Lavender 13th Birthday Party

Summer has officially come to a close. It was such a busy season that I’m not quite ready for it to end, but here we are! Now that our girls are back in school, it feels more official, but I have a few final summer posts to catch up on before getting to fall content, starting with my eldest daughter’s 13th birthday party. After traveling for most of July and August, it was so good to be home and plan this quaint celebration with family while also getting back in the kitchen! This is the first year that Amaia didn’t want a themed party (bittersweet) but with her love for purple and lavender infused desserts, a lavender celebration felt fitting.

Lavender 13th Birthday Party

Lavender Party Decorations

This has to be the easiest party I’ve ever planned and created. Amaia was very specific about the shades of purple she liked, so we ended up purchasing a variety of balloon sets from Amazon while mixing and matching to create the right purple color scheme for her balloon garland. In addition to the purple garland, we incorporated the number 13 balloons, along with fresh flowers in purple and white to accent the dessert pedestals.

I also found this “Back in 2009” poster which turned out to be a comical convo starter.

Honestly I don’t remember the word redonkulus ever being a thing but it was still fun to look back on some of the highlights and reminisce on the year our first daughter was born.

Lavender Desserts

It wouldn’t be a celebration without dessert! This is always my favorite part about planning the girl’s birthdays. Amaia wanted to stick with her favorite treats, so I made cupcakes, macarons, sugar cookies and a mini cake. All were infused with lavender, blackberry and lemon to incorporate the purple color and delicious seasonal flavor.

Lavender Blackberry Mini Cake

The mini cakes are a tradition in our family that’s still going strong! Each year I take the remaining batter from party cupcakes to make a mini cake for the girls. Amaia’s mini cake for her 13th was 3 layers of lemon and lavender sponge, with blackberry lemon curd, blackberry lavender frosting, topped with fresh blackberries and lavender. The colors and flavors tied with with the rest of the desserts and party decor!

Blackberry Lavender Cupcakes and Macarons

The cupcakes were flavored the same as the mini cake with the lavender lemon sponge, curd and frosting, garnished with fresh blackberry and lavender.

I used the same flavor combinations for the French macarons which had the most delicious fresh blackberry center!

Lavender Sugar Cookies

When making cookies for Amaia’s 13th, I was reminded of the very first batch of sugar cookies with royal icing I made for her 1st birthday. This is truly where my love for baking began and I owe both of my girls for the amazing inspiration they continue to provide me each day and the ways in which they’ve helped shape my brand.

Find the recipe for basic sugar cookies with royal icing here.

The sugar cookies were infused with lemon zest and culinary lavender for summer flavor in each bite! Decorated simply with royal icing lavender and a dusting of edible glitter to round out the desserts for the celebration.

It was so nice to have a chill celebration at home and catch up with family, some that we haven’t been over since pre covid.

we I couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up our summer!

Happy 13th birthday to my beautiful daughter! I have no doubt that the year ahead will be amazing and filled with growth, many blessings and more dreams fulfilled!