Rose Water and Berry Loaf

Honesty one of the best cakes I've ever made! This is my first time using rose water for food flavoring and I must say I am very impressed by this ingredient. Just 2 tablespoons of rose water really gives the cake the wow-factor. It's also not hard to find in supermarkets, which makes life more easier. This recipe consists of raspberry in the loaf along with blueberries at the top to make it seem as if you eating something healthy (Don't we all wish that all cakes could be healthy). For this recipe you will need a medium sized loaf tin with baking paper to make it easier for you to take the loaf out of the tin. You will also need to grease the sides of the tin with butter so the loaf can simply come out when ready to be served.

Rose water can be used in all baked goods as a flavor that provides a exquisite taste that triggers your taste buds. Not to long ago I incorporated the flavoring to plain butter biscuits and I was highly satisfied by the unique taste the rose water brought to the freshly baked biscuits. If you happen to make this delicious loaf please send pictures to me on my baking blog in the description below on my profile page so I can feature them on the blog community.

Preparation: 20 minutes

Time in Oven: 40-50 minutes

Icing Preparation: 10 minutes

Frosting and decorating: 20-25 minutes

Total time: 1hr 30min+

For the Sponge:

• 225g of butter (soft)
• 1 1/2 cups of caster sugar
• 4 eggs beaten
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of rose water
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 10 raspberries
• For the frosting
• 25g of butter (soft)
• 2 tbsp of full fat cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar
• 1 lemon juice

Decoration:

• 1 box of raspberries
• 1 box of blueberries

Equipment:

• Medium sized tin loaf
• Baking paper

For the Sponge:

1. Line the baking paper with the loaf tin and the grease the sides of the tin with a thin coat of butter.
2. In a medium sized bowl, begin to cream the butter and sugar together until well combined, then place the beaten eggs in with the butter and sugar. Whisk the ingredients on a medium speed with a mixer or hand held whisk. Add the baking powder, salt, and rose water into the mixture. Incorporate the flour into the mixture ensuring that there are no unmixed ingredients left at the bottom of the bowl. Place the milk in with the batter and stir in all ingredients until combined.
3. Place 1/3 of the batter into the prepared loaf tin then place 5 raspberries on top of the batter. Add the next 1/3 of the batter into the loaf tin then place the next five raspberries on top of the batter. Finally add the remainder of the batter into the tin then place in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until its fully baked in the middle of the loaf (check with a skewer or folk if your not fancy). Once taken out the oven, leave to cool completely before placing the icing on top.

For the Frosting

1. Cream the butter and 1/3 of the icing sugar together, then combine 1 tbsp of the cream cheese until the frosting begins to form. Squeeze in the lemon juice then add the rest of the cream cheese along with the icing sugar. Add some more icing sugar if the frosting is not thick enough.

For the Decoration

1. When the loaf has completely cooled down, start to cream the top of the loaf with a thin layer of frosting. Finish off the bake with raspberries and blueberries on top that covers the the frosting.