Lemon Cake

A finely textured cake, intensely flavoured with aromatic lemon.

Preparation Time

20 minutes

Cooking Time

25 minutes

Ingredients (serves 12)

• Melted butter or margarine, for greasing
• 6 large eggs
• 275g (1 1/4 cups) caster sugar
• 180g butter, melted, cooled
• 3 lemons, rind finely grated, juiced
• 190g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour
• Fresh flowers of your choice, to decorate

• lemon icing

• 3 tbs fresh lemon juice (reserved from cake)
• 20g butter, diced
• 360g (2 1/4 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly brush a 24cm (3-litre/12-cup) fluted ring pan with the melted butter or margarine to grease.
2. Beat the eggs and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl with electric beaters for 5 minutes until very pale and thick and a ribbon forms when beaters are lifted. Combine the cooled butter with the lemon rind and 80mls (1/3 cup) of the lemon juice (reserve the remaining juice to make the icing). Sift half of the self- raising flour over the top of the egg mixture and fold in very gently with a large metal spoon until just combined. Add the butter and lemon mixture and fold in gently. Sift over the remaining self-raising flour and fold in very gently to combine.
3. Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Stand cake in pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. To make the lemon icing, combine the reserved lemon juice and butter in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Place the icing sugar in a bowl and stir in the lemon juice mixture with a wooden spoon until the icing is smooth.
4. Place the cake on the wire rack over a tray and pour the icing evenly over the cake in a steady stream, allowing the icing to run down the sides (the excess icing will drip onto the tray). Allow the icing to set. Lift the cake onto a serving plate and serve decorated with fresh flowers of your choice.