This very pretty, the all-in-one recipe makes an ideal centerpiece this summer. Use the Tala Performance mini sandwich pan for best results (because you will not have to spend time greasing or lining the pans, as the cake mixture will not stick).

The recipe makes six mini layer cakes, so you will need to bake 12 'halves' using either two sandwich pans or one pan twice. Do not worry if you only have one pan as the mixture will sit happily enough waiting for the first batch to bake.

For this recipe, I will also show you how to crystallize roses. Make sure you use roses that have been grown without the use of pesticides. If you would rather not use raw egg whites, you can use pasteurized egg whites or reconstituted meringue powder instead.

If you can get started on the rose petals the day before because they do take a while to dry out.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

For the sponges:

170g soft light brown sugar

3 free-range eggs

170ml vegetable oil

170g self-raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

50g chopped pistachio nuts

1 tsp poppy seeds

 

Equipment; 

Tala Performance mini sandwich pan

Indigo and Ivory Mixing bowl

 cake tester

Tala decorating set star leaf and grass nozzles with an icing bag

Tala 3 star nozzles with an icing bag 

 

For the rosewater syrup:

 100g granulated sugar

 100ml water

 Rosewater to taste

 

 

 

 

 For the buttercream:

 250g salted butter

 300g icing sugar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the crystallized roses:

1 egg white

1 tbs water

Caster sugar

1 pink rose (and another for decoration would be useful)

 

 

Method:

Crystallizing the roses

1. Pull the petals from the rose and scatter in pile on your work surface.
2. Brush both sides of each petal with egg white and water mixture.
3. Quickly dunk the petal in sugar on both sides.
4. Set aside to dry on a plate covered with cling film. The cling film makes it simpler to lift the rose petal off the surface.

Baking the sponges:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (338 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Reserving a handful of chopped pistachio nuts for later, measure out all the ingredients for the sponge (including the rest of the nuts) and place in our Indigo and Ivory Mixing bowl, in any order.
3. Mix together carefully and spoon into the mixture into the pan, taking care to put equal amounts into each hole. You will need 12 'halves', so if you need to reuse the pan, make sure you reserve half of the mixture for the next batch.
4. Bake for around 15 minutes and then poke a cake tester into one of the sponges to see if it is ready. If the cake tester is clean when removed from the cake, it will be done.
5. Remove the cakes from the oven and place it on a heat-resistant surface for five minutes.
6. Slide a knife around the outside of the cakes, if you need to, remove the circular pan bases and allow it to cool.

 

 

Making the syrup:

1. While the cakes are baking, place sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar crystals dissolve.
2. Add rosewater to taste. It can taste very strong when neat, but the flavor dissipates when added to the cakes, so do not have too light a touch. I use one dessert spoon for my syrup.
3. Allow the syrup to cool.

 

 

Making the buttercream:

1. Soften the butter, very carefully, in the microwave.
2. Cream with the icing sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip nozzle.

 

Icing the cakes:

1. Trim the domes from the cooled cakes with a bread knife so that they are nice and flat and position them all so that the cut surface is uppermost.
2. Use a dessert spoon to drizzle a spoonful of syrup over the cut surface of each cake.
3. Take the piping bag and pipe a 'rose' swirl onto six of the cakes by starting in the middle of each cake and making a spiral of icing that spreads out to the edge of the cake
4. Sandwich each of the iced cakes, with an un-iced cake, taking care to ensure the cut surface of the un-iced cake faces down. 

 

5. Pipe another rose swirl on top of each cake, sprinkle with the reserved nuts, torn crystallized roses, and position on a pretty cake stand. Pull petals from the second rose, if you have one, and scatter them around the cakes and over the tabletop

 

6. Serve and enjoy the delicious results with someone special