Stinging nettles might not be what springs to mind when making cake, but why not try and add some green nutrition to your baking. I promise you it doesn’t taste “green”, nor has it still got the ability to sting your mouth! Nettles are a super food and has so many benefits. It is great for iron deficiency, and is also an anti hystamine! Make sure to pick before it flowers, and only use the new growth (top 4 leaves).
How to pick nettles for your Springtime sweet treat
Here is how to pick nettles – either with gloves, or with any cloth (use a scarf or tissue that you might have on you). Pick carefully, but with purpose: a firm (not scared) grip is helpful! If you get stung, remember that is good for you, too! (Getting stung is good for arthritis!).
Pop your picked nettles into a bag, and once you are home, give the leaves a good rinse and strain. Boil them for 4 minutes in water, this is to remove the stings. After that you can handle it like spinach. Remove the stalks before further use.
Keep the lovely green boiled water for a powerful, strengthening hair rinse after a hair wash!
To avoid having green blobs in your cake, blend the leaves in with the eggs in the recipe. See below.
This recipe is based on the Lemon Bundt Cake recipe.
Ingredients:
half a small shopping bag full of stinging nettle leaves. (Don’t worry about the exact amount, the more leaves, the greener the cake. It won’t change the taste!)
200g butter
4 eggs
200g sugar
pinch of salt
2 tbsp vanilla sugar (or vanilla essence)
joice and zest of a lemon
200g flour
50g cornflour
2 tbsp baking powder
butter/oil and breadcrumbs or flour for the Bundt cake tin.
For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting: 250g of plain cream cheese, 100g of Icing Sugar and zest and juice of half a lemon. Daisies are optional as edible decoration. Other blossoms or flowers or berries work well, too.
Method:
Heat up the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, butter the tin, sprinkle breadcrumbs or flour for anti-stick.
Let the butter melt in a pot over low heat.
Blend the nettle leaves and the eggs together.
Beat the green egg mix with the sugar, pinch of salt and vanilla sugar.
Add the juice and zest of the lemon and add the melted butter gently.
Mix the flour, cornflour, and baking powder and add it to the mix.
Fill the mix into the tin and bake for 60mins.
Cream Cheese and lemon icing – mix the cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice and zest, and poor over the cake evenly. Decorate the cake however you wish.
Enjoy this Springtime sweet treat!
