My recipe for Lemon & Elderflower Cake with Raspberries is a stunner! It’s a really beautiful spring/summer show-stopper gateau-type cake.
The Summer Cake Files
My recipe for Lemon & Elderflower Cake with Raspberries is a stunner! It’s a really beautiful spring/summer show-stopper gateau-type cake that uses seasonal elderflower cordial and lemon curd.
The base cake mixture is a Victoria Sandwich, a British classic that works well with all of the other British ingredients and preserves.
I’ve added seasonal raspberries to the cake, but you could use strawberries, apricots, peaches, or even blueberries when in season too.
The floral decoration is crystallised primroses, something I make every spring, as well as crystallised violets. Once made, these crystallised flowers keep for up to a year in an airtight tin, and in a non-humid (dry) and cool place.
I realise that you may not have access to these flowers right now, so use any floral (edible flowers) you have to hand. I’ve used non-crystallised flowers in the past on my cakes and bakes.
I’ve shared this today, as Father’s Day is just 2 weeks away, and my dad used tom love this cake. However, it would also make a wonderful Mothering Sunday, Easter or Birthday cake too.
I’ve shared the “weight method” for this cake, as in the original and more traditional way of weighing your ingredients to match the weight of your eggs.
Bearing in mind that the recipe is Victorian, and this was the most popular method of adjusting their measurements in cakes and pastry.
Plus, weighing the eggs and then adjusting the other ingredient measurements to the eggs, gives a lighter and fluffier cake.
My mum always used to ice her lemon cakes with the lemon curd and cream frosting I have shared, which adds a citrus creaminess to the cake, and works wonderfully well with the fresh raspberries.
The addition of elderflower adds a delightful floral flavour, and just adds to the the taste of this delectable cake.
I’ve shared my crystallised flower method below, which you can use for most edible flowers, as well as edible flower petals.
Do let me know if you make this fabulous cake, and what flowers and fruit you used in it. I’m making this for our summer BBQ this July, and I may use strawberries in it, or even a mixture of strawberries and raspberries!
Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll be back with some BBQ recipes for Father’s Day, Karen
More Cakes in the Lavender & Lovage Cake Files
- Apple, Lemon and Elderflower Drizzle Cake
- Swedish Midsummer Cake with Berries and Cream
- VE Day Condensed Milk Cake
- Coffee Walnut Cake
Apple, Lemon and Elderflower Drizzle Cake 
Swedish Midsummer Cake with Berries and Cream 
VE Day Condensed Milk Cake 
Coffee Walnut Cake
MORE Cakes…….
- Classic Madeira Cake
- “Cut and Come Again” Farmhouse Fruit Cake
- Hazelnut & Chocolate Chip Cappuccino Cake
- Banana Bread Cake with Buttercream
Classic Madeira Cake 
“Cut and Come Again” Farmhouse Fruit Cake 
Hazelnut & Chocolate Chip Cappuccino Cake 
Banana Bread Cake with Buttercream
How to Make Crystallised Primroses
INGREDIENTS:
30 – 40 fresh primroses
1 egg white
caster sugar
- Place the dry fresh primroses on a breadboard, baking tray or flat surface. Beat the egg white to a light foam. Brush the flowers all over with beaten egg white, using a soft pastry brush or a paint brush.
- Sprinkle flowers all over with the caster sugar immediately. The sugar needs to stick to the egg white before it dries. Leave them for approximately one hour or more until fully set, I prefer to leave them overnight. You can also sit the finished flowers on a baking tray lined with ovenproof paper in a warm oven (switched off).
- Once they have dried, they will be hard and brittle; store them carefully in an airtight tin for up to 12 months.
- Tips: Leave the stalks on the primroses, it helps you to pick them up and paint the egg white on them.
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Recipe for Lemon & Elderflower Cake with Raspberries
Lemon & Elderflower Cake with Raspberries
My recipe for Lemon & Elderflower Cake with Raspberries is a stunner! It's a really beautiful spring/summer show-stopper gateau-type cake that uses seasonal elderflower cordial and lemon curd.
The base cake mixture is a Victoria Sandwich, a British classic that works well with all of the other British ingredients and preserves.
Ingredients
- CAKE:
- 4 large eggs, weighed in their shells
- Butter or soft margarine ~ same weight as the eggs
- Caster sugar/super fine sugar ~ same weight as the eggs
- Self-rising flour~ same weight as the eggs
- 6 tablespoons elderflower cordial
- Zest of one lemon
- FILLING:
- 1 x 250g jar lemon curd
- 250ml thick cream
- 1 x 250g punnet fresh raspberries
- FROSTING:
- 4 tablespoons lemon curd
- 150ml thick cream
- 5 to 7 tablespoons elderflower cordial
- DECORATION:
- Crystallised primroses(or edible flowers of your choice)
Instructions
1. Cake: Pre-heat oven to Gas 4, 160C (fan oven), 180C or 350F: grease and base line the bottom of 2 x 8” (20cm) sandwich tins – cake tins.
2. Cream margarine or butter together with the sugar, until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest.
3. Beat the eggs with the elderflower cordial and then add them to the mixture, gradually and beating well after each addition. Sieve the flour and fold into the mixture with a metal spoon.
4. Divide equally between the 2 prepared tins and bake for 25 minutes in the middle of the oven. Remove and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes.
5. Assembling the cake: Remove from the tins and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
6. Place the first cake layer on a cake stand and spoon lemon curd over the cake before adding the thick cream, and then arrange the raspberries over the cream.
7. Frosting: Mix all the frosting ingredients together and spoon it over the top of the cake.
8. Decorate with the crystallised primroses or edible flowers of your choice, or more raspberries if not using edible flowers.
Notes
NB: The measurements for this recipe are equal amounts of sugar, flour and fat to the weight of the eggs; therefore, weigh the eggs first – if the eggs weigh 8 ounces (225g), you will use 8 ounces (225g) of sugar, 8 ounces (225g) of butter or margarine and 8 ounces (225g) of flour. If the eggs weigh 6 ounces (170g), all the other ingredients will be 6 ounces (170g) – easy!
Crystallised Primroses:
INGREDIENTS:
30 - 40 fresh primroses
1 egg white
caster sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Step 1. Place the dry fresh primroses on a breadboard, baking tray or flat surface. Beat the egg white to a light foam. Brush the flowers all over with beaten egg white, using a soft pastry brush or a paint brush.
2. Sprinkle flowers all over with the caster sugar immediately. The sugar needs to stick to the egg white before it dries. Leave them for approximately one hour or more until fully set, I prefer to leave them overnight. You can also sit the finished flowers on a baking tray lined with ovenproof paper in a warm oven (switched off).
3. Once they have dried, they will be hard and brittle; store them carefully in an airtight tin for up to 12 months.
4. Tips: Leave the stalks on the primroses, it helps you to pick them up and paint the egg white on them.
Substitutions:
Use any fruit curd in place of lemon curd.
Use any fresh berries or fruit in season.
Use fresh edible flowers in place of crystallised flowers.
Use fresh fruit or berries for the decoration if not using fresh or crystallised flowers.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 slices Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 285Total Fat 21gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 185mgSodium 107mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 2gSugar 14gProtein 6g
Catherine Pritchard says
I will definitely make this for my mother’s birthday at e end of the month. We made about 5 litres of elderflower cordial last week so it will be perfect. Love your recipes but I have difficulty with the multitude of pop up ads on your website. It is toting very difficult to read the content so I might just stick to Facebook
Karen Burns-Booth says
I hope you and your mother enjoys the cake! 🙂 Karen
Nic | Nic's Adventures & Bakes says
Thanks for sharing, this cake looks amazing, the sugar primroses are a lovely touch 🙂
Karen Burns-Booth says
I still have some of the preserved primroses in a tin!
Corina Blum says
It’s such a pretty cake and perfect for summer. I especially like the crystallised primroses.
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
This is such a beautiful cake!
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
So pretty! And it sounds utterly delicious… any chance you could pop a slice in the post for me?? 😉