When you find the cache please take a page of "The Herbal". It will help you find other caches in the series.
There is a large garden nursery with a very nice teashop three-quarters of a mile away - good for a tea or coffee stop.
Beliefs and Legends:
· this herb was known to the Saxons and is referred to in one of the earliest herbals, the Saxon 'Leech Book of Bald';
· it was greatly favoured in Tudor times for its usefulness in medicine and cooking;
· Shakespeare refers to it several times and Sir Thomas More said 'I lette it run all over my garden walls'; it does look effective against brick or stone. The wood of this herb was used to make lutes and carpenter's rules;
· there are perhaps more legends associated with this freshly scented herb than any other - they are nearly all mystical or sacred. A sprig is worn or given for remembrance;
· the whole plant, especially the seeds, contains natural oils. This makes it valuable in the making of pot-pourri, hair rinses, toilet waters and scented rubbing lotions. Candied flowers, wine and honey using this herb were once favoured confections.
Rosmarinus Officinalis is a woody perennial with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves with pale mauve flowers. It makes an attractive shrub if allowed to grow.
Recipe
Iced Rosemary Cake
3 tender fresh rosemary sprigs each about 10 cm long - stalks removed
175 grams unsalted butter - softened
175 grams caster sugar
10 ml vanilla essence 3 eggs - beaten
225 grams self-raising flour
30 ml milk
Glaze:
225 grams icing sugar
freshly grated rind of ½ orange
1 tab fresh orange juice
Decoration - rosemary sprigs
Grease and line a 15cm round cake tin, (the tin should be lined even if it is a non-stick tin) ensuring that the lining paper sticks up an inch above the top of the tin. Finely chop the rosemary leaves and put half in a bowl with the butter and sugar. Beat until pale and creamy. Stir in the vanilla essence.
Gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time, adding a little of the flour to prevent curdling. Sift the remaining flour into the bowl. Add the milk and fold in. Turn into the prepared tin and level the surface (you can make a slight hollow in the top to ensure the top remains level after cooking). Bake at 180º or gas 4 for 50 minutes to one hour until firm and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Meanwhile, put the remaining chopped rosemary in a small saucepan with 30ml (2 tablespoons) water. Heat gently for two minutes to infuse the water with the rosemary; leave to cool.
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the orange rind and juice. Strain the rosemary juice and add the bowl a little at a time and mix to the consistency of pouring cream (add a little more water if necessary).
Leave the cake to cool for five minutes, then run a knife between the cake and the lining paper. Pour the icing over the cake, ensuring that the icing goes down the sides of the cake, and leave to cool completely before removing the paper. Decorate with rosemary sprigs.
The other caches in this series are:
The Herb Garden
Petroselinum Crispum
Thymus Vulgaris
Salvia Officinalis
Allium Schoenoprasum