Rooibos, honey and vanilla Easter cake with cream-cheese icing by Meals & Residence
Elements:
- Butter/cooking spray, to grease
- 3 Rooibos teabags
- 300ml boiling water
- 600g self-raising flour, sifted
- Pinch salt
- 2.5ml (½ tsp) bicarbonate of soda
- 250g castor sugar
- 100g honey
- 250ml (1 cup) sunflower oil
- 4 giant eggs
- 180ml (¾ cup) buttermilk
- 15ml (1 tbsp) vanilla essence
- Zest of two oranges
- Zest of 1 lemon
Cream cheese icing:
- 1 x 250g field cream cheese, at room temperature
- 50g butter, softened
- 450g icing sugar, sifted
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 x 400g packets speckled eggs
Methodology:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease 2 spherical springform cake tins of 18cm diameter every and line the bases and sides with baking paper. Place the teabags within the boiling water and permit to infuse for quarter-hour, then discard the teabags.
In a big mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda, and put aside till wanted.
Utilizing a free-standing mixer or an electrical hand-held beater, beat the castor sugar, honey, sunflower oil, Rooibos tea and eggs collectively in a mixing bowl till nicely mixed. Stir within the buttermilk, vanilla essence and zests. Fold the moist elements into the dry.
Pour the batter into the ready tins, clean out the floor with a spatula and bake within the preheated oven, about 30 – 40 minutes. Examine if the sponges are baked by way of by inserting a skewer by way of the centre of every sponge – the skewer ought to come out clear. Take away the sponges from the tins, with the baking paper going through upwards, and place on the chopping board. Cool fully.
For the icing, beat the cream cheese and 50g tender butter utilizing a freestanding mixer or hand-held electrical beater, about 1 minute, till the combination is pale. Add the icing sugar and beat till clean and completely mixed, then add the lemon zest.
As soon as the cake sponges are fully cooled, peel off the baking paper. Ice the highest of one of many sponges and sandwich with the opposite sponge. Apply a skinny layer of icing over the entire cake to seal within the crumbs, then refrigerate for half-hour.
Take away the cake from the fridge and apply a remaining layer of icing everywhere in the sides of the cake, utilizing a palette knife.
Ranging from the highest of the cake, press the speckled eggs into the icing throughout the aspect of the cake in your required sequence of color. Repeat the rows, in your required sample, till the perimeters of the cake are lined by speckled eggs.
Beautify the highest of the cake with the remaining eggs and serve.
