Monday, March 15, 2010

Scottish Lemon Cake

Scottish lemon sponge / Šoti sidrunikeeks

I've been busy testing recipes for two Georgian cookery classes taking place this week, hence the silence on the blog. I cannot yet blog about any of the Georgian dishes, so instead you'll get a recipe for this simple lemon cake. It's based on a recipe from a Scottish food writer, Claire MacDonald. It's a nice, lemony, moist and crumbly small cake that's perfect with a cup of tea on a cold afternoon. We still have LOTS of snow over here, so cakes like this are totally justified and even more, needed :)

You'll get a small cake that feeds five to six.

Scottish Lemon Sponge Cake
(Mahlane šoti sidrunikeeks)

120 g unsalted butter, softened
150 g caster sugar
150 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
5 Tbsp milk (75 ml)
grated zest of 1 lemon

Lemon syrup:
1.5-2 lemons, juiced
6 Tbsp confectioners sugar/icing sugar

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.
Sift flower, baking powder and salt into another bowl, mix with grated lemon zest.
Add the dry ingredients, milk and eggs to the butter mixture and stir thoroughly until combined.
Spoon the batter into a buttered loaf tin or bundt pan.
Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 180 C oven for about 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Then carefully lift the cake out of the tin and place on a large piece of foil.
Mix lemon juice with icing sugar and drizzle over the warm cake. Wrap into the foil and let cool completely before serving.

9 comments:

Chris said...

This looks delicious moist and perfect for the spring. ;)

Pene said...

This is nearly the same as the muffins I made on Sunday morning, but I added some Estonian Ricotta that I had in the fridge & almond flakes as well. Sprinkled pearl sugar on top & they were delicious!!

Sorin said...

Interesting idea… This looks delicious.

natural selection said...

Still lots of snow? perhaps it is all downhill now, perfect with a cup of Earl Grey I'm sure!

Tiffany said...

Reminds me of my lemon poundcake.

Tiffany
http://liferequiresmorechocolate.blogspot.com

מתכונים said...

אחלה מתכון

Anonymous said...

Oled kogemata kirjutanud 1 tl bak.powder eestikeelse lühendiga :)
Üks küsimus ka: mismoodi küpsetada selliseid mahlaseid apelsini-sidrunimuffineid, nagu nt Costa Coffee pakub, muffinite sees oleks nagu siirupised puuviljatükid vms?

Leslie said...

If you say you can't blog yet about the Georgian food, that means you will eventually, right?? There are not enough Georgian recipes on food blogs, and the recent Simply Recipes post about beetroot hummus just made me hungry for beetroot pkhali. Please share what you have! :)

(Also, I don't know if I've ever commented before. Hi! I found your blog quite some time ago, after spending a lovely long weekend in Tartu (I was living in Russia at the time) and then looking online for Estonia-related things. I kept reading because I love your simple, elegant approach and the Northern/Eastern European flavors. Thank you for your blog!)

Pille said...

Chris, Pene, Sorina - thank you :)

Natural Selection - still snowing, indeed :(

Tiffany - I guess all lemon poundcakes are rather similar ;)

Anon. - no näed, oleksin pidanud novembris Costa Coffee muffinid ära proovima :) Ilmselt rohkelt võid ja siis pehmed sukaaditükid.

Leslie, there will be some Georgian recipes coming up indeed ;) Glad to 'meet' another reader!