Nettle and Honey Cake with Gorse Flower Syrup
Five years ago I wrote a blog about my Nettle and Honey Cake - it went down a treat. Named as; 'probably the best cake I've ever had' by one enthusiastic forager, I was super pleased with the result.
Every so often I like to repeat recipes so I can enjoy the flavours again and see if they need tweaking. Over the last few years I've also found that nettles combines well with ginger and with lemon and, although this cake contains neither, its texture is reminiscent of a lovely moist ginger cake.
Last week, however, I made a new discovery; nettle cake (urtica dioica) and gorse (ulex gallii, ulex europaeus) flower syrup! It's a wild and divine combination which I just had to share with you.
A Spring Dessert: Nettle and Honey Cake with Gorse Flower Syrup
An almost toffee flavoured, moist, not too sweet cake, with a sweet hit of moorland gorse flavours drizzled over it. Somehow, this whole combination reminds me of green tea, perhaps it is the lovingly received health benefits of these local, wild ingredients, or just the natural flavours of green nettles and infused gorse.
This recipe is from my book 'Wild and Sweet' (page 30) alongside 4 other nettle recipes and 100 more wild desserts. The gorse flower syrup is also from this book (page 73).
You can find the full recipe in my book 'Wild and Sweet' where I travel through the seasons, from spring right through to winter, making desserts from foraged ingredients. It's a treat!
Read more about Stinging Nettles for food, and I've many blogs about Gorse Flowers including recipes too.
6 comments on “Nettle and Honey Cake with Gorse Flower Syrup”
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Tags: Foraging, gorse flowers, gorse recipe, nettle recipe, stinging nettles, ulex europaeus, ulex gallii, Urtica dioica, wild food
Hi we are a family of six that homeschool our four children ages 9,7,5 and 2. We are coming to cornwall for a week in early may and see your web page. I just wondeeed if there is anything that you do for a young family and dates pruces ect. These experiences are what we have started hpine ed for although we havent done it for that long we would love pur children to learn the basics. Kibd regards lauren
Hi Lauren, yes happy to offer something for you all. Do message me through the contact page or email me at; [email protected] and we can discuss fully. Many thanks, Rachel
[…] at making Nettle Soup – which I love. I’d of never been able to enjoy the sensations of Nettle and Honey Cake or discovered Nettle Pakoras. Or shared these with so many of you. I digress… Do check out […]
[…] I've since updated this recipe, you can see my most recent version here; Spring dessert: Nettle and Honey Cake with Gorse Flower Syrup […]
Colours are amazing. No idea where l can pick gorse flowers in Bristol, so will try and research this.
Yes, lovely yellows. Let me know if you find any.