When we
first moved into our house, one of the first things we planted in our garden
was a lemon tree, a small plant, barely a metre high. Fast forward eight years and one of the 'stand outs' in our backyard is an impressive tree, over nine feet high, currently covered
in fruit. While I am constantly
squeezing half of one into a mug of warm water to start off my day, using them
in every day cooking and giving away bag after bag, I’m always happy to find a citrus
recipe that takes advantage of our abundance of fruit.
Yesterday afternoon, I made an old favourite - a delicious super-moist cake, a Karen Martini
recipe, scribbled down one night while watching Better Homes And
Gardens. I’ve written out the recipe for you all below to enjoy…
Lemon Cake
4 eggs
340g caster sugar
pinch salt
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 2 lemons
180g plain flour (sifted)
100g almond meal
½ tbs baking powder
160ml cream
100g melted butter
Beat eggs, caster sugar, salt and lemon zest in mixer until pale and creamy (about 3 minutes). Add flour, almond meal, baking powder and cream and whisk until smooth (about 1 minute). Pour in melted butter (warm not hot) and lemon juice and mix. Pour into a springform pan and bake 165°C (fan-forced oven) for about 50 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.
Ice with cream cheese frosting. The cake itself is already fairly sweet so a dusting of icing sugar would probably finish it off nicely too, especially if it were going to be eaten soon after the cooling time which I definitely recommend...
The sweet Royal Doulton side plate above was a beautiful find at an antique shop on our most recent holiday to Denmark.
I just love it and am so happy Paul insisted I go for browse in that shop while he took the girls for a walk.
I just love it and am so happy Paul insisted I go for browse in that shop while he took the girls for a walk.
This looks so delicious. I love anything with lemon. I'm going to HAVE to make this. Would be perfect with a piping hot cup of tea on these cold wintery days xo
ReplyDeleteIt looks and reads lovely. Our lemon tree is not in great shape but with any luck it picks up and I can get lemons galore! I must try this cake :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I had your luck I planted a lemon tree as soon as I moved into my house and 3.5 years later its still only about a metre high. Its in a pot that might be limiting its growth or maybe Im just a terrible gardener! I so want a lemon tree, like you Id use them all the time if I had my own supply!
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law had one in a pot too which never seemed to take off... since she's put it in the ground it's been growing heaps better...
DeleteLooks delicious! I love all things lemon:)
ReplyDeleteSounds yummy! x
ReplyDeletemmm...i'm looking at your recipe and now across at the bowl of lemons from luke's mum's tree and thinking that a cake might just have to be in order for this afternoon! we'll see.
ReplyDeletethat cake looks delicious!
Our neighbour gave us a bag of lemons yesterday, this would be perfect to try, lovely plate. Ps very cute pic of Sophie, nice to see kids and dirt.
ReplyDeleteYummm! Amanda that looks divine (I also start off my mornings with a glass of warm water and lemon juice... we are certainly alike in more ways than one haha). You have made me feel heartened, I have tried planting lemon trees four times in our garden, and despite everything else seeming to do well, two of the little trees died, another two have remained pretty much the same size for about two years. You have inspired me with this talk of an impressive prosperous tree nine feet high - maybe I just need to give them a bit more time and love! I think a lemon tree is a necessary ingredient for every Australian garden and if mine do half as well as yours I'll be stoked.
ReplyDeleteOurs is a Eureka lemon tree. I'm pretty sure we have the same rubbish soil here as you'd have at your place... keep persisting! In the meantime, feel free to grab a bag of lemons off me if you need them! x
DeleteI would be so happy to have such a beautiful tree in my garden sadly I haven't been quite so successful but I keep trying:) Oh yum Amanda I love citrus cakes, yours looks so good. Thank you for the recipe. xxx
ReplyDeletei made this today! and it was/is delicious and olive and i have enjoyed some this afternoon. "more! mum, more!" she squealed....haha, so cute!
ReplyDeletei have taken a couple of photos so hopefully i won't be slack & i'll post them.
thank you! x
Oh yay! So glad you've tried it out and love it too :)
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