Fennel & Apple Cake With Rose Icing
Inspired by a dish from The Fat Duck…why not make a cake out of it?
Taffety tart is one of the desserts served on the tasting menu at the world famous The Fat Duck restaurant.
I remembered tasting it and being very impressed by all the wonderful flavours coming together. A paper thin layered of puff pastry with caramelized apple jelly and formage blanc mousse severed with blackcurrant sorbet, fennel flowers and crystallized rose petals. It was such an exquisite dish that would surely work just as well in a cake version; fennel and apple cake with rose water icing, garnished with crystallized rose petals.
Here is the recipe.
Fennel & apple
420g flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
10g baking powder
300g sugar
4 eggs
240ml vegtable oil
lemon zest
1 large fennel bulb chopped
1 large bramley apple diced
Method:
Place the oil and sugar in a bowl fitted with a paddle attachment.
Mix and add the eggs one by one. Add dry ingredients mix well and add the fennel, apple and lemon zest.
Place mix into your baking moulds or tins and cook on low heat (160 degrees) for about 30-40 minutes depending on size.
For the icing; place icing sugar in a bowl and whisk with a bit of water and a few drops of rose water.
Mix well until the right consistency.
For the crystallised rose petals, dip your rose petals in to a bowl with egg white, shake off any excess before dipping the rose petal into another bowl filled with caster sugar.
Place all sugared rose petals on a baking try and bake on low heat (40 degrees) over night if you have a dehydrator or, on the lowest possible setting for a few hours if you don’t have a dehydrator.
Enjoy!!
Image by Ori