My continuing love affair with rose water: Vegan MoFo #9

(rosewater tea cake with rose water buttercream)

I'm glad to say that my rose water experiment was a hit and a success. If you recall my post on my obsession with rose water and my other post on my rose water cake (scroll to the bottom), I've been on a rose water high. That cake was supposed to be a gift for my cousin's birthday, but since her party got postponed the cake was gonna go to waste, so we just had it for Sunday lunch dessert.

(studded with pistachios)

You can use any vanilla cake recipe in your repertoire, just omit the vanilla and add 1-2 tbsp REAL rose water. Add a pinch of ground cardamom if you got it. Not only is cardamom traditional, its background flavor complements the full-bodied rose water flavor. Use your favorite vanilla buttercream recipe, and again omit the vanilla and sub in 1-2 tsp rosewater. Feel free to tint the cream a very light pink. Ground pistachios are traditional too, and look so pretty against the light rose pink background of the buttercream.

(up close)

There's something about the pistachio... it must be the only multi-colored nut. Green, yellow, and pink... truly a site for sore eyes.

I like to call this a tea cake, even though by definition, a tea cake is a piece of unfrosted bread or cake served traditionally with afternoon tea, sturdy enough to be picked up with your fingers.

In Ireland, a tea cake is a soft, chocolate-coated marshmallow on a biscuit base. In Britain, it is a light, sweet, yeast-based bun containing dried fruit served with butter. In Sweden, it is wheat soda bread served with butter and jam. In the US, it is a cookie. In Australia, it is a sweet cake served toasted with a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon.

I can't find any information on tea cakes in Turkey and Narnia, but I'd like to think this cake is the way to go.