Nettle Cakes with Lemon and White Chocolate
These individual cakes are a great way to celebrate spring. Naturally green, they're also made with lemon and white chocolate and topped with mascarpone icing.
Servings: 15 cupcakes
Calories: 245kcal
Ingredients
Nettle Cakes
- 100 g nettle tops (top 4 leaves)
- 50 g white chocolate
- 150 g unsalted butter cubed
- 115 g golden caster sugar (I used homemade vanilla sugar)
- ½ lemon preferably organic, but at least unwaxed
- 2 large eggs (I used duck eggs)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 g wholemeal spelt flour or use half regular wholemeal and half plain (they both produce a slightly different texture, but both are good)
- 1 tsp baking powder
Mascarpone Lemon Icing
- 25 g white chocolate
- 125 g mascarpone cheese
- ½ lemon preferably organic, but at least unwaxed
- 75 g icing sugar
Instructions
Nettle Cakes
- Wash the nettle tops, then simmer with a little water until they're cooked - about 5 minutes.100 g nettle tops
- Drain off any excess water and puree with a hand blender.
- Melt the white chocolate in a large bowl suspended over a pan of hot, but not boiling, water. Remove from the heat.50 g white chocolate
- Add the butter followed by the sugar. This will help to soften the butter.150 g unsalted butter, 115 g golden caster sugar
- Grate in the zest of ½ a lemon (reserving the other half for the icing) and cream until light and fluffy.½ lemon
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Sift in 200g the flours and baking powder.200 g wholemeal spelt flour, 1 tsp baking powder
- Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon.
- Add the nettle puree and stir until just combined.
- Spoon into 15 cupcake cases and bake in a preheated oven at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for about 20 minutes when the cakes should be well risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Mascarpone Lemon Icing
- Melt the white chocolate in a large bowl suspended over a pan of hot, but not boiling, water. Remove from the heat.25 g white chocolate
- Stir in the remaining lemon zest and mascarpone cheese.125 g mascarpone cheese, ½ lemon
- Squeeze in the remaining lemon juice.
- Sift in the icing sugar and beat well. Leave in a cool place to firm up whilst the cakes bake and cool.75 g icing sugar
- Spread the icing on top of the cooled cakes.
Notes
You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.
Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.
Nutrition
Calories: 245kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 20mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 532IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 1mg