Hello and Happy Spring! I thought a little wildflower cake would be the perfect way to celebrate a new season. And a new season it is!
As you may (or may not) know, sheet cakes have long been a favourite of mine (See the Carrot Sheet Cake here, then there is the popular Lavender & Lemon Sheet Cake , the Chocolate Sheet Cake here and the Christmas Sheet Cake ).
The simplicity allures me every time and I find myself silently noting all the worthwhile points of sheet cakes, whilst mixing all the ingredients together. You don’t have to grease the dish for one and two, you certainly don’t have to worry about a perfectly finished look to the icing. Not that I tend to worry about that anyway. And besides that, there are numerous other points, but you’ll discover those, and silently note them, much like me and will become a fan of sheet cakes forever. I’m certain of it.
This Naartjie and Vanilla Wildflower Cake, as I’ve chosen to name it, received child approval, before it even had a chance to be draped with a silky cream cheese icing. I placed the cake on top of the fridge to cool, and then left to do some errands only to return to find a large rectangular piece missing! Little thiefs! Little Boys! So, what you see here is the resulting cake – carrying it off with such elegance, wouldn’t you say?
A few things about the “extras” – the vanilla beans are optional, I simply added them because I found one lone Vanilla Pod in a pantry jar and thought it would be a fine match for the citrus. If you don’t have naartjies, you can use lemons or oranges, even limes. A citrus of your choice really. The yoghurt can always be replaced with buttermilk and the sugar can be brown or white, coarse or caster. For the icing, you can choose to omit the Vanilla Essence and put some Vanilla beans in instead. Sadly, I didn’t have another pod on hand, but I was dreaming of how good (how much better) the icing would have been if I had! You can add a little zest into the icing as well, although I decided to leave mine plain and rather scatter the zest and flowers on top.
It doesn’t take long to cook – approximately 30 – 35 minutes although it may take shorter, or even perhaps longer, depending on your oven. And as tempting as it is, allow the cake to cool completely before icing.
For a further indulgence, brew a pot of Chai tea and almond milk on the stove. You won’t be sorry. Every flower cake needs a little spice along with it, and why not have it in a cup of tea?
Naartjie and Vanilla Wildflower Cake
- Total Time: 50 mins
Ingredients
Icing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Add all dry ingredients into a blender
- Add all wet ingredients and mix together until well combined
- Place into a rectangular baking dish (approx 20 x 30cm) – no need to grease
- Bake for approx 30 mins at 180°C or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean
- Allow to cool before icing.
- To make the icing, simply cream the cream cheese in a blender / mixer until smooth, then add one cup of icing and blend until smooth, then add the next cup of icing sugar and blend again until smooth.
- Pour the icing onto the cooled cake and using a spatula, spread the icing evenly over the cake.
- Decorate with naartjie zest and edible flowers (I used a few dried pink rose petals as well!)
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
