Lemon and Elderflower Cake is the choice of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for their wedding. Make this easy version with a cream cheese frosting to celebrate with a glass of champagne – or a cup of tea – while you watch it all on TV.
Lemon and Elderflower Cake
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Whether you intend to watch the Royal Wedding or not, this Lemon and Elderflower Cake will brighten your weekend. The cake is light and lemony with a lemon and elderflower marinade, lemon curd filling and lemon and elderflower cream cheese frosting. Altogether it isn’t too sweet and is best eaten straight from the fridge.
If you don’t usually have elderflower cordial in the house, this is a good excuse to get some in. I love it in the summer with water, but especially with soda water for an alcohol-free sparkling drink. It’s the sort of thing to take on picnics or to alternate with Prosecco at summer lunches if you don’t want to overdo it. At least you don’t feel quite as deprived.
The cake part is very similar to a Lemon Drizzle Cake which is based on a Victoria Sandwich. I’ve used a little extra flour, but it’s the usual all-in-one recipe. Otherwise known as chuck it in and whizz it up. Life’s too short, mostly, for taking longer to make cakes.
One of my children will be on a plane to at the time but tells me that the airline has assured passengers that it will be live-streaming the wedding. She won’t have any of this rather delicious cake with her, airline restrictions being what they are but, hopefully, she will make some for herself when she gets home. The others may, or may not, get any because unless they’re quick, Keith and I will have scoffed the lot. But I will save a slice for 19th May, so that I can eat it in front of the telly with my glass of Elderflower Prosecco.
HELPFUL TOOLS
- Baking parchment circles – Such a simple idea. Gone are the days where you had to draw round the base of the cake tin and cut out your own parchment circles. These mean that your cakes never stick to the base of the tin and, of course, that also means a saving on the washing up – never my favourite chore.
- Splatter lid – Once again this has saved my kitchen surfaces from being covered in icing sugar. I don’t know why, but in the past year or so icing sugar has become more fly-away. You pour it into a bowl and a cloud floats up and covers the worktop. The splatter lid provides a lid to the mixing bowl with a hole to put the beater(s) through, keeping the ingredients in the bowl.
Lemon and Elderflower Cake
Ingredients
FOR AN 18CM (7 INCH) CAKE:
- 2 lemons, zested
- 180 g butter
- 180 g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 225 g self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (10ml)
FOR THE marinade:
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons elderflower cordial (30ml)
For the filling:
- 2-3 tablespoons lemon curd
For the frosting:
- 60 g butter at room temperature
- 120 g full-fat cream cheese
- 350 g icing sugar
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 teaspoon elderflower cordial (5ml)
- 1 teaspoon lemon curd, rounded tsp (10ml)
Equipment
Instructions
PREPARATION:
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/ 170°C fan/ gas mark 5/ 375°F
- Line the tins with paper liners
- Grease the tins (if needed) with butter paper (or a little butter on kitchen paper)
- Grate 2 lemons for the zest.
For the cake:
- Beat all the cake ingredients together thoroughly(Butter, caster sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, lemon zest)
- Spoon the mixture equally into the tins. Smooth the tops with a palette knife and make a slight dip in the centre
- Cook for 25-30 minutes until the cake surface springs back when you touch it lightly with your fingertip
- Leave the cakes in the tins and marinate the cakes immediately.
For the lemon and elderflower marinade:
- Mix the lemon juice and elderflower cordial
- Prick the top of the cakes with a cocktail stick. Spoon the marinade over and leave the cakes in the tin to cool.
For the filling and cream cheese frosting:
- Zest the lemon
- Measure the ingredients into a medium-sized bowl and beat together until smooth – but don’t overbeat
- Take the cooled cakes from the tins and put them on your serving plate. Choose the better of the cakes as the top one
- If necessary level the tops of the cakes with a sharp knifeI usually use both cakes the right way up, i.e. with the top facing upwards
- Spread the lemon curd over the bottom cake and position the other on top. Using a palette knife, smooth the icing over the top and sides of the cake.
Notes
- If the butter is still hard, soften for 1 minute on defrost in the microwave. Repeat if necessary, but don’t let it melt
- Like most cake recipes this is easiest with a mixer or a food processor. At the least, you can use hand-held beaters
- Use pre-cut baking parchment circles to line the base of the tin
Made this recipe or got a question? Let me know!