Lemon Lavender Petit Fours

These were fun to make but hard to photograph, ugh.

These petit fours (below) were covered in a white chocolate ganache, but I also tried Martha's icing recipe on a few. I don't recommend that, it overpowered the flavors in the cake. The white chocolate was just perfect so that's what I included in the recipe.

Lemon Lavender Petit Fours
Makes 16

Lemon Cake: (from Ina's HERE)

• 1/2 c butter, softened
• 1-1/4 c sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• zest of 2 large lemons
• 1-1/2 c flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 3/8 c lemon juice (juice from the 2 large lemons you zested)
• 3/8 c butter milk (ha this is what happens when you halve the recipe...just do a little less than a 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Lavender Cream: (followed this recipe exactly HERE)

•  1/2 c butter, softened
• 2 c powdered sugar
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1 T culinary lavender (plus extra for garnish)
• food coloring

White Chocolate Icing:

•  18 oz white chocolate chips
• 1 c + 2 T heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and grease the uncovered sides.
Cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each. Then add the lemon zest.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and vanilla.
Starting and ending with the flour mixture, alternate adding those mixes into the batter.
Pour into the pan and bake for about 45 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the lemon syrup. Pout you remaining lemon juice and 1/4 c sugar into a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Spoon this over the warm cake and let cool completely.
To make the lavender cream, pour the heavy cream and lavender into a small sauce pan. Bring it to a boil then remove from heat and promptly cover it. Let that infuse for 20 minutes. Strain out the lavender. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter then add in the sugar. Add the cream until you get your desired consistency, then add food coloring.
Once your cake is cool, transfer to an upside-down small jelly roll pan. Take a sharp knife and cut the top of the cake so that it is flat. Then cut the cake to make 2 layers. Spread your lavender cream on the first layer and top it with the second cake layer. Cover well with saran wrap and freeze overnight (or until hardened).

With the cake nice and solid, you can cut perfect squares. You should be able to make 16. Take this time to make sure all of your cakes are flat on both the top and bottom. If there are air bubbles on the top of some of the cakes, just flip them over to the other side.

Prepare a cooling rack over a jelly roll pan to set your iced cakes on.
To make the icing, pour your chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Nuke for 30 seconds, then stir. If it needs more time, nuke in 10 second intervals, stirring well after each until the chocolate is smooth. Pour the cream into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until it comes to a simmer, then remove from heat. Pour 2/3 of it into the chocolate and mix. Then pour the rest. To cover the cakes, place one on a fork and use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate over it. Place on the cooling rack so that the excess icing can drip off. Garnish with a bit of lavender.