I’ve been wanting to do a summery twist on a cake for a while now. With a Hawaii trip coming up, I was inspired to experiment with hibiscus. I love the tangy tart flavor of hibiscus as a tea or juice, but have never really played around with it in other ways.

I was originally inspired by Peony Lim’s Elderflower Bundt with sugared flowers, which is dainty, and girly. For this though, I wanted something a little less delicate, so I substituted elderflower with hibiscus. I made the syrup myself using Sprinkle Bakes' recipe - so easy and so delicious! For whatever reason, my sugared hibiscus didn’t turn out as I wanted, so I used fresh edible flowers instead as decor. 

I'm really happy with how it turned out. The hibiscus adds a refreshing, tropical flavor with just the right amount of tang to balance the sweetness, and the color is the perfect pop of pink - feminine and bright, but not too girly. Check below for the recipe and how-to.

The Dogpatch, where I live, is a small up-and-coming neighborhood with a delicious array of restaurants. Seriously, we're spoiled for food down here (and sunshine, but that's another story). The most recent addition to the hood is Glena's Tacos & Margaritas, which opened up a few months ago in the former New Spot location. They re-did the interiors to be bright and fresh, and introduced a simple, but utterly delicious menu.