My lovely lemon trees are producing lots of flowers at the moment. I did wonder if this was normal – flowering in the depths of winter, but the very nice people at Victoriana Nursery assured me that it was, and advised me on how to keep the trees happy (lots of light, no drafts and not too much water). Given the size of my trees and the Yorkshire climate, a lemon harvest seems unlikely any time soon, but you never know…
I’ve written before about my love of lemons, although I think a lot of this is down to a love of the kind of climate lemons thrive in. A couple of years ago, we spent a week staying on a lemon farm in Sicily. Waking up each morning and opening the shutters to see the rows of lemon trees in the sunshine was just the perfect way to start the day.
… and a breakfast of fresh bread, cake and coffee, sitting on a terrace overlooking the trees was a pretty good way to continue the day.
It’s not just growing lemons either, I use a lot of lemons in cooking too. This lemon cake is a variation on my favourite chocolate cake recipe. The texture of the cake is really good, so I wanted to see if it worked with other flavours – and it does. I should really tell you where the original recipe came from, but if you’ve read many of my recent posts you’ll no doubt be sick of me citing the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook as a source of great recipes, so I won’t mention it again – not for a while anyway!
Lemon Cake with cream & blueberries
3 eggs
250ml Greek yoghurt
200g plain flour
75g potato flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
425g caster sugar
165g unsalted butter
zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
for the filling and topping –
100ml fresh double cream
a good handful of blueberries, washed and dried
icing sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 180oC, 350F, gas 4. Grease and line the bases of two 20cm round sponge cake tins.
Whisk together the eggs and Greek yoghurt in a small bowl, then set them aside.
Sift the plain flour, potato flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the sugar and butter and mix everything with an electric mixer or a wooden spoon until well combined and the mixture is creamy. Add the yoghurt and eggs in three batches mixing well between each addition. Stir in the lemon zest and juice.
Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake tins and bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
When the cakes are cool, whisk the cream until it’s thick and standing in peaks. Spread the cream over the bottom on one cake and sprinkle with the blueberries. Place the other cake on top and dust with icing sugar.
Wonderful looking cake, I’m sold on the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook! On my wish list. Very impressed you are growing lemon trees in your northern climes. I also dreamt of living somewhere with lemon trees growing too – they taste so fantastic freshly picked in the sunshine don’t they.
With more snow forecast for the weekend, me and the lemon trees might well be packing up and heading off to a sunnier spot!
Your cake looks light and delicious, the recipe doesn’t appear to be too sweet either. Also like the idea of potato flour – never used in in this type of cake before. The view of the lemon groves looks divine. I’ve never been to Sicily, but have heard the olives are also amazing there
The olives are great – and the cheeses, tomatoes, peppers… If you ever decide to go to Sicily, I can also give you the address of a cafe that makes possibly the best ice cream in the world!
Thanks, I hope to visit one day- if nothing else for the Sicilian reputation for ice cream!
This cake looks very good indeed, Sarah. I think I need to take a look at that cookbook!
It’s such a great recipe – I’m sure it would work with lots of different flavours.
Beautiful flowers! And staying at a lemon farm in Sicily for a week sounds heavenly. Your cake looks delicious. Knowing me, I’ll just have it for breakfast.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having cake for breakfast (or lunch, or tea…)!
That’s a gorgeous shot of the lemon flower. Hope you’ll have your lemon harvest soon. I usually got my lemons and Meyer lemons from my In-law’s garden. They are the best.
Your Lemon Cake with cream & blueberries looks so delicious. Can’t wait to give it a try. I always love lemon and blueberries together.
Thanks Amy! You’re so lucky to have a source of freshly picked lemons. My friend in California has a Meyer lemon tree in her garden and tells me they are the best.
I agree with everything Ann says.
Thanks Elaine!
That cake looks absolutely delicious. I love lemons! I made lots of Mary Berry’s lemon pots last weekend and as I tucked into my second one, I focused on the benefits of eating so many lemons (not the cream… sugar…)
Lemons make everything better – although historically I have always managed to kill them. This post has reminded me that I have the perfect spot to grow them indoors when the barn conversion is finished, which is a cheery thought on a snowy morning!
http://www.thegardeningshoe.blogspot.com
I’m sure the positive effects of eating lemons when it’s so cold outside would outweigh any negatives from the cream and sugar! The lemon pots sound good – I may have to look them up…
Good morning i am popping in from Illinois where I cannot grow lemons at all so i spend all my time looking at other peoples! Beautiful. If you have a little paintbrush hum a buzzing song and pretend to be a bee, very gently brushing from one flower to the next, as often as you think about it, for a few weeks, you may pollinate a few lemons and if not the scent of those flowers is divine! c
Hi Cecilia, thanks for popping in again! I have had a go at pollinating the flowers, but not while I was humming a buzzing song (and probably not often enough) – that’s probably where I’ve been going wrong… off to get the paintbrush out again!
They say the lemons from Sicily are some of the best in the world, don’t know why but they do, so how wonderful you got to stay somewhere so special.
I think if I could grow a citrus it would be a lime, Just love limes! Loving your cake too!
Yay for lemon flowers which will hopefully produced some lovely lemons for all your summer drinks this year. No need to stop mentioning the Bourke St Bakery Cookbook – it reminds me that I need to seek it out.
Oh, I hope we get lemons at some time! And I hope you enjoy the cookbook when you find it.
Who knew that lemon trees could produce such pretty flowers? Your stay in Sicily sounds idyllic – what a view to greet you each morning – do you think you’ll make a return trip there? Looks like a great recipe to put your love of lemons to the test
The flowers are very pretty and have a lovely fragrance too. We’ve been to Sicily a few times now, it’s one of my favourite places – great food (especially the ice cream!), lots of sunshine and amazing scenery.
Love the cake ingredients. Think yoghurt works really well in baking but I’ve never used potato flour before. Must give this a try because I too am a big fan of lemons. I want to try making a preserved lemon cake with the ones I made at Xmas. It’s tough waiting. And those pictures of the lemon trees remind me so much of my honeymoon in Sicily. We stayed n an olive grove and the view was almost identical. Lovely post
Would be interested to hear how your preserved lemon cake turns out – I tried making one last week and the best comment I got was that it had a ‘distinctive’ taste… back to the drawing board!