Lemon And Bay Cake

I made this cake in Winter, so it has taken me a while to write it up - but here it is at last!  I love citrusy flavours, and this cake really fits the bill.  So being a citrus lover, I've upped the zingy citrus flavour by adding lime juice, lime zest plus some lemon zest to the glaze.  You can never have too much tang!

This recipe is from apples & elderflowers (a kitchen in Tasmania's far south), by Julia Matusik.  She moved from England (as a child) to Brisbane to Tasmania a few years ago - lucky gal!  Her cookbook reflects the produce and seasons of that fabulous Aussie state.

We have several friends down there, and have visited often.  We took our niece and nephew there to see the snow (being Queenslanders, they had never seen it), and the children of friends for their first snowy experience on Mt. Wellington.  And wow, can it get cold up there even on a summer's day!  Don't forget your jumpers when you head there.  

And speaking of snow, Mr P.'s first sighting was in Central Park, New York in our backpacking days!  It was a public holiday, so not many people about, and we ended up at MoMA to check out the Monet Water Lilies.  (I just Googled it, and saw that the original held there was destroyed in a fire in 1958!)       

Serves 8-10:

ingredients:

For the cake:

175g./6 oz white or caster sugar

zest of 1 lemon

2 fresh bay leaves

225g./8 oz plain yoghurt

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla paste

125g./4.5 oz butter, melted and cooled

225g./8 oz plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda (baking soda)

For the Syrup:

juice of 2 lemons

150g./5.3 oz sugar

2 bay leaves

For the glaze:

60g./2.2 oz icing sugar

2 Tbs lemon juice

1-2 dsp (dessertspoon=2 tsp) lime juice 

1 tsp lime zest

1 tsp lemon zest

Method:

Whack on your oven to 170C/340F to heat up

And butter up your 23cm (9 inch) x 13cm (5 inch) loaf tin, then line with baking paper

Whizz up the sugar, lemon zest and bay leaves in your blender; if no blender, you will have to use brute force (in a mortar and pestle maybe?) :=)  (though Julia suggests with your fingers!!)

Take out any bits of bay leaves that are still lurking, and not broken down well

Tip this sugary mixture into a medium bowl, and add the yoghurt, eggs, vanilla and melted butter

Give it a darn good stir till well-mixed and smooth

And put the flour, baking powder and bi-carb into another bowl and whisk well

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, and mix together well

Spoon/pour the batter into your prepared loaf tin, and bake for 45-50 minutes till it bounces back when pressed lightly in the centre

Let it cool on a wire rack in the loaf tin, while you:

Make the syrup, by adding the ingredients to a small saucepan, and heat over a medium flame/burner, while you stir the sugar till it's dissolved

Bring to the boil, and simmer for about 4 minutes till the syrup is a wee bit thicker, and clear

Take out the bay leaves, pour the syrup over the warm cake, and let it all get right cool

Now you're going to make the glaze, my dears, by:

Putting the icing sugar in a small bowl, adding the lemon juice and lime juice, and mix till smooth - this will be runny, not thick - then stir in the 2 zests

Drizzle/pour the glaze over the cake when it's as cold as a snowman's nose (nah, just cooled right down)

You can add some lemon or lime zest over the glaze, if you feel inclined  see Notes 

Store the cake in an airtight container for a few days, if you don't eat it all at once!

Notes:

Julia suggests making candied lemon slices to decorate, but ... nah, buy some I reckon:=) or use more zest on top

ingredients gathered

blitz the sugary, herby stuff

whisk the dry

smooth and eggy

stir it all together

beautifully golden-brown on top

make the syrup

simmer away

pour the warm syrup over the warm cake

I added the glaze over it - really!  It just went all runny and funny!

For some reason, the glaze just disappeared into the cake.  Not sure why - maybe too much juice, and not enough icing sugar once I added the extra juice and the zests.  Anyway, still tasted great.

 

c. Sherry M.