Lemon Cake
Ingredients
LEMON CAKE
300g plain flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs
300g caster sugar
115g unsalted butter
250ml milk
3 tsp vanilla extract,
3 tsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp lemon zest
88ml lemon juice
1/4 tsp natural lemon extract
LEMON FROSTING/ DECORATION:
250 g butter - soft at room temperature
500g icing sugar
Zest of 5 lemons
1 tbsp lemon juice
Dash of milk (depending on consistency of buttercream)
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) and grease 3 x 8” cake pans with butter, then line with parchment/baking paper.
- Start by combining your dry ingredients together by whisking the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In another bowl, beat eggs for 30 seconds with a mixer or hand beater. Pour the sugar in and beat until white and tripled in size.
- Add your butter and milk together and put in the microwave on a low setting for 2 minutes only until the butter is melted.
- When the egg has tripled in size, add the flour to the mixture in 3 sections mix until you can no longer see flour and stop.
- Pour hot buttery milk, vanilla, lemon juice and zest and oil into the now empty flour bowl.
- Add the Egg batter to the Milk-butter. Use a whisk to mix until smooth. The batter should be smooth and pourable. Pour into your x3 tins.
- Bake 23 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool in cake pans for 15 minutes, then gently turn out onto cooling racks.
DECORATING
- Beat the butter until it is soft.
- Add the icing sugar and beat until combined.
- Zest 5 lemons and squeeze the juice from the lemons until you have 1 tbsp.
- Add the lemon zest to the buttercream and beat.
- Add 1sp of lemon juice at a time and beat into the mixture.
- Spread evenly onto the cake and around the sides.
- Once the buttercream has hardened melt 200g of white chocolate and pour over the top.