75g caster sugar
• 100ml lilac syrup
• 1 pack of parma violets
• 2 eggs
• 200g self raising flour

The Buttercream:

• 100g butter
• 100ml lilac syrup
• 400g icing sugar
• 1 pack of parma violets
• violet gel food colouring

Decorations:

• 1 pack of parma violets
• violet sprinkles

To Make:

The Sponge:

Preheat the oven to 180C, line a cupcake tray with cupcake cases and crush the parma violets to a fine powder in a pestle and mortar.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then fold in the eggs, syrup and parma violets. Finally fold in the flour.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases until 2/3 full.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked through and golden brown.

Leave to cool on a wire rack before icing.

The Buttercream:

Crush the parma violets to a fine powder in a pestle and mortar.

Whisk together the butter and icing sugar, and then mix in the syrup, parma violets and food colouring.

The mixture should be smooth, glossy and able to hold its shape (add more icing sugar if necessary)

Decorating:

Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe a swirl of icing onto each cupcake.

Scatter over the violet sprinkles and then top each cupcake with a parma violet.

Serve and enjoy!