English Rose Cake Recipes

ROSE WATER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
• Cream sugar and butter for cake together in a bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla extract. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt separately, then add to mix, and cream together. Stir in half-and-half and rose water. Add a few drops of food coloring to turn pinkish (or whatever color you want). Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack. Let cool, about 30 minutes.
• While cake cools, beat confectioners' sugar and butter with an electric mixer on low speed, then increase speed to medium for about 3 minutes. Add half-and-half and vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute more. Add more half-and-half if frosting is too thick. Frost cooled cake.

ENGLISH ROSE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line the base and sides of 3 x 20cm round loose-bottomed cake tins with baking parchment. Tip all the ingredients for the cake into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until well combined. Divide the mixture between the 3 cake tins and smooth the tops. Bake for 45 mins, swapping the tins halfway through so they cook evenly. Leave to cool for 10 mins in the tins, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the rose syrup, put the sugar in a pan with 100ml water and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bubble for 1-2 mins, then remove from the heat. Add the rose water: start with 1 tsp and taste, as some varieties are much stronger than others - just be careful as the syrup will be really hot. Spoon half the syrup over the 3 sponges and set aside.
• Add 2 tbsp of the syrup to the raspberries and crush them with a fork. Push the raspberries through a sieve into a bowl and discard the seeds. Sift in the icing sugar and mix to a smooth icing. In a second bowl, add another 2 tbsp of the syrup and the vanilla to the cream and whisk until it holds soft peaks. Chill until needed.
• To assemble, place one cake, flat-side up, on a plate or cake stand, and top with half the cream and a third of the remaining raspberries (see tips, below). Sandwich another cake on top and add the remaining cream, another third of the raspberries, then the last cake. Smooth the raspberry icing over the top, letting it drizzle down the sides. To decorate, we used a mixture of rose petal pieces (available from cookshops or online), homemade crystallised rose petals (see step-by-step, above) and the reserved raspberries.

TRADITIONAL BRITISH MOTHERING SUNDAY SIMNEL CAKE

Steps:

• CHECK LIST: a sifter, nest of bowls, food processor or electric beater, spatula, wooden spoon, 24 cm round cake tin, baking paper, brown paper and twine, rolling pin, thin metal skewer.
• STAGE 1.
• To make your own almond paste you will need a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Don't be tempted to use store-bought almond paste because it contains lots of sugar and few almonds, it will turn to liquid under the grill.
• Place icing sugar and almonds in food processor bowl. Process, slowly dripping in egg yolk, orange juice and almond essence. The mixture should form a pliable paste.
• Set aside a small portion for balls with which to decorate the cake.
• Roll out the remaining paste into 2 circles which are the approximate size of the tin. Set aside.
• STAGE 2.
• Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F.
• Use a sturdy non-stick cake tub or line the buttered base with baking paper. As the baking period is long (1-1 1/2 hours), prevent the cake drying out by wrapping a double thickness of brown paper around the pan and securing it with twine.
• Sift flour, salt and spices together, then stir in fruit and peel.
• Cream butter and sugar thoroughly until light and creamy then beat in eggs one at a time, until the mixture is fluffy. (Reserve a drop of egg yolk for brushing over top layer of almond paste.).
• Stir flour and fruit into creamed mixture (you may need to add a little milk to give the mixture a dropping consistency).
• STAGE 3.
• Place half the mixture into a greased and lined cake tin.
• Place one pre-rolled round of almond paste over the top.
• Cover with remaining cake mixture. Before baking the cake, give the pan of mixture a sharp tap on to a firm surface. This settles the mixture and prevents holes from forming in the cake.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 1-1 1/4 hours or until a thin metal skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out without a trace of stickiness.
• Level the cake by placing a weighted plate on top of the cooked cake while it is still hot.
• Turn out cake on to a wire rack after leaving it to settle in the cake tin for between 10 and 15 minutes. Peel off paper and leave to cool completely.
• STAGE 4.
• Cover the top of the cake with a second round of almond paste. Roll 11 small balls of paste and place evenly around the top of the cake. Brush the top with a little beaten egg and very lightly brown under the grill until the almond paste turns light golden brown.
• Remove and leave to cool.

ENGLISH ROSE JAM CAKE STACKS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Line 15x10x1-inch pan with foil. Spray with cooking spray.
• Make batter as directed on cake mix box. Pour into pan.
• Bake 17 to 23 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not remove cake from pan. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Place cake in freezer. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, to make roses, unwrap fruit snacks. Brush one side of each fruit snack lightly with water. Sprinkle with sugar to coat. Repeat on other side. Cut each snack into 1/2-inch strips. Starting at one short end, roll strips around one end of toothpick, gathering it together to form a rose. Add on an additional strip, pressing to hold it together. Repeat to make 8 roses.
• To assemble jam stacks, remove cake from freezer. Using foil, lift cake from pan. Using 2 3/4-inch round biscuit cutter, cut 16 rounds from the cake. On cooling rack, place 8 rounds top side down. Spread each with 1 teaspoon raspberry jam. Top with remaining cake rounds, top side up.
• In microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High about 30 seconds or just until melted; stir to blend. Let cool slightly. Spoon 2 tablespoons frosting over each cake, allowing frosting to run down sides of cake. Insert rose-topped toothpick through top of each cake to secure layer and for rose to provide decoration.

ENGLISH POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It should be noticeably lighter in color. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, orange and almond extracts. Blend in the flour mixture, alternating with the sour cream, until fully incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 70 minutes. Allow cake to cool on rack before removing from pan to cool completely.

ENGLISH GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°. Grease bottom and sides of an 8" x 8" metal baking pan with butter and line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Grease parchment paper with butter and dust paper and sides of pan with a little cake flour. Heat 8 tablespoons butter, golden syrup, brown sugar, and marmalade in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until syrup thins and sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes; let cool for 10 minutes. Whisk in the milk and eggs; set syrup mixture aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Add reserved syrup mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into reserved baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
• Transfer cake to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining butter along with sugar and lemon juice in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Using a pastry brush, brush half the lemon syrup over top of cake. Invert cake onto cooling rack, discard parchment, and brush the remaining lemon syrup on bottom and sides of cake. Invert the cake onto a serving stand and wrap in plastic wrap; let cool completely. The cake tastes better the day after baking and will keep for up to 4 days. To serve, cut cake into squares and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.