Spring is in the air! By this statement I mean I can smell Jasmine, Orange blossoms, Gardenias and all the gorgeous floral aromas that I associate with the warmer weather. I know it may not be a fun time of year for those with hay fever and allergies, but I love the overpowering sickly sweet honey aroma’s of blossoming flowers.
I wanted to make a cake which captured that smell precisely. So this morning I went into my garden and picked a big bunch of Jasmine and put it in a milk jug. This was for no other reason than inspiration. While I was going about my normal daily duties the gorgeous aroma was teasing me. A plan started to take shape. I wanted to bake a cake. It needed to be buttery with a delicious honey and orange blossom flavour. I decided to make a matching syrup just to ensure the floral flavour was as intense as I wanted. This is how my Jasmine Friand recipe was born.
Once the friand had finished baking I could no longer tell which aroma was from the cake, the syrup or the original flowers. There was a melding of aroma’s.
Mr GG is not a sweet tooth, so I expected this experiment to be met with very little enthusiasm. He particularly dislikes the Jasmine bush because it grows over our native garden… oops! Anyway, I got the big thumbs up , he even slurped up extra syrup on the second cake.
So here is a nice way to welcome in the springtime!
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites
- 185 gm butter melted
- 2 Tbs honey
- 1 Tbs Orange Blossom Water
- 1 cup ground almond
- 1 ½ cup icing sugar
- ½ cup plain flour
- ½ cup flaked almonds decoration
Honey Syrup Glaze:
- 2 Tbs Honey
- 1 Tbs Water
- 2 TBS Orange Blossom Water
Instructions
- Lightly grease a friand mould and preheat oven to 180 degrees. or 350F
- Whisk the egg whites until just combined. Add the melted butter, honey and orange blossom water and whisk again to combine.
- Add the almond meal, flour and sifted icing sugar and combine with a wooden spoon.
- Pour the mixture into the mould.
- Add the flaked almonds to the top of the Friand and cook until golden 10-15mins.
Honey Syrup Glaze
- In a microwave safe dish (small crockery jug) make the sugar syrup by placing the honey and water in the bowl and microwaving for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and add the orange blossom water. Drizzle the syrup over the friend. Allow to stand for a few minutes to soak up the syrup and then serve.
These cutes little cakes make the perfect addition to a High Tea platter.
So readers, Which season is your favourite? Do you have flavours that you associate with a season?