Lemon & Cardamom Cake
The snow has yet to materialise as I sit down to write this, although the temperature has dropped considerably, the wind bitter as winter finally arrives. It makes me want to do nothing but sit by a roaring fire, drinking mugs of steaming hot chocolate, the dog curled up on my lap.
The inspiration for this week's recipe is unavoidable, as I seem to have been stockpiling lemons recently. I buy them in abundance, they are used in so many recipes throughout the week that I rarely have a surplus. I am not sure why they have been neglected, the bowl of the bright yellow fruit does bring a touch of welcome colour.
I feel that I should be making something healthy with them, but all I can think about is cake. A lemon infused cake, maybe with some additional spice to add a hint of warmth. The problem with thoughts like these is that they linger. Instead of getting on with paperwork I find myself daydreaming about this cake, drizzled with a sweet and lip-puckering sour syrup and topped with candied citrus slices. I find any excuse to add some spice when baking, especially during the winter months and cardamom works beautifully with citrus flavours. It is no trouble to make, the difficulty is waiting patiently for the lemony syrup to soak into the sponge before cutting yourself a slice.
Lemon & Cardamom Cake
Adapted from a recipe by Lucas Hollweg from Good Things to Eat
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Total time: 1 hour 15 mins
Serves: 8
Ingredients
175g butter at room temperature, plus a little extra for greasing
1 tablespoon green cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed in a pestle and mortar (discard the empty husks)
175g self raising flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
175g light brown sugar
finely grated zest of four lemons, plus the juice of two
3 medium eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
50g granulated sugar
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Candied lemon slices (optional)
1-2 lemons
225g granulated sugar plus extra to dust on slices
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ Gas Mark 4.
Grease and line 900g/2lb loaf tin with baking parchment.
Sift the flour an baking powder into a mixing bowl.
Add the butter, muscovado sugar, crushed cardamom seeds and half the lemon zest to a food mixer and beat together until light and fluffy.
Add the beaten egg a little at a time, making sure each addition is fully incorporated before you add more. If the mixture starts to curdle, add a tablespoon of flour which should bring the mixture back together.
Gently fold in the flour until the mixture is smooth and then fold in half the lemon juice.
Tip the mixture into the lined loaf tin an smooth the top.
Bake for 40 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and while it is still hot, makes holes in the top with a skewer or fork.
Mix together the remaining zest, juice and granulated sugar and spoon it over the top, letting it seep through holes.
Leave to cool completely in the tin while making the candied lemon slices if using.
Slice the lemons very thinly, removing any pips.
Place the lemon slices in a pan of gently simmering water and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes until soft but still intact. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon
Gently dissolve the granulated sugar in 170ml of water, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup starts to thicken.
Add the slices and simmer for 10 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon onto nonstick baking paper.
Dip half of each slice into the granulated sugar, arrange on top of the cake and serve