A citrusy, tangy hibiscus cake that is simply divine. Naturally tinted by hibiscus powder this beauty is bursting with vibrant deep colours. Topped off with a creamy vanilla frosting. What is not to love about this gorgeous cake?
So I made this gorgeous Hibiscus lemon cake yesterday. But I have a confession to make, cakes scare me. I don’t make cakes very often at the fear of them failing.
I just stick to my safe bakes like
- Cookies
- Brownies
- Bars
- Muffins
Because lets face it when they turn out bad I can just hide them in the fridge (and eat them myself during the week). Nobody has to know how bad they were. Right?
But when you fail on a cake and you don’t wanna waste food? The bin is not an option. So there is gonna be a FAT cake in my fridge for a while, reminding me every time at my failure. I wake up in the morning, open the fridge and there it goes ”HI, I’M THE CAKE YOU COULDN’T GET RIGHT AND NOW NOBODY WANTS TO EAT ME…” This reminder tends to happen each time I open the fridge when I make a big cake.
But I had a predicament. This summer my sister went to Turkey and I asked her to bring me back some dried hibiscus flowers. Now I had a huge bag just sitting in my kitchen for months. The flowers just look so beautiful and other then have hibiscus tea, I really wanted to do something extravagant with these dried flowers. The deep maroon and pink hues are so breathtaking. I couldn’t help but wonder..imagine how these colours would turn out in a cake?
After putting it off for a good few months, I managed to get my self in the kitchen to bake that cake! So here it is. My version of a full flavoured hibiscus cake.
The colours came out exactly how I imagined they would. Vibrant and elegantly refreshing with its tangy almost lemon like flavour.
*ADVICE* Before attempting to put hibiscus in your bakes try tasting first and getting used to it’s flavour. I feel like hibiscus is an acquired taste. It is very tangy, sour and citrusy. It could even be compared to a tart cranberry flavour. Nonetheless I LOVE IT.
PS* For this cake and the frosting I used powdered dried hibiscus. I just used my Ninga blender and blended the dried hibiscus flowers into a powder. It took less than 5 seconds. (I use this powder for hibiscus tea too! Just one teaspoon and some hot water – bliss)
If your braver than me when it comes to making cakes, this one should be a breeze. I hope you enjoy making this recipe as much as I did. Enjoy!
Hibiscus Cake with pink creamy vanilla frosting
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour or plain white flour
- 1/4 cup dried hibiscus flower powder + 1 teaspoon to tint the frosting lightly I just blended 1 cup and half of my dried flowers in a ninga blender.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Wet ingredients
- 3 medium eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup honey or 1/2 cup light unrefined muscovado brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the frosting
- 250 grams Mascapone or any soft cream cheese like Philadelphia
- 1/3 cup agave or maple syrup light unrefined muscovado sugar would work too
- 180 ml double cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 170*C
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First blend your dried flowers in a fast blender. I used a ninja blender.
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In a bowl add in all the dry ingredients together including the powdered hibiscus and mix.
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In another bowl add together the wet ingredients and mix.
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Add the wet ingredients into the dry bowl and gently fold together.
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Pour into a lined baking tins, so the cake doesn't stick when baked. I used two 9 inch tins. Bake for 25 mins.
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Let the cakes cool down for 10 mins in the tin before taking the cakes out. Then cool completely cooling rack. Took mine about 40 mins. We don't want the frosting to melt off.
To make frosting
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Whip the double cream by hand until stiff and thick. Mix the cream cheese, vanilla and the liquid sweetener together. When smooth fold in the whipped cream and hibiscus for a tint of pink.
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When completely cooled. Frost the cakes, I frosted the middle, the top and the lightly frosting the outside (like a naked cake almost - frosting is NOT my thing).
I tried this recipe and I have a question due to the way mine turned out. I was expecting the cake to be completely red but for some reason the hibiscus powder didn’t permeate all the flour so it is gray with red flecks. What do you suggest I do to achieve all red cake next time? Yours is beautiful by the way.
Hello! So sorry to hear that, it could be the powder you had? My cake turned pink very visibly as I was mixing it raw. then stayed this dark, maroon colour as it baked. Was yours pink before it was cooked then turned grey? Sorry about this, I hate the thought of wasting ingredients.