 |
| Lemon and elderflower drizzle cake |
At the beginning of May you
could hardly the notice the elder trees growing down the many paths
and alleyways around where I live. In between the two bank holidays
the combination of warm sunshine plus plenty of rain means the
abundance of buds has turned into a mass of elderflowers.
There is much folklore, myth
and superstitions surrounding the Sambucus genus which the elder tree
is part of. This is perhaps due to the usefulness of the plant for
both culinary and medicinal purposes. Although I wouldn't advocate
using the leaves to eat they are full of vitamin C and apparently
make a very good remedy for ear infections whilst the bark of new
small twigs can be made into a laxative. I'll leave it to you try
these potions out...
I've never had the courage
to make elderflower cordial myself. I know plenty of people do and
even venture into elderflower wine and spot of the fizzy stuff. I
thought the elderflower would combine nicely with the zing of the
lemon in this cake with the granulated sugar giving it the necessary
'crunch'.
For my Love Cake challenge this month I have chosen the theme of flowers
so this is very seasonal bake.
Equipment: 2lb
(900g-1kg) loaf tin, electric whisk/beaters
Ingredients
4oz (110g) Unsalted butter,
softened or baking spread
6oz (170g) Self raising
flour
6oz (170g) Caster sugar
4 tbsp (60ml) Milk
Zest 1 lemon
2 Large eggs
Topping
4 tbsp (60ml) Undiluted
Elderflower cordial
4 tbsp (60ml) Granulated
sugar
Method
1. Pre heat the oven to
160°C/Gas
mark 4.
2.
Grease and/or line the loaf tin.
3.
In a large bowl add the all the cake ingredients and using the
electric whisk beat together until smooth.
4.
Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for an hour. Check the cake
after 40 minutes in case it is cooking too quickly and cover the top
with greaseproof paper if required.
5.
Check the cake is cooked through by inserting a skewer and making
sure it comes out clean.
6.
In a small bowl or jug mix together the cordial and sugar.
7.
Whilst the cake is still warm insert the skewer all over the cake and
then evenly pour over the elderflower syrup.
8.
Leave to cool in the tin.
Mmmmmm.... elderflower drizzle sounds wonderful! I have never used the actual flowers either, but every year I look at the trees and think I should pick some...... One year maybe!
ReplyDeleteThe rain over the past couple of days has certainly put me off picking some but I some plans though...
Deletegreat recipe and post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and reading. It's one of my favourite cakes and very easy and quick to make.
DeleteYummy, I love elderflower and lemon flavours together but have never had them in a cake! Delicious. Thanks so much for linking up to May's Four Seasons Food event: Celebrating Spring.
ReplyDelete