The name of this cake comes from the beautiful combination of warm spices and rose (it was created in Australia). It is elegant, impressive and memorable. Make it for someone you love, or someone whose affection you want to induce.
You can find rose water and dried rose petals at Asian supermarkets
Ingredients:
For the sponge
115g salted Irish butter, softened to room temperature
140g plain flour
220g finely ground almond
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch of fine sea salt
150g caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
3 large free range eggs
230g plain thick yogourt (I use Greek style yogourt)
2 Tbsp rose water
For the syrup
50g caster sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
1 Tbsp rose water
For the icing
110g icing sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
½ Tbsp rose water
Chopped pistachios and fresh and /or dried rose petals
Directions:
Line an 8” round cake tin with parchment paper
Preheat the oven to 170
In a large bowl, mix together the ground almond, flour, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Using a mixer, blend the caster sugar and lemon zest until evenly mixed. Add in the soft butter and beat until light and fluffy (please scrape down the bowl a few times during this step to make sure it’s evenly mixed).
Add the eggs one at a time, continuing to beat the mixture in between additions.
Beat in the yogurt and rose water.
Gently fold in the dry ingredients you set aside earlier.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and spread evenly.
Bake for 30-40 minutes.
Once the cake is baked, start on the syrup
In a saucepan, gently heat the sugar and lemon juice until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the rose water.
While the cake is still in the tin, poke the cake all over with a fork or skewer.
Pour all of the syrup over the cake and allow the cake to cool.
Remove the cake from the tin.
To make the icing
Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl.
Whisk in the rose water and lemon juice.
Pour the icing over the top of your cooled cake
Sprinkle with beautiful chopped pistachios and a few dried rose petals
