A delicious and fragrant sponge cake with lavender flowers, rose petals, orange zest and cardamom. We do have a lot of lavender in the F&F garden. A lot. So it only seems right to set it to good use in the kitchen. This cake is full of flavour and fragrance. Redcurrant and lavender syrup is an allotment favourite, and as I’ve got a real glut of redcurrants this year, I’ve got plenty of redcurrant jelly to use up. The sharp redcurrant jelly in the centre works very well with the woozy lavender flowers in the sponge and the icing. And in the icing, orange zest counterbalances the lavender. And the cardamom and rose petals in the sponge stops the cake from having such an intense lavender flavour that it tastes of soap, which is always a risk when using lavender in cooking. Ingredients (get nutritional information here) 250g butter 250g caster sugar 1 tsp ground cardamom 3 lavender flowerheads 4 large eggs 250g self-raising flour Filling: Redcurrant jelly Icing: 140g butter 280g icing sugar 1-2 tbsp milk 1 tsbp orange juice Finely grated zest of one orange 3 lavender flowerheads 20 rose petals Directions 1. Whisk together the butter, sugar, rose petals, lavender flowerheads and cardamom until well-mixed and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the flour. 2. Spoon the mixture into two round sandwich cake tins, and cook for 20-25 minutes at 190 degrees/gas mark 5. 3. While the cakes are baking you can prepare the icing and filling, but don’t think about applying them to the cake until it is entirely cooled. Cream together the butter, icing sugar, as much of the milk as you need (you may not need all of it) and 10 of the rose petals with a whisk until the icing is thick and forms nice peaks. 4. When the cakes are cool, spread the redcurrant jelly thickly on top of one. Place the second cake sandwich on top, then cover in the icing using a pallet knife or similar for a rugged effect. Decorate with the remaining rose petals in whatever stylish pattern you fancy. Share this:Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)MoreClick to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) 4 Responses Jan Willetts August 1, 2014 Do you mean red currant jelly rather than rhubarb compote for the filling? And is there any fresh cream in the icing? Would love to try this with gluten free flour! Reply F&F August 2, 2014 Hi Jan, Apologies - those instructions were adapted from this rhubarb and rose cake here http://www.fennelandfern.co.uk/blog/2014/06/17/cardamom-rose-and-rhubarb-cake/ - and I left the bit for the original filling in! Have edited it now. No fresh cream in the icing - unless you fancy adding it… Reply Jan Willetts August 2, 2014 Thanks for the clarification, will check out the rhubarb version too! Perrig August 3, 2014 Green with red currant and lavender envy….from zone 10 b across the pond. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Jan Willetts August 1, 2014 Do you mean red currant jelly rather than rhubarb compote for the filling? And is there any fresh cream in the icing? Would love to try this with gluten free flour! Reply
F&F August 2, 2014 Hi Jan, Apologies - those instructions were adapted from this rhubarb and rose cake here http://www.fennelandfern.co.uk/blog/2014/06/17/cardamom-rose-and-rhubarb-cake/ - and I left the bit for the original filling in! Have edited it now. No fresh cream in the icing - unless you fancy adding it… Reply
Perrig August 3, 2014 Green with red currant and lavender envy….from zone 10 b across the pond. Reply
