The name “Pound Cake” comes from the fact that the original pound cakes contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, plus some sort of flavoring.
Last week I went shopping with a friend of mine and as usual we were chatting it up about ingredients and fancy flavas and she gave me a great idea —> use rose water as a flavoring for pound cake. I was like GIIIRRRLLLL!!!! I am gonna make that happen.
So I took it even further and flavored not only pound cake, but whipped cream and macerated strawberries. The rose water gave a subtle floral flavor to the cake, cream and strawberries. It was FANTASTIC! 
* Rose water is the leftover liquid or hydrosol remaining when rose petals and water are distilled together for the purpose of making rose oil. Rose water also provides the primary flavor for many middle eastern sweet treats like Baklava and Marzipan.
Rose Water Pound Cake
(this recipe yields two loaves)
2 cup (4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cup sugar
9 large eggs
1 tbsn pure almond extract
1/4 cup rose water
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup almond flour (directions below)
1/4 tsp salt
Have all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 9×5 inch loaf pans.
Almond flour – Put 1/2 cup almonds into a food processor and pulse until the nuts are coarsely chopped.
In stand mixer beat the butter and sugar to a fluffy cream. Meanwhile lightly beat the eggs by hand with a whisk (about 30 seconds). Then slowly add eggs to creamed butter and sugar (while mixer is still running) 1 tablespoon at a time.
Adding the eggs a little at a time preserves the emulsion and allows the air to be retained, making for a light, soft, tender cake.
Add the rose water, and almond extract, and continue to mix.
In a separate bowl, whisk cake flour, almond flour*, and salt. Remove the egg mixture from the stand and add in the flour by hand mixing well. (By hand will keep the texture more delicate).
Spoon the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour. When done the cake will have a crack in the top and a toothpick will come out clean.
Let cool for 15 minutes in the pans, then loosen from the pans and turn out to finish cooling. YUM!
Macerated Strawberries – Thaw 1 cup of frozen strawberries then place in bowl with 1/8 sugar and 1/4 cup rose water. Let chill in refrigerator till ready to use.
Rose Water Whipped Cream - With electric hand mixer, mix 1 cup whipping cream, 1/4 sugar, 2 tbsn of rose water. Whip until cream thickens and peaks form. Chill until ready to use.
This sounds lovely! I need to get a loaf pan so that I can try this.
I love the recipe! Not a big fan of baking, but will try this soon!!!
Hi, this recipe looks so good that I’m going to try it this weekend! My only question is: Did you find 1/4 cup of rose water in the batter to be too overpowering? The reason I ask is because all the other recipes I’ve looked at only call for 2 teaspoons. I have a lot of rose water sitting in my fridge so I’m eager to use up a lot of it with this cake if the results are going to be good!
Hi Lola, No not at all..i had a few folks try it and they thought there was a good balance. Did you get to try the recipe yet? Let me know what you think ;0)
I’ve had an Afro for 5 years. It’s a statement of who I am and where I’m from. Enjoy the Fro!
I have 2 bottles of rosewater that I brought back from Turkey. Tried a recipe I found for rose turkish delight candy. Big flop! I would like to try this cake recipe but ask if the almond flavoring doesn’t overpower the subtle rose flavor. If so, can I omit the almond flavoring altogether?
Hi Alice, in this recipe the the almond did not over power the rose water, I thought it was a perfect balance. The almond does add a touch of nutty flavor, but it is really up to your tastes. You can certainly omit the almond flavoring, and enjoy a “rosier” flavor. Let me know how it turns out and what you think ;0)