Recipe from Easy cakes and cookies.
65g unsalted butter, at room temperature
135g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
135g plain/all purpose flour
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
finely grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons.
For the white chocolate frosting
150g white chocolate, chopped, plus extra, grated to decorate
75ml double cream
a 17 x 9cm tin, lined with baking parchment.
Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.
Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix well with an electric whisk. Add the eggs and whisk for a couple of minutes until pale and fluffy – important to actually do it for a few minutes not just until combined. Gently fold in the flour and baking powder. Finally, stir in the lemon zest and juice until well mixed.
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin/pan and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. When it is ready, the cake will be a rich golden colour and springy to touch. Remove it from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool before frosting. The tin I used was larger than the size suggested so my cake was shallower than the one pictured in the book – but not a problem at all.
In the meantime, making the white chocolate frosting. Put the chocolate in a mixing bowl. Put the cream in a saucepan and gently bring to the boil over low heat, stirring frequently. Pour into the mixing bowl and whisk until you get a smooth cream. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then refrigerate for 15 minutes to stiffen. I ended up leaving my frosting in the fridge for 40 minutes to cool as my cake was still cooling, and even when I took it out it was not as firm as I’d expected. Subsequently, it ran off the sides of the cake but again was not a problem as the flavour was still there.
Spread the frosting on top of the cake and sprinkle some grated chocolate over it.
