How to Cook with Geranium – baking with scented leaf pelargoniums and flavouring frosting with geranium essential oil.

It’s the leaves in the Pelargonium plants (often incorrectly called geraniums) that yield essential oil. They come in a range of incredible scents, including orange, lemon, rose and even chocolate peppermint!

To use them in baking, clean the leaves and lay them at the bottom of a cake or bread tin. Pour in the mix and whilst baking, the essential oil held in the leaves will be inspired to rise through the mixture, infusing it with a delicate, sweet floral scent and flavour. Turn the tin upside down to tip out the baked cake and remove the leaves before eating (you can leave them in for show, but don’t eat them).

Fibrex Nurseries stock a range of scented leaved pelargoniam’s that would be suitable for use in baking, these are two of my favourites: Attar of Roses & Islington Peppermint:

This technique would work well with any cake or bread recipe that has a fairly delicate flavour to allow the scent of the geranium/pelargonium to come through. A plain sponge is probably best for highlighting the fragrance.

Here are a couple of delicious options you could experiment with:

• Lemon Drizzle Cake – by Eat Well Live Well,
• Lemon Blueberry Cake – by Janine’s Gluten Free Kitchen,
• Flourless Orange & Almond Cake – by Live Love Nourish,
• Orange & Almond Cake – by Unimed Living.

You can also flavour cake icing with Geranium Essential Oil – you must use a food grade essential oil for this and only a tiny amount of essential oil, or you will find the flavour too over powering.

• Frosting Recipe:
• 1 x 400ml can premium/ full fat coconut milk/cream, refrigerated overnight*
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup, 6 drops stevia concentrate or natural sweetener of choice
• 2 drops of Geranium Essential Oil by Laura Hoy (suitable in food flavouring).