A Rose By Any Other Name

For the most part, I only make cakes for close friends and family but sometimes the definition of family stretches a little to take in my urban family: those people who have been friends for such a long time that they feel like they are an impossibly important part of my life. And that is how it came to pass that when one of my best friends asked me if I would make a wedding cake for her little brother, I said yes. It probably also helped that I have known him for more than two decades.

The design was difficult, their original ideas seemed a little old-fashioned to me so I gently pushed them towards more internet research and they came back with an idea for silhouettes that represented their interests. They also wanted a royal blue cake as the bride was going to have a dress in that colour and they loved the idea of contrasting the blue with white. We bounced ideas back and forth and I struggled to find a design that tied the whole thing together right up until a week or so before the wedding. And then I saw their wedding invitation - blue paisley and gorgeous. It was just what I needed for the middle tier.

We also disagreed about flavours - initially the happy couple wanted all rose flavoured cakes. I suggested that this was a very polarising flavour and that they should have something universally popular for at least one tier. Chocolate mud was my suggestion. In the end they agreed to one tier being chocolate and the top two vanilla-rose. But here's the thing, when I did my test bakes, the rose was ah-mazing. I mean honestly, I had no idea how delicious the vanilla-rose combo could be. The only problem was that the recipe the bride gave me was for cupcakes and when I baked it as a cake, it made one small 2x8 inch tier - this would have made the barrel tier I had in mind impossibly difficult and expensive.  In the end I used one of my favourite vanilla cake recipes, folded in the rose petal jelly and used the rose buttercream given to me by the bride. But if I'm honest, nothing quite equals that original recipe so here it is for you to enjoy.

Rose Cupcakes

200g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
90g icing sugar
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp Beerenberg Rose Petal Jelly
2 large eggs, at room temperature
125ml whole milk

Rose Buttercream Icing

125g butter
1 ½ cups icing sugar, sifted
 2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp rose water
Red food colouring

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 180°C. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper cases.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the icing sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2 – 3 minutes.

3. Add the Rose Petal Jelly and the eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed until combined after each addition. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on a low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Divide the batter evenly among pre-prepared muffin cups, filling each about three quarters full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean, 15 – 18 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about one hour.

5. For the buttercream icing: beat the butter until as white as possible. Add half of the icing sugar, and then add milk gradually, followed by the remaining icing sugar. Mix in rose water, along with a few drops of red food colouring, enough to give the icing a pale pink colour.

And how did the cake turn out?