Lemon Loaf Cake

Lemon Loaf Cake (Suitable for Thermomix)


The prefect cake to have with a cup of tea on a Summer afternoon. Easy to make and a beautiful yellow colour.  Made by Charlie for his Dad for father's day.  A version of this was sold at Baker and Spice when it first opened and is also offered at Cocomaya - proof of its excellent credentials. Like most of my cakes it isn't overly sweet, which is why the thin glaze adds something lovely but not too much sweetness. You could ask how long it will last, but really why? 

Experiment with different flavours. Add some poppy seeds to the cake mix. Or a few ground cardamom seeds or whole caraway seeds, or a sprinkle of toasted chopped pistachios.  Or exchange the lemon for orange or grapefruit or passionfruit, which you could echo in the icing. But keep it simple.

Makes 8-10 dainty slices.

For the cake:

115 g self-raising flour
1 t baking powder

2 medium eggs

115 g caster sugar

65 ml double cream

1 lemon, zest

1 T lemon juice

45 g unsalted or salted butter

For the icing:

butter for greasing, or line the tin with baking parchment

30 g icing sugar

1 t or thereabouts of lemon juice

Equipment:

Small loaf tin - this is the 1lb/500g size not the more usual bigger size. Dainty!

Preheat the oven to 170 deg. C.  Line or lightly grease the tin with butter. If greasing, also cut a rectangle of non-stick baking parchment to cover the bottom of the tin. 

Sift together the flour and baking powder. If using the Thermomix using Speed 2 throughout. Lightly beat the eggs with the sugar until just combined. Beat the cream into the eggs for a minute, then add the lemon zest and juice. Fold in the flour until lightly combined, then gently and careful fold in the melted butter.

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin. Set the tin on a baking tray in the middle of the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Very gently upturn the cake on to your cloth-covered hand, then place the cake upright on a wire rack to finish cooling. Or lift it out holding the sides of the baking parchment.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Slowly add two-thirds of the lemon juice, stirring vigorously until combined. Add more lemon juice to make a slightly thin icing, but be careful not to thin it too much - the icing will thin further when left for 2-3 minutes.

Spread the icing over the top of the cake using a knife, letting it cascade a little down the sides. It will set quickly. For added decoration, you can add on top a few chopped pistachios or some poppy seeds.