Cardamon Rose and Rhubarb Cake fit for a Queen !

Last year  .. youngest daughter snapped picking off the chocolate curls. 

The rhubarb is coming up in the garden and since the rain it's been going a little crazy.  For those of you who have bought my recipes book Prepped you might recognise this recipe .. and I have to admit it is one of my absolute favourite cakes to bake and to eat and one of the very first recipes I developed for Prepped.  I am planning on making this for my first ever clandestine cake meeting in Northampton next week and I shall be making it for the jubilee celebrations for my village. 

I think that there is something whimsical about this cake. Soft, feminine and pink, with floral notes and flower petals. It’s the centrepiece for a summer’s day tea party. It’s really quite simple to make. It’s the combination of flavours that really sets this one apart. The rhubarb jam adds the sour that tempers the sweetness, whilst the cardamom and rose entwine like tangles of roses on your taste buds.  A small slice with a cup of earl grey tea in a dainty china cup -  how perfectly English can you get?

Serves 8 - 10

Prep time 30

Cooking time 25 minutes

Suitable for freezing? Yes before filling or decorating

For the cake

250g butter or margarine (suitable for baking)

250g Cardamom Sugar ( this is sugar that has been infused with Cardamon for about 6 weeks just like vanilla) 

250g self-raising flour

4 large eggs

For the filling

400ml double cream

3 drops of rose essence

80 g icing sugar (sifted)

200g of rhubarb Jam

To decorate

150g Icing sugar (sifted)

50g of White chocolate curls

Edible rose / geranium petals

NB if you don't have cardamon sugar to hand add one level teaspoon of freshly ground cardamon. (No more as it is pretty strong!)

1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4.

2 Using a hand mixer or food mixer, cream together the butter or margarine and Cardamom Sugar Beat well until white and fluffy.

3 Add 3–4 tablespoons of flour to the mixture, then add the eggs. Adding the flour like this prevents the mixture from curdling. If it does, just keep adding flour a little at a time, beating the mixture to ensure it is evenly distributed. Continue mixing and add the rest of the flour,

4 Divide the mixture between 23 cm round cake tins and bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes, until firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.

5 Once fully cooled you can make the filling. Whip the cream and rose essence and icing sugar until thick.  Spread the jam on the base of one cake and the cream on the other and sandwich together. Mix the icing sugar for the topping and make into a viscous mix about the consistency of custard.  Pour this over the top of the cake and sprinkle the top with the white chocolate curls before decorating with edible flowers.

TIPS & USES

• Keep your eggs at room temperature. They get more air in them and you get a lighter batter.
• If you don’t have Cardamom Sugar to hand, grind about 10 cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar to release the good seeds inside. Discard the green husk and grind the seeds well into a fine powder.
• Oven temperatures vary, so after 20 minutes take a peek. Don’t do it before, though, or the blast of cold air can deflate your cake!
• Whenever you grease your tins use a piece of kitchen roll to spread a fine layer of margarine around the edge. To prevent a greasy film from forming on the cake, put a tablespoon of flour in the greased tin and proceed to tap it around surface.