The Hunk is one of those people who appreciatively wolfs down anything you put infront of him - it's one of the (many) things I love about him. So when I placed the pelargonium flowers on top of this cake and it looked unspeakably girly, I knew it wouldn't matter a bit. Sure enough, when I gave it to him and harrumphed about it being a bit 'princessy' for a boy, he said 'babe....it's CAKE!' - enough said.
Scented leaved-pelargoniums are one of my favourite plants...mostly because they appeal to my nose. You can get them in little plugs in the springtime and in rather larger pots right now, and their scents range from violet to rose to coca-cola (yes, indeed). i like to use rose-scented Pelargonium graveolens, for punch (see The Virgin Gardener) and cakes, but any scented-leaved pelargonium will add something to your baking and this time round I used a deliciously apple-rose scented pele (whose label I have, predictably, lost).
I grow all my pelargoniums in pots of John Innes No. 2 compost. I keep them outside in summer and bring them inside my kitchen window for the winter. Those I don't have space for but don't want to lose, I take cuttings from (incredibly easy....I will show you how very soon).
I got the recipe from the gorgeous book River Cottage Cakes by Pam Corbin. I love this book because it is pink, but ALSO, because it has a recipe for dog-biscuits in it, in which Pam begins by saying 'I do think it's important to keep everyone in the family happy'....Mr Pug would agree wholeheartedly.
This cake is called Scent from heaven cake and calls for lemon verbena (which I've already blogged about here). She uses rice flour in hers...I had none, so just used self-raising flour. It's delicious...mostly because it's one of those cakes that you 'feed' with flavoured syrup (in this case, pelargonium-flavoured), so that it gets saturated with yumminess.
Enjoy your weekend...it's gonna be a scorcher apparently I'm on the tellybox tonight, on ITV at 8pm for THREE WHOLE MINUTES...go me!