Roses are one of my favourite flowers and I often have a vase of freshly cut roses at home. They are so feminine and delicate.
I recently met with Jill Anderson who is a fabulous garden designer and runs Anderson Landscape Design.
Jill explained that roses can contribute significantly to a garden by their scent and colour. They can be used as climbing plants up house
walls or over pergolas.
Did you know that there is a variety of rose named ‘Jubilee Celebration’ and that there are other rose varieties that can be linked to the
forthcoming Jubilee celebrations? Check out Jill’s wonderful blog on this and other beautiful roses here if you’d like to learn more.
Having been inspired from our talk, I wondered if I should plant some roses in the garden, however according to Jill the best time to plant them
is in late autumn and early winter.
I then wondered whether I could incorporate roses into baking. In decorating cakes, such as in our classes, we use florist or
modelling paste to create sugar roses. These always go down a storm with our students, but I’ve never used real roses in decorating or baking.
After some research I discovered a recipe from an old ‘Woman & Home’ magazine, and I couldn’t wait to try it. Not only did it include
rose petals and rose water, but it included pistachio nuts, which I adore.
This cake is impressive, and tastes delicious and moist too. Perfect for a special occasion such as the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, or to
impress guests at a summer dinner party.
Ingredients
150g (5oz) shelled pistachios
225g (8oz) butter, softened
225g (8oz) caster sugar
3 large eggs
Juice of 1 lemon
4tsp rose water
1 tsp baking powder
125g (4.5oz) self-raising flour
For the rose decoration
1 pink rose, un-sprayed (check with florist)
1 egg white
3tsbp of caster sugar
23cm ( 9inch) springform cake tin, greased and bottom lined.
1/ Rose decoration
- Pull the petals carefully from the rose.
- Beat the egg white with a fork until frothy.
- Coat each rose petal with the egg white using a
paintbrush.
- Dip the coated petal into the caster sugar and
shake off the excess.
- Leave to dry for about 30 minutes.
2/ The Cake
- Pre-heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 3
- Lightly toast the pistachios in the oven until golden brown, cool them slightly and then blitz them in a food processor until powdery.
- Reserve 2tsp and put to one side.
- In a mixer or with an electric whisk, mix together the butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs one at a time whilst mixing in the flour to prevent it curdling.
- Add the lemon juice and rose water.
- Finally incorporate the baking powder, pistachios and a pinch of salt.
- Mix together until fully combined. The mixture should be a soft dropping consistency. To soften the consistency further, add a
drop of water to the mixture.
- Transfer the mix to the tin and level the top, bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Check after 30 minutes and cover the top of the cake with foil if the cake is too coloured.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack and then allow the cake to cool completely.
To decorate the cake
-Sift icing sugar over the top of the cake and scatter the reserved pistachios over the top. Finish with adding the rose petals on top.
-It can be frozen undecorated, and will keep for 3 days in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
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Tags: Pistachio & Rose Water Cake, Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Recipe, rose petals
