I am truly blessed to have wonderful friends. Two of my favorite girlfriends, Drea and Ife, share the same birthday month. Among all my friends, these two women are the hardest to give gifts to. They are both accomplished in their career, have more than enough of everything (yes, you guys do!) and they know exactly what they want in everything (can you say Alpha Females??). So what to give them for their birthday?? That was my dilemma when I went to bed Wednesday night. I woke up to an extra beautiful Thursday morning. I looked out the window to appreciate the beauty of the morning and behold! My organic rose plant holds a lone flower! Very seldom do I get a flower from this plant, no matter how much I sing or talk to it to encourage it to bloom (somebody told me that). Anyway, I thought it would be cool to preserve the beauty of this lone rose, thus I should crystallize it and use it for cake decoration. Then I had an AHA moment! Yes, I am making rose cupcakes for Drea and Ife’s birthday!
Drawing board – everything rose-y-ish – Crystallized Rose Petals, Rose Pink Batter and Rose Water to intensify the taste and scent of rose in the cake and frosting. For the filling – Rose Turkish Delights and maybe the Rose Jam that I saw at the Turkish Grocery one time I was there. Okay, it’s all coming together now. White chocolate frosting would be elegant and not so overpowering, and maybe with mascarpone? Too excited I was actually considering calling in sick for work.. work, I need to get ready for work!
Well, I skipped lunch, went to Bereket Turkish Grocery instead, got my Rose Turkish Delight, Rose Water and Rose Jam (and some other yummy stuff). Now, if only the clock will do it's trick and roll fast to 4:30 aka clock out time. Fast forward --I’m home, and I’m ready to create something beautiful for Drea and Ife.
I used Tish Boyle’s recipe for Basic White Cake (page 119) from her book “The Cake Book”, tweaking it as follows --I omitted the lemon zest, replaced the vanilla extract with rose water and added rose-petal food color gel when I incorporate the last fluid to the batter. The instructions for making crystallized rose petals and frosting is as follows--
White Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting
8 oz. white chocolate, chopped
8 oz. mascarpone cheese, softened
1/4 cup unsalted butter (half stick), softened
2 T rose water
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Melt white chocolate in a bain-marie or microwave, transfer in a clean bowl to cool. With an electric mixer, blend together melted white chocolate, mascarpone, butter and rose water until smooth. Turn mixer to low speed and blend in powdered sugar. Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth).
Melt white chocolate in a bain-marie or microwave, transfer in a clean bowl to cool. With an electric mixer, blend together melted white chocolate, mascarpone, butter and rose water until smooth. Turn mixer to low speed and blend in powdered sugar. Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth).
The Rose in the morning...
..Then in the afternoon
Everything Rose-y
Crystallizing the rose petals
Air drying the Crystallized rose petals
Mise en place 
Rose Petal food gel
Turkish delights
The Rose Batter
In goes the turkish delight and rose petal jam
Cooling cupcakes (reminds me of an assembly line, LOL!)
White chocolate mascarpone frosting (resisting the urge to dunk my head in it!)
Happy Birthday, Drea and Ife!!
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