The idea for this cake came to me in half-asleep reverie. I frequently have recipe-related dreams – sad as it is to admit that! I was picturing a very ethereal, romantic and slightly retro cake and, for once, I was able to realise the exact image of what I imagined… and I can’t tell you how amazing that is. In my dream there were also rose macarons… which I did make but at a later date (although I posted that recipe first just to confuse everyone).
I baked this in the Wilton Easy Layer cake pans from Lakeland which are only 15cm (6in) – the cake is quite tall at five layers but will only yield about 6 generous slices. However the recipe can be doubled very easily if you wanted to bake a full-sized cake using normal cake tins. A word of caution about the Wilton cake tins – although the look as if nothing would ever stick to them that could not be further from the truth. Grease them well – preferably with butter and flour rather than cake release – otherwise your lovely cake layers will be destroyed. I speak from experience!
Perfectly Romantic Rose & Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- Rose & Lemon buttercream
- 230 g | 2 sticks | 8.1oz unsalted butter cubed
- 500 g | 17.64oz icing powdered sugar, sifted (if you can be bothered!)
- 1 tbsp hot water if butter is cold
- 1-2 tbsp rose water
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp dried edible rose petals crushed to a powder
- 120 ml | 1/2 cup double cream
- a few drops pink food colouring optional
- Rose & Lemon Layer Cake
- 165 g | 5.8oz plain flour
- 165 g | 5.8oz caster sugar
- 40 g | 1.4oz ground almonds
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- –
- 1 tbsp rose water look for Steenbergs brand
- 1 tbsp rose petals crushed to a powder
- 100 g | 3.5oz unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 2 large eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 100 ml | 3.5 fl oz buttermilk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- –
- 2-3 tbsp simple syrup
- 1 tbsp gin
- 1 tbsp rose water
Instructions
- Make the buttercream. Put the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk. Slowly start beating together, adding a few drops hot water if the butter is cold.
- Increase the speed to maximum and whisk for a few minutes until fluffy.
- Stop the machine and scrape the bottom and sides with a spatula. Add the rose water, lemon juice, rose petals and food colouring if using. Whisk together.
- Gradually add the double cream and whisk until thoroughly mixed in – 3-4 minutes. The buttercream should be smooth and hold firm peaks. If it's too runny, add a little more icing sugar.
- Make the cake. Preheat the oven to 170C (340F). Grease and flour the cake pans, dusting off any excess.
- Sift all the dry ingredients and add them to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Add the cubed butter and mix until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the eggs, one at a time and mix them in.
- Add the buttermilk, rose water, rose petals, lemon juice & zest and beat together. Stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure the batter is thoroughly mixed.
- Carefully divide between the pans (don't overfill) and bake for 12-15 minutes if you are using mini cake tins and 23-25 minutes if using larger tins. Cool on a wire rack.
- Mix the simple syrup, gin and rose water together and brush over the cake layers.
- Add buttercream to the cake layers and sandwich together. Do a crumb coat and chill the cake for 30 minutes before adding more buttercream with a palette knife to frost the entire cake (you can also pipe it if you wish). Decorate with sprinkles or a scattering of dried edible rose petals.
Notes
You can buy simple (sugar) syrup but it also very easy to make. Put equal amounts sugar and water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until sugar dissolves - couple of minutes.
Zara says
April 21, 2018 at 2:21 pmBeautiful cake!! I’m planning to make this for my birthday. How long can this cake be stored fresh at room temp?
Lucy Parissi says
April 21, 2018 at 4:34 pmShould be ok for a few hours but I wouldn’t leave it out for two long on a hot day.
Zara says
April 23, 2018 at 8:56 pmHow long does it stay fresh if stored in fridge?
Lucy Parissi says
April 25, 2018 at 4:42 pmI would say a couple of days. But storing it in the fridge will eventually dry the cake out.
June Burns says
February 12, 2015 at 12:32 pmLooks delicious! Very romantic indeed, love the color 🙂
[email protected] says
February 11, 2015 at 10:06 amYou are such a cake wizard, my friend! How you continuously pull this off I have no idea! You are right, this delicately beautiful cake is perfectly romantic!
Winnie says
February 10, 2015 at 5:52 pmWowwww Lucy – this is such a fantastic cake !! It looks sooooooooo delicious and so elegant
Oana says
February 10, 2015 at 5:13 pmWhat a beautiful cake! So delicate! That pink is the perfect color for a cake! And the flavors are heavenly as well. Well done!
Briana Thomas says
February 10, 2015 at 2:45 pmMmm…I love cakes, and yours is just gorgeous! Great flavor combo idea.
Angela Field says
February 10, 2015 at 9:09 amWell that looks gorgeous! I'm so jealous of all your Valetine's Day bakes. I had some in the pipeline and all of the necessary ingredients, but it's not going to be possible as life is against me this week!
I now have a glut of strawberries and fresh cream! What a hard life!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
February 10, 2015 at 8:35 amLucy this cake is beautiful! And perfect for Valentine's of course. Pinned!
Steph @MisplacedBrit says
February 10, 2015 at 7:17 amOh wow! That is absolutely gorgeous! I totally agree with Kate @Glutenfreealchemist – perfectly …Everything 🙂
Amy says
February 10, 2015 at 3:42 amAbsolutely gorgeous! We've already got our Valentine's dessert planned, but I know Mum is going to love this for Mother's Day. Just beautiful, and I love the generous amount of frosting woven between the layers 🙂
Lucy Parissi says
February 10, 2015 at 9:38 amThanks Amy… I think it is just the perfect Afternoon Tea kind of cake.
Made With Pink says
February 9, 2015 at 10:13 pmWhat an absolutely gorgeous cake. I especially love the pink icing. Your photos are amazing as well.
Kate Glutenfreealchemist says
February 9, 2015 at 10:03 pmNot only is it 'perfectly romantic', but it is also perfectly baked, perfectly decorated and perfectly photographed! It sounds utterly delicious too….
Lucy Parissi says
February 10, 2015 at 9:39 amThanks Kate. I was lucky with the light on the day although I am still learning on how to deal and process images with white backgrounds – always tougher than the rest!
Lucy Allen says
February 9, 2015 at 7:00 pmso pretty! x
Marta Vodrey says
February 9, 2015 at 2:28 pmWow, thats gorgeous!
.:Marta:.
Jennie // scarletscorchdroppers says
February 9, 2015 at 11:23 amSo, so pretty. I love the pink buttercream – so romantic! x