May

22

Feverfew Cake

May 22, 2009 |

I know it’s not a refreshing dish with summer drawing near as this is baked in the oven, however feverfew herb is at the end of the season and I really wanted to share this recipe before it’s gone. Feverfew (Tanacetum Parthenium) in Italian “erba madre” or “erba maresina” is a perennial herb that grows wild in our surroundings. It’s mainly used for its medical properties to cure headache and fever but here in Veneto we use it for cooking. It is in fact used in fritters or cakes. I knew the fritters but I had never heard of the cake.

Last year at the Festa della sparasina, “The wild asparagus Festival” I discovered this cake and I definitely got addicted to it in a hurry. It was really a simple cake not overly sweet with an aromatic flavor thanks to the herb. With great surprise I found some plants of feverfew growing wild in my garden as well as in the neighbors’. I asked them if they could give me the recipe for the cake and they did. I tried it and a few others I had found but none resembled the cake I tasted at the Festa della sparasina.

One day I made a simple ciambella (ring-shaped cake) that my mom used to prepare for my sister and I when we were little. When I tasted it again after so many years I thought it could be the perfect base for the feverfew cake. I tried making the cake again this time adding feverfew and there it came out as I wanted it!
If you’re not lucky like me to have it in your garden you can always go herb hunting or purchase the seeds online. Please note: from what I read about this herb pregnant women shouldn’t eat it.


Feverfew cake

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
3.5 oz. unsalted butter at room temperature
5 tbsp. milk
1/2 cup finely chopped feverfew herb
1 tsp. grated lemon zest, better to use an organic lemon
1 tsp. double acting baking powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Yields: 6 servings

Preparation:

To make this cake you don’t need any electrical appliances just a fork and a wooden spoon.
Sift the flour together with the sugar, salt and baking powder and grated lemon zest.

In a capacious bowl or on work surface make a mound with the flour and scoop out a well in the middle. Pour the eggs into the hole and start mixing with a fork. Now add the butter and combine it using a wooden spoon adding few spoons of milk to make the batter softer. I added 5 Tbsp. but it depends from your flour.
Lastly add feverfew herb and and combine well. Spoon the mixture into a greased and floured a 9 inch. ring-shaped cake tin. Spread the batter evenly using a spatula.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350° F. Cook for about 40 minutes then let it cool and serve.


Comments

5 Comments so far

  1. Tim Pearson on May 24, 2009 12:19 am

    Interesting using Feverfew. The qty you gave is uncertain, I understand 1/2, is that cup? Also could you give metric equivalents of weights and measures and temperatures.

  2. admin on May 24, 2009 1:26 am

    Hi Tim,
    I forgot to add “cup” thank you for telling me. I actually didn’t weigh the feverfew, I just chopped it and when done the quantity was equivalent to 1/2 cup.
    For the quantities in metric here they are:
    gr. 300 flour 00
    gr. 200 sugar
    gr. 100 butter
    1 envelope baking powder
    Cook at 180°

  3. Carmela on June 2, 2009 10:34 am

    This looks amazing Patty! I have no idea if feverfew is easy to find here - but I will show my mum and see if she is familiar with it and where I might be able to find it.

    Take care!
    Carmela

  4. admin on June 9, 2009 1:30 am

    Hi Carmela!
    I hope you can find feverfew in Australia otherwise you can buy its seeds online. After you planted them you’ll never get rid of the plants, first because they’ll grow everywhere and second because you’ll love that particular aromatic flavor :-)
    Take care,
    Patty

  5. Tim Pearson on June 9, 2009 3:44 am

    Hi, Carmela and Patty,
    I am in Australia also. I used to grow feverfew in my Herb Garden in Queensland. Don’t have a plant now. You should be able to buy from a nursery, especially one that specialises in Herbs. You can also try from seed but buy it in Australia as it is illegal due to quarantine regulations to import seed from overseas.
    Regards Tim

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