This ooeygooey Zesty Lemon Cake would be simply gorgeous to bake with the little ones. You’ll adore the fresh flavours, they’ll love the mess!
Serves 15-20
12oz butter (or baking margarine)
12oz caster sugar
6 eggs
12oz self-raising flour
3 lemons
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM ICING
4oz butter
8oz icing sugar
Juice of the 3 lemons
Milk, if required
1. Smear some butter around the base and sides of three 8” round cake tins and place a circle of greaseproof in the base of each tin. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 6.
2. In a bowl, add the butter, sugar and the zest of the 3 lemons (keep the juice for later). Then using a stand mixer, an electric whisk or with a wooden spoon, beat together the butter, sugar and lemon zest really well until the mixture becomes light and fluffy and the colour turns pale.
3. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating the mixture well between each one. If the mixture separates slightly, you can add one spoonful of the flour into the mixture and beat well.
4. Slowly stir in the flour, taking care not to beat hard and knock out all of the air that has just been worked into the mix. 5. Spoon the mixture into the three tins evenly and level the tops so they are mostly flat. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Check the bakes after 20 minutes, you may need to swap them around in the oven so they cook evenly. The cakes will be done when they have come away from the edges of the pan and the top of the cake is springy to the touch. 6. Leave the cakes to cool.
7. To ice the cakes, make a simple buttercream icing by beating together the butter and icing sugar before adding the juice of the three lemons. If the mixture becomes too stiff, soften with a little extra juice (or milk). If the mixture is too soft, you can just add some more icing sugar. Spread the icing between the two layers and across the top of the cake with a knife.
Baker’s Tip: You can also add some lemon curd between the cakes and drizzled across the top for an extra bit of lemony zing, or mix a little icing sugar with lemon juice for an alternative tasty drizzle.
Zesty Lemon Cake recipe provided by Heather Brown, www.heather-brown.co.uk
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