Fluffy Sponge Cake with Marscapone and Borage Flowers Recipe
This delicious and very light and fluffy sponge cake is made with Panela, dried sugar can juice. Sugar Cane Juice is both sweet and cooling. This means it is useful to pacify both aggravated Vata and Pitta Doshas, with a tendency to aggravate Kapha Dosha when used in excess.
Sugar Cane Juice can be used in many conditions such as jaundice, anaemia, constipation, burning sensations and fainting. It contains many minerals such as Manganese, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Vitamins B1, B2. Therefore, it can be helpful to balance electrolytes. In the UK Panela the dried form can be used in cooking. It is good to use as it has a low GI index and suited best to the summer months when it is warm. Coconut sugar can be used in this recipe in a similar way.
Using edible flowers is a wonderful way to broaden your nutritional intake. Borage is an awesome plant to have in the garden both for us and the bees. I like to collect the windfall flowers. It can be grown from seed or you can buy the plants. Borage has anti-inflammatory properties and is great for the skin. Research has shown that looking at flowers reduces stress hormones and blood pressure, so an ideal way to initiate the ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic nervous system.
Cooking and Preparation Time 1 hour
Serves 4 – 5 small slices
Ingredients
25g salted butter
40g Panela sugar or coconut sugar
25ml almond milk
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
60g gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
10cm / 4 inch round cake tin
extra butter and flour for greasing the tin
For the Frosting
St Dalfour Blueberry Spread
70g Marscapone Cheese
1 tablespoon local raw honey
Method
Preheat the oven to 200ΒΊC/180ΒΊC fan (400ΒΊF), Gas Mark 6
If you are not using a non-stick tin then grease and flour your tin.
Cream the butter and sugar together. Whisk in by hand the almond milk until smooth and then whisk in the egg. When combined add in the vanilla extract followed by the flour and baking powder. Combine until light and fluffy and then pour into the lined cake tin. Place in the oven for 25 minutes or until cooked and a tooth pick when inserted comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the tin and allow to cool on a wire wrack. When cold slice the cake into 2 layers. Spread 2 tablespoons of blueberry jam on the bottom layer.
Place the top layer on the jam base.
Mix together the honey and marscapone cheese until smooth. Spread the honeyed marscapone on the top layer of the cake. Decorate with borage flowers if available or anything else that is visually appealing to you that is available.
