by Mary Mahabir, White Swan Tea Room, 01600 719782
My mother was always baking and one of the things I remember most was her lemon loaf cake. It was always very popular. I’ve adapted and changed her recipe over the years to make it my own and added some rum to create a moist cake that can be eaten as it is, or topped with summer berries. You can change the alcohol from rum to gin to create a delightfully refreshing cake, or for a non-alcoholic version of this sponge why not use elderflower cordial diluted with lemonade or tonic water as it works just as well.
Whilst this cake is an easy-make, not everyone has time to spend in the kitchen, so we’ll be selling our rum and lime cake in the White Swan Tea Room if you want to try it. Tell us you’ve seen our recipe to get 10% off a slice of this delicious cake.
For a dairy-free cake, substitute the butter with your preferred non-dairy spread. For a gluten-free cake, use Doves Farm gluten-free self-raising flour but double the quantity of baking powder. When substituting with gf flour, I’d advise adding an extra tablespoon of the gf flour above the 7oz/200g that is listed . Bake as usual but don’t overbake a gluten-free cake or this will increase its dryness. Use either the imperial or the metric units in the recipe when making this cake – don’t mix them.
For the Cake:
Oven: 170C
7 oz/200g Self Raising Flour
6 oz/170g Granulated Sugar
6 oz/170g Butter or Stork Baking Spread
½ Teaspoon of Baking Powder
3 Large Free-Range eggs
Zest and Juice of one Lime
1 Teaspoon Lemon Oil
For the Topping:
2 Fluid oz/60ml of Rum – use less or more – up to you!
3 Tablespoons of Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar
Zest and Juice of one Lime
Put the butter or stork into a mixing bowl with the sugar, lime juice, zest, and lemon oil. Beat with an electric mixer until the mixture becomes light and creamy. Stir in the eggs. Don’t worry if the mixture starts to curdle. Add the flour and baking powder and mix on a medium speed until combined. Line and grease a deep eight-inch diameter baking tin and spoon the mixture in. Bake for approx. 20 minutes before checking the cake – it’s cooked when golden on top and firm to touch. Whilst it’s baking prepare the topping; zest the lime and keep zest to one side. Mix the icing sugar and lime juice together until quite runny. Once out of the oven, let the cake cool for a few minutes before turning onto a cooling tray. You can then sprinkle the top of the cake immediately with granulated sugar, spoon over the rum, and drizzle the icing sugar-lime juice mix over the cake. Finish by sprinkling the lime zest on the cake. Leave to cool completely.
Serve your cake in slices with a good cuppa or serve with coconut yoghurt and fresh summer berries for a dessert.
