Easter Cake | Food

 

Easter is swiftly approaching and for me that means lemon drizzle cake. I have a pretty fail safe recipe, but today decided to stray from those boundaries and try the March Waitrose recipe card version. Though saying that I did adapt it a bit (who doesn't adapt recipes?!) so I thought I'd let you all know what I did! For example reducing the layer number and sprinkling with poppy seeds. 

This cake has a citrus lemon zing which counteracts the sponge, allowing for a refreshing nibble without much stodge. It is topped with ground almonds, crushed up pistachios and poppy seeds giving difference in texture too. There is also a layer of homemade marzipan in the middle as well making it the perfect treat for April afternoons! 

Prep time: 25+ minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

 Cooling time 1+ hour

Ingredients for Marzipan: 

100g pistachios

50g ground almonds 

75g golden caster sugar 

75g icing sugar

1 medium egg 

Ingredients for Cake:

175g butter

175g golden caster sugar

2 lemons, zested and juiced

3 medium eggs 

225g self-raising flour 

1 tsp baking powder

50g poppy seeds 

Lemon Sugar Icing:

1 lemon, juiced 

150g caster sugar

Topping:

50g pistachios

30g ground almonds 

10g poppy seeds

1. Firstly preheat the oven to 180◦c (fan assisted). Grease a 20" cake tin with a piece of kitchen roll lightly dampened with vegetable oil. 

2. To create the cake mix, place the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice, eggs, flour, poppy seeds and baking powder in a large mixing bowl and combine with a handheld whisk. It should look as above, pale and creamy with a batter-like consistency.

3. To create the marzipan process the pistachios until they reach an even and fine consistency, this can be done with a blender or food processor. Tip into a bowl and add the ground almond, caster and icing sugar, and egg and combine with a fork until a paste is formed. 

4. Spoon half of the cake batter into the cake tin and level the surface with a spatula. Flatten parts of the marzipan with your fingertips and lay them across the surface of the batter, until the surface is covered save an inch around the edge. Cover with the remaining cake batter and smooth once more. 

5. Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, the marzipan remains slightly gooey, so the cake prod method will not effectively test cooking here, instead press the middle, when firm the cake is complete.

6. While the cake is baking make the icing by juicing one lemon and adding the caster sugar, beat using a small whisk or fork until a slightly thickened runny consistency is formed. 

6.  Once out of the oven immediately pierce the cake in multiple places (around 20) with a cake prod or skewer and pour the pre-made icing all over. Don't worry if it pools slightly as it will seep into the cake. Straight after this top with the almonds, pistachios and poppy seeds as they will stick to the icing before it seeps in. 

 Tip: allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin, to help keep the structure and allow the icing to fully seep through. The cake may look a little gooey in the middle, but don't worry as this is the marzipan within. Serve on a sunny spring day and enjoy!

Happy cooking!
Cheerio x