Today is the first day of September and I woke this morning feeling so excited, I absolutely love autumn, it’s my season, I come to life and I have so much gratitude for the end of harvest and all the gorgeous gifts Mother Nature has given us. Today has been barmy hot, 28c out in the fields whilst I foraged, far to hot for me but I was determined to start September with some foraging as I really wanted to bake this Nettle and Lemon Cake.

It was absolutely stunning out there….

Armed with gloves and scissors I set off to collect my nettles, nettles have been a staple herbal medicine since ancient times and contain carotene, violaxanthin, xanthophylls, zeaxanthin, luteoxanthin and lutein epoxide that impart those mind blowing benefits to this herb, I have no idea what any of them are but I know that they can help lower blood pressure, help with hay fever, asthma and allergies, reduce inflammation, may aid blood sugar control and so on and so on, they have 10 minerals and 15 vitamins, so consuming nettles can be so beneficial to your health.

Usually used in savoury dishes, or to make tinctures and teas, the use of nettles in this cake is a really lovely use of them, especially if you have a sweet tooth like me!

Truthfully it is a little late in the season to be making this cake, the recipe calls for Spring young nettles, the nettles have gone to seed and these can be harvested and used in so many ways, but I really wanted to make this cake today so I found the freshest nettles I could find.

I hope you have all enjoyed this beautiful hot day and managed to get outside for some nature therapy, as always I am dreading work tomorrow, but look forward to next weekend when I can head out on another adventure.

Love Di 💋

100 g raw young nettle leaves

200 g unsalted butter, softened

150 g granulated sugar

3 medium eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

The juice and zest of one lemon

250 g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Icing 

125g icing sugar mixed with lemon juice from ingredients above

To decorate: edible flowers from the garden or meadows (just make sure they haven’t been sprayed with chemicals and don’t pick from the roadside).

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 170C fan. Grease and line a 2lb (900g) loaf tin.

2. Carefully wash the nettles and blanch them in simmering water for 5 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water, then squeeze as much water out as possible (don’t worry – the sting is gone once they are cooked.

3. In a food processor, bullet blender or with a hand blender, whizz together the eggs with the cooked nettles. Set aside.

4. Cream together the butter and sugar. Then, gradually beat in the egg and nettle mixture, the vanilla essence (if using) and half of the lemon juice and zest.

5. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, stir to combine the finished mixture.

6. Spoon into the lined loaf tin and bake in the centre of the pre-heated oven for at least 35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Ovens will vary – my oven took 45 minutes.

7. Cool in the tin, meanwhile make the icing.

ICING:

For the simple glaze icing, sift 125g icing sugar into a bowl, add the remaining half of lemon juice and enough water til you have a thick double cream consistency. Smear onto the top of the cool cake, and decorate with edible flowers.