 |
| White Rose Cake from Decorated. Photo: Danielle Wood |
Today my new book, Decorated: Sublimely Crafted Cakes for Every Occasion, has officially been released in the UK, US and Australia! To celebrate, I wanted to share one of my favourite recipes and decorating techniques from the book and I also have a signed copy to give away.
Decorated giveaway
For a chance to win a signed copy of Decorated, all you need to do is leave a comment below, tweet or post on instagram and let me know what your favourite cake flavour is (use the hashtag #DecoratedCookBook). Just to inspire you, here are some of the flavours from the recipes in Decorated: chocolate sea salt caramel, coconut, fig and almond, lemon poppyseed, lavender, dark chocolate, burnt butter hazelnut, apple rosemary, gingerbread whiskey caramel, red velvet, chesnut pear, pistachio... The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, good luck! x
 |
| How to crystallise rose petals. Photo: Danielle Wood |
White rose cake recipe & how to crystallise rose petals
I love this dip-dye ombre look. Inside is a rose flavoured cake that uses mostly egg white, giving the sponge a pale shade which lends itself well to being coloured (check out the book for tips on how to turn this into a rainbow cake).
The rose cake is topped with crystallised rose petals. This technique works with other edible flowers like violets and yellow primroses.
As with using fresh flowers, the important thing to remember
is that your rose petals should be pesticide free.
For the crystallised rose petals:
1. Remove the petals from the flower head, trying to keep them in one piece. Pick out the freshest looking petals.
2. Working in batches, brush a thin layer of egg white on to both sides of each petal and sprinkle over enough caster sugar to give each petal an even coating.
3. Set aside on baking parchment or a wire rack to dry with a crisp shell, uncovered, for several hours or overnight. Store at room temperature and use within a day or so of making.
For the cake:
125 g (41⁄2 oz) unsalted butter
250 g (9 oz/generous cup) caster
(superfine) sugar
1 medium egg and 3 medium egg whites,
lightly beaten
225 g (8 oz/scant 2 cups) plain
(all-purpose) flour
60 0 g (1 lb 3 oz/scant 5 cups) icing
(confectioners’) sugar
150 ml (5 fl oz) double (heavy) cream
pink paste or gel food colouring
21⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
180 ml (6 fl oz) whole milk
1 teaspoon rose extract
For the rose buttercream:
375 g (13 oz) unsalted butter
2–3 teaspoons rose extract
To decorate:
pink and white crystallised rose petals
Equipment:
2 x 13 cm (5 inch) round, deep cake tins
Preheat the oven to 170°C (335°F/Gas 3).
Grease the cake tins and line with baking parchment. Using a stand mixer or
electric hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs to the mixture a little at a time, until they’re well
incorporated.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt
into bowl. Add half of the flour mixture
to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Add half of the milk and
the rose extract, continuing to beat, and then add the remaining flour and
milk.
Divide the mixture evenly between the
prepared cake tins. Bake in the oven for
45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake comes
out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in their tins, then turn them
out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling, make the
rose buttercream. Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter
for 3–4 minutes until pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar and cream and
continue to beat for another 2–3 minutes until smooth. Add the rose extract
gradually to taste.
Level the cakes by cutting off the domed
tops and split each layer in half so that you have 4 layers in total. Fix the bottom layer to the cake board or stand with a small amount of buttercream
and spread with a generous amount of the buttercream. Add the second layer and
repeat, and repeat again with the third layer, finishing with the final cake
layer. Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and
chill for 30 minutes or until firm.
Split the remaining buttercream into 3
bowls, leaving half of the buttercream white and colouring a quarter deep pink
and a quarter pale pink. Spread the white buttercream over the
top and halfway down the sides of the cake. With a clean spatula, spread the
deep pink buttercream around the bottom quarter of the cake. Spread the pale
pink buttercream between the white and deep pink colours, clean your spatula
and smooth the cake, removing excess buttercream as you go. Decorate with the crystallised
rose petals.
 |
| White Rose Cake from Decorated. Photo: Danielle Wood |
