The Sweet Taste Of Spring Herbs
The Gardener|September 2020
The arrival of spring is always a cause for celebration. Goodbye brown, frosty gardens, cold mornings, and nippy evenings. Hullo, sunshine, long days, and the fragrance of herbs as gardens burst into life.
Alice Spenser-Higgs
The Sweet Taste Of Spring Herbs

Spring garden cupcakes decorated with edible flowers are a delicious way to indulge the family’s sweet tooth. Think of delectable and unusual combinations like lemon and thyme, strawberry and mint, orange zest and ginger, or rosemary and chocolate.

Floral flavors are also winners for cupcakes, such as lavender, rose-scented geranium, lemon verbena, and lemon basil.

The pièce de résistance is to decorate the frosted cupcakes with edible flowers like sweetly scented violas, cheerful calendula petals, aromatic lavender, or sumptuous rose petals. Use fresh flowers for a pop of color or candy them using egg white and caster sugar. This recipe provides the base to which the herb and flavoring combinations of your choice can be added. It is as simple as that.

Cupcake base: ½ cup butter, 1 cup (200g) sugar, 2 large eggs, 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 1½ cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup milk. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Beat the butter and sugar together until creamed. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, then beat on medium-high speed until combined. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and start the mixer on a low speed. At this point you can slowly add one of the following:

Strawberry and mint 1/3 cup strawberry pulp Chopped strawberries Chopped mint

Lemon and thyme 1½ tablespoons lemon zest 1/3 cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice Chopped thyme

Tips for using herbs

The shorter the baking time, the softer the flavor of the herbs, which is why cupcakes work so well.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2020 من The Gardener.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2020 من The Gardener.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من THE GARDENER مشاهدة الكل
FIRE AND Feathers!
The Gardener

FIRE AND Feathers!

On a dreary winter's day, a screen of fiery and feathery leaves puts up a fight against dullness!

time-read
2 mins  |
July/August 2024
GET THE ladies in!
The Gardener

GET THE ladies in!

At this time of year, early-flowering shrubs vie with each other to get the most attention. We say: Trust those with female names for frills and butterflies. They go the extra mile to flower their hearts out.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
Vegetable Soups and dumplings
The Gardener

Vegetable Soups and dumplings

Vegetables make the most delicious soups and classic combinations are always a winner.

time-read
4 mins  |
July/August 2024
Yummy sweet potatoes for your good health
The Gardener

Yummy sweet potatoes for your good health

Boiled, baked or braaied, sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are a delicious and healthy winter comfort food. Just a dollop of butter, a little seasoning and you are good to go.

time-read
3 mins  |
July/August 2024
Pretty and functional
The Gardener

Pretty and functional

If cooking is your main thing, you would probably be more interested in the culinary value of the three herbs and some of their varieties we are describing.

time-read
5 mins  |
July/August 2024
Dried Seedheads & Pods
The Gardener

Dried Seedheads & Pods

Autumn and winter are the best times to see what flowers produce the best seedheads that can be left on the plants to feed the birds and bugs and for harvesting for dried arrangements.

time-read
4 mins  |
July/August 2024
SO MANY FACES and so many choices...
The Gardener

SO MANY FACES and so many choices...

Whoever associated a Cotyledon orbiculata (pig's ear) with the ear of a pig obviously did not know about all the varieties and cultivars this species in the genus Cotyledon has.

time-read
3 mins  |
July/August 2024
COLOURFUL Cold Weather WINNERS!
The Gardener

COLOURFUL Cold Weather WINNERS!

If it comes to a vote, these dependable shrubs will be the top candidates for prime performance in winter and in other seasons...

time-read
5 mins  |
July/August 2024
What makes a garden sustainable?
The Gardener

What makes a garden sustainable?

It is interesting to note that the United Nations defines sustainable development as: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

time-read
4 mins  |
July/August 2024
Nurturing NATURE-The Story of Kraal Garden's Transformation
The Gardener

Nurturing NATURE-The Story of Kraal Garden's Transformation

Nestled within Prince Albert's rustic embrace lies a gem that is a testament to the transformative power of human vision and nature's bounty.

time-read
4 mins  |
July/August 2024