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.

Ms Marmitelover

Love it or hate it .. Marmite. Well I love marmite and certainly love what Kerstin Rodgers

has been doing withher underground restaurant headingup the home retuarant revolution and writing Supperclub to share her knowledge of how she does it.

I took the opportunity after Kirsten came on the radio show today along with surprise guest Jules from the secret supper society to go shopping and got to spend a grilie hour browsing for vintage treasures. can find out allot about a personin a short space of time whilst shopping. So I’ll share in my observations. She’s a savvy, with an eye for a bargain and knows what she likes and doesn’t. She knows the value of a pound, having supported herself as a single mum her success has not been handed to her on a plate, this lady has earned her place as the head of the super club movement. Whilst she’s shopping she’s thinking about others, and took a photo she knew would interest another foodie to share in a tweet- a micromoment that captures her way of thinking. She says it how it is. Trying on a vintage blouse I loved I was ignoring the fact it was a tad too tight she told me. It pulls and you’ll never wear it she said. It is what a good friend would tell you.. not necessary what you want to hear .. but the truth. She’s a breath of fresh air.

Kerstin doesn’t claim to have started the supper club movement, but what she has done is headed it up a revolution with her book Supper Club. She shares her knowledge, recipes and tips lists supper clubs in the back of her book promoting everyone along the way. She also has a site here where everyone can go to find out more.

Inspirational women are few and far between - for me Kerstin is a rare find because she inspires. Her Punk DIY attitude rocks and whether you want to eat in a supper club, run a super club or simply look at a beautiful book to use for dinner party idea’s I can tell you now that her recipes are delicious, straightforward and work. I know this because I am cooking from her lovely book and eating the pitta bread from page 99 as I type.

What you can’t catch on a blog post is how cheeky and saucy Kirsten is. She’s great fun and has a you can do anything attitude to life. But make no mistake though, however much fun she is she doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She has a strong sense of right and wrong and considers the overall impact of what she does rather than just the me myself and I approach that one sometimes encounters in people with their own ideas. I really love her unique attitude and have to say that she’s the real treasure I found today.