English
flowers have a unique charm.
They bring brightness
to a land blessed with unpredictable weather.
While we
lived in Reading, I found the weather too cold for comfort sometimes. So I
taught myself baking.
The house would
then fill up with the aroma of freshly baked cakes, cookies and bread.
It also served to warm up our tiny kitchen.
I borrowed
books on baking and taught myself to accurately measure ingredients. I experimented
with brown sugar, white bread and black forests.
Six months
and many culinary disasters later, I could expertly turn out a pineapple upside-down
cake and bake cookies in a matter of minutes. I could even make bread rolls fit
for the dinner table.
One day, as
we took a stroll under the bridge at the Reading West station, we found some
fragrant wild English roses. They were so good - one would want to eat them.
Why not? I thought.
I looked up a book and found an amazing recipe which I have tweaked a bit. It’s worth sharing as we spring into the season of flowers.
Why not? I thought.
I looked up a book and found an amazing recipe which I have tweaked a bit. It’s worth sharing as we spring into the season of flowers.
Rose
Petal Cookies
60 gm icing
sugar (reduce a little if you wish)
125 gm plain
flour/chappati atta
100 gm butter
Petals of 1 sweet-smelling organic
unsprayed rose
Zest of 1
lemon or orange or vanilla essence
(Makes 12)
Sift icing
sugar and flour together.
Cut butter
and the rose petals into small pieces and lightly rub through dry ingredients
until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
Add lemon
zest and blend with fingers until it forms solid or heavy dough.
Remove from
bowl and knead into a cylinder shape.
Wrap in
parchment paper and place in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Preheat oven
to 175 C.
Line baking
tray with parchment paper.
Remove dough
from fridge and cut into thin slices.
Bake in the
oven for 10 minutes or until lightly brown.
