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Word and photos by Grace

With bottles of yummy elderflower syrup filling our work shelves, I definitely thought I’d try something new and give it a go in a cake. With my bundt tin one of my favourite to bake with, this was the time to get it out of my baking utensil cupboard.

Elderflower syrup has a fresh, floral aroma. Its fruity, sweet taste features accents of grapefruit and honey, to me that sounds like it would be perfect in a cake. I don’t want the elderflower to be too overpowering, so just a small amount in the cake mixture is just enough, although if you fancy a stronger flavour then you can always add a bit more, but remember to add more flour so that the batter isn’t too runny(meaning you’re cake will rise and sink in the middle).

With the subtle hint of the elderflower syrup, a good hit of zingyness is exactly what the cake is missing. I use lemons quite a lot in my baking, so as I’m trying something new already with the syrup I’ll also try something else too..limes!

When it comes to the icing, I always find it hard to follow a recipe, it never turns out the consistency I want. So the measurements are a rough estimate really, I always tend to just play around with both the juice of the limes and the icing powder to get the consistency I would like.  I love thick glazes that hold well on the case, and in that case you need a fair bit more icing sugar. But just play around with it and you’ll get it.

This cake doesn’t just look delicious and inviting, but the sponge is so moist, light and fluffy..its perfect with a cuppa!

Ingredients

Cake mixture:

• 125 grams of softened butter
• 200 grams of caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• pinch of salt
• 300 grams of plain flour
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 100 mls of milk
• 80 mls of elderflower syrup

Lime glaze frosting:

• 200 grams of icing sugar (more if you want a really thick icing)
• Zest of one lime
• Juices of 3 limes (less if you want a more runny icing)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees
2. Grease and flour your bundt tin, shaking off any excess flour
3. Cream together the butter and sugar, until it becomes light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time
4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt together
5. In a jug, mix the milk and elderflower well
6. Bit by bit, begin to add the wet and dry ingredients into the creamed butter and sugar.
7. Alternating between the dry and wet until it is all incorporated, careful not to over mix
8. Pour the mixture into the bundt tin and bake for 30 minutes, or until the skewer comes out clean when you poke the middle of the cake.
9. Allow the cake to cool in the tin completely
10. Whilst its cooling, mix the icing sugar, lime juice and zest in a bowl. Once you get the consistency you like and the cake is completely cool, pour the glaze over the cake.
11. If you want to add another bit of zing, grate around half the zest of a lime on top of the cake. Best to do it soon after you’ve glazed the cake so the zest sticks.