Rose peshwari cake / cupcakes

I read this and thought it was a fab idea! Yes, another one from my baking bible. I'm going to shorthand the recipe, partly for speed and partly because I'm not sure about reproducing in full quite so many recipes from the same book here! I did modify this one by adding the rose element, which I thought would go well with the theme.

Small cakes or muffins: (see below for large cake)
These always go down well at bake sales! As does the full size cake (below) if you can transport it.

Make a basic 6oz/175g sponge mix: 3 eggs, and the same weight (~175g) each of butter, sugar and SR flour; begin by creaming the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and finally the flour. Add a good pinch of ground cardamom (freshly ground seeds from a few pods, if you can).

In a food processor whizz up 50-60g each of pistachios, desiccated coconut and sultanas, and stir this into the cake mix. Without a processor, just make sure the pistachios and sultanas are chopped well. This makes 20-24 small cakes, or 12 generous muffins, which bake in 15-20 minutes at 180°C/160°C fan (but do the skewer or spring-back test to check).

When cooled, top with basic fondant icing (fondant icing sugar & cold water measured by eye and mixed to a stiff but still dribble-able consistency), flavoured with a couple of drops of rosewater and coloured with a tiny amount of red colouring. Optionally, sprinkle with pistachios, coconut, dried rose petals (!) or sprinkles.


Large cakes:
Make an 8oz/4-egg sponge version (you could increase the nuts etc. as well, it's not an exact science) and bake in two lined 20cm tins until springy. When cool, sandwich the cakes with raspberry jam (or spread of your choice - something a bit sharp is nice) and half the buttercream (see below), with the rest of the buttercream on spread the top, or just use jam in the middle and then water icing as above. Don't forget the sprinkles!

Make buttercream with 200g icing sugar (well sifted) and 100g soft butter, plus milk to loosen if necessary, and rosewater and red colouring as above. Optionally, you can use the thicker, solidified part of a tin of coconut milk instead of (some of the) butter, and then use the liquid part to loosen.