for its lemon cakes. Combining the fresh zestiness of the lemon with a subtle hint of marzipan really grounds the bright lemon flavour. The making of the cake is quite simple, the process to finish it is a bit more elaborate, but it really gets that beautiful lemon flavour into every mouthful.
I’ve actually made these (pictured) using gluten-free flour and dairy-free margarine, but the recipe works just as well with self raising flour and butter. Heather x
Ingredients
- 170g butter
- 170g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 170g self raising flour
- Lemon curd (if you have it)
- 3 lemons
- 200g icing sugar
- 250g marzipan (approx.)
Method
- Pre-heat your oven to 180º fan/gas Mk 6. Grease and line an 20cm square cake tin.
- Beat well together the butter, caster sugar and zest of three lemons until light and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Slowly add in the flour, mixing slowly to keep in the air in the mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the tin and gently smooth out so that the top is flat. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch. Leave to cool – but only until it is cool enough for you to handle.
- While the cake is still warm, carefully flip it upside down onto a cooling rack (place the rack on the top of the cake tin, then holding the two firmly together, flip so that the cake slides out onto the rack).
- Cut the lemons used for the zest in half and squeeze out the juice. Brush half of the lemon juice across the bottom of the cake and then leave the cake to cool completely and the lemon juice to soak in.
- Mix the remaining lemon juice with the water icing to form a thick but still runny icing.
- Turn the cake right side up. Spread a layer of lemon curd across the top, but not so thick it will spill down the sides (you can leave this step out if you don’t like lemon curd or you don’t have any to hand).
- Roll out the marzipan so that it will cover the top of the cake. Place this carefully over the lemon curd layer and press gently into place. Cut off any excess from the edges.
- Cut the cakes into squares (usually I cut the square into nine pieces). Then drizzle the lemon icing across the top of the marzipan so that it drips deliciously down the sides.
