When the Primrose Bakery Celebrations Cookery Book dropped through my letter box the other day I knew straight away that this Jasmine Cake would have to be the first cake that I baked. I have been looking for the perfect Jasmine Cake for my blog for a while now, as my blog is named after my Son’s Nonna, Jasmine, it seems only fitting that this would be the blogs signature cake.
However, it has not proved to be that simple, this cake is stunning, presented in the book with beautiful sugar paste flowers, which I decided to recreate with fresh ones from my garden, this cake is easy to bake, comes out perfectly, the texture of the cake is rich and moist, but there is one problem, I am not sure that I like the fragrant taste of Jasmine !!!! This is a bit of a dilemma, I love the smell, but not sure on the taste.
I did contemplate not adding it to the blog, but then thought that it can not always be about my taste, everything else about this cake is perfect and if you love the strong fragrant taste of rose and violet, you will love this cake. If you are looking for an exotic cake for a summer party, this is that cake. I just need to try it again, this time halving the amount of Jasmine that I add and see how I feel about it.
Just incase you do want to give this ago, Jasmine essence is readily available from Asian Supermarkets and I purchased mine online from Amazon, you can see my online shop for details.
Where this recipe would be great is, if you wanted to do a flower theme for cupcakes, sat along side heady rose, violet, elderflower and geranium scented cupcakes, it would hold its own. The frosting is gorgeous, you could double or treble the amount, divide into bowls and just add the flavour and colour of your choice to match each cupcake, topped with a fresh flower to match, they would be a real show piece, especially for a summer wedding.
I hope you enjoy this ever so pretty cake and I would be interested to see what your thoughts are on the flavour.
Buon appetito
For the Cake:
180ml milk (I always use organic milk and probably whole milk would be best, but I use semi-skimmed)
2 teaspoons loose-leaf Jasmine tea
250g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (I use Doves Farm organic)
1/4 teaspoon salt
250g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g golden caster sugar
3 large free-range eggs
1 teaspoon Jasmine essence
Preheat the oven to 180C, 160C fan, 350F, gas mark 4.
Grease and line to two 20cm sandwich baking tins.
Heat the milk in a small saucepan on the hob until it boils, make sure that you watch it closely as it may boil over rather quickly. Once it has come to the boil, add the jasmine tea leaves, give it a quick stir, pour into a heatproof jug or bowl and cover with clingfilm. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, drain the tea through a strainer or sieve, discard the tea leaves and put the milky tea to one side until needed.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set to one side.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure that each one is well combined before adding the next. Add the jasmine essence with the last egg. If you are worried that your batter is splitting, just add a tablespoon of your set aside flour to the mix.
Add one-third of the flour and beat on a low-speed until combined. Pour in one-third of the jasmine tea milk, beat again on a low speed, once combined add the remaining flour and milk, alternating until they all have been incorporated.
Divide the batter between your prepared tins and bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes, until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Mine took a lot longer, so just keep an eye on it. When baked, allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the icing:
100g unsalted butter
50ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon jasmine essence
500g icing sugar, sifted
Put the butter, milk, vanilla, jasmine essence and half of the icing sugar into a bowl and beat with an electric beater, don’t forget to put a tea towel over the top of your bowl when you first start to mix, it prevents icing clouds from going everywhere ! Once well combined and smooth, add the remaining icing sugar and again on a low speed, mix until it is lovely and smooth. It should be a creamy consistency, so add a little more milk if needed. It should be easy to spread onto your cake, but not to wet that it drips off the sides.
Put one layer of sponge on to a cake plate or stand and spread a layer of icing over the top of it, then put the other layer on top and use the rest of the icing to completely cover the top and sides of your cake. I use a really small palette knife for this.
Your cake is done and ready to serve, but if you want to you can decorate in anyway that you wish, I used edible fresh flowers from my garden, the Primrose Bakery used sugar flowers which are readily available from your local supermarket. Have fun, make it look pretty and it will be a stunning centrepiece for any occasion.
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