Vegan butterfly pea flower, almond and cardamom loaf cake recipe
Star baker Benjamina Ebuehi’s vegan loaves are pretty in pastel with Butterfly Pea flower and perfect for Mother’s Day
Image: Baileys
This February saw the launch of the first ever Baileys Treat Report, a delicious look at the tastiest trends in treating. The report revealed that one of the top treat trends for the year is Butterfly Pea flower. This ingredient has an eye-catching vivid blue hue (just like the colour of the year!), colour-changing properties and a trend-hitting savoury flavour profile. Butterfly Pea flower just ticks all the boxes for 2020! It can make any treat instantly worthy of a special occasion, and who better to treat to some show-stopping indulgence than mum?
This Mother’s Day, star baker and author of The New Way to Cake, Benjamina Ebuehi, shares her recipe for Butterfly Pea flower, Baileys Almande and Cardamom Loaves – these mini loaf cakes are the perfect way to say thanks to all mums this Mother’s Day, and they’re also vegan! Decorated with edible flowers, they’re a fun and delicious alternative to a bouquet – after all, why give flowers when you can bake them into a cake?
If you fancy whipping up these show-stopping treats at home, follow the recipe below:
Butterfly pea flower, Baileys Almande and cardamom loaf cakes
Makes 12 individual loaf cakes [0.4 units total, 0.03 units per cake]
Ingredients
For the cakes:
- 250g plain flour
- 225g caster sugar
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 300ml soy milk (or other non-dairy milk of choice)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 100ml vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
For the glaze:
- 30ml Baileys Almande [0.4 units total, 0.03 units per cake]
- 400g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp loose leaf butterfly pea flower tea
For decoration:
- Fresh blackberries and blueberries
- Toasted flaked almonds
- Edible flowers
Method
To make the cakes:
- Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/170C fan, then grease and line the cavities of a 12 hole mini loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and cardamom. Set aside.
- In a separate jug, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla, lemon zest and white wine vinegar.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together until you have a smooth batter.
- Divide batter evenly into the mini loaf pan and bake for 25-28 minutes or until cakes are springy to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely.
To make the glaze and serve:
- To make the glaze, pour 100ml of boiling water on the butterfly pea flower tea leaves. Let it brew for 4-6 minutes until you have a deep shade of blue. Strain out the tea leaves and let it cool slightly.
- Add the icing sugar to a large bowl and pour in the Baileys Almande.
- Add in a tablespoon of the blue tea at a time until you have a shade you’re happy with and the consistency is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. (If it gets too thin, simply add some icing sugar.)
- To serve, pour some glaze over each cooled loaf cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.
- Finish the cakes by topping with some of the fresh berries, toasted flaked almonds and edible flowers.
- Serve with 50ml of Baileys Almande over ice for added indulgence.
Do you have any Mother’s Day cake recipes? Let us know! Tweet us @goodhomesmag, post a comment on our Facebook page or post your cakes on Instagram using the hashtag #ThisGoodHome