Recipe | Citrus and elderflower pound cake

What better way to take advantage of all of the lovely little spring flowers around than to sprinkle them over cake? It's really starting to feel like spring now with warm days and balmy nights. This fabulous weather inspired me to make this pound cake using elderflower, a summer flower that is often sold as a concentrate. I often use it in drinks with soda water, mint and vodka or  mix it with champagne. It's a subtle flavour and reminds me of all the good things about spring and summer. You can buy it at most supermarkets. 

This is a basic pound cake recipe (yes, it's a little naughty but well worth it...) with citrus and elderflower added in. The recipe is very versatile and is a great one to have on hand because it's hard to go wrong with it - I'll add in a few variations at the end of the recipe. The crispy edge of the cake contrasted with the moistness of the inner part of the cake is delicious. It's also fun playing around with different icings, toppings, tin shapes and ways of decorating. For my birthday last year we used a similar recipe and made 3 cakes and layered them with a  cream, mascarpone and elderflower filling in between and smothered the top with blueberries, strawberries and flowers from my grandmother's garden - I loved it. 

I made this cake for a few friends who came down to the coast for a night and sometimes you feel too mean making your guests wait while you take way too many photographs of a dish so I didn't get a photograph of the whole cake. I made it in a bundt tin and drizzled the cake with a citrus and elderflower glaze then arranged orange, lime and grapefruit segments around the cake along with nasturtium flowers and leaves. 

Hope this cake recipe brings someone as many good memories as it has for me in the past!

Citrus and elderflower pound cake

375g butter 1 1/2 c sugar 2 tbsp finely grated lemon rind 1 tsp vanilla extract 6 eggs 3 cups plain flour 1 tbsp baking powder 1/2 c icing sugar 1 tbsp orange juice 1 tbsp elderflower concentrate  VARIATIONS Orange pound cake |  Add 3 tablespoons of finely grated orange rind to butter. Poppyseed pound cake | Add 3 tablespoons of poppyseeds when folding in flour.

Place butter, sugar and lemon rind in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Sift together flour and baking powder and fold into butter and eggs. Pour batter into a 20cm greased cake tine. Bake in a preheated 160C oven for 1 hour or until cake is cooked when tested with a skewer.  Mix all ingredients together until a loose paste is formed. Add more orange juice or concentrate if necessary Drizzle over cake while still warm. Decorate cake with flowers or berries or whatever else you have. Serve with whipped cream with a touch of elderflower concentrate mixed through. Coconut pound cake | Add in 1 cup of desiccated coconut when folding flour through butter and eggs.