Rosemary is a reliable stalwart in the herb garden. We love it finely chopped and pressed with fresh pepper on to steaks before barbecuing or sprinkled over roasting potatoes.
This cake shows off rosemary’s sweet side. We tasted it at Chris Cuddy’s Perennialle Plants nursery on our Tastings: Orange tour, baked by his lovely wife Nerida, and begged the recipe. It’s from Apples for Jam, by Tessa Kiros, published by Murdoch Books.
Photo - Chris Cuddy
Ingredients
150g butter
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup honey
2/3 cup plain flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
2 eggs, beaten
Lemon icing:
250g icing sugar
100g butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Method
Prepare a 22cm springform tin and heat the oven to 180C.
Put the butter, brown sugar and honey into a small saucepan with one tablespoon of water and heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl and add the rosemary. Add the honey mixture and eggs and beat until smooth.
Pour into the tin and bake 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the butter, lemon zest and juice and a tablespoon of water and beat until smooth. Spread
over the top and sides of the cake.
