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

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 8-10 slices 1x

Print Recipe

Description

You will need:

2 shallow 18cm baking tins, preferably non-stick
2 x 18cm baking parchment circles to line the tins
Butter paper to grease the tins
Electric stand mixer, food processor, or electric hand-mixer

Scale

Ingredients

FOR AN 18CM (7 INCH) CAKE:

Zest of 2 lemons
180g butter
180g caster sugar
3 large eggs
225g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons (10ml) baking powder

FOR THE marinade:

Juice of 1 medium lemon
2 tablespoons (30ml) elderflower cordial

For the filling:

2–3 tablespoons lemon curd

For the frosting:

60g butter, at room temperature
120g full-fat cream cheese
350g icing sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon (5ml) elderflower cordial
1 rounded teaspoon (10ml) lemon curd

Instructions

PREPARATION:

Set the oven to 170°C fan, gas mark 5
Line the tins with a paper liner
Grease the tins (if need be) 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
Marinade the cakes immediately.

FOR THE lemon and elderflower MARINADE:

Mix the lemon juice and elderflower cordial
When you take the cakes out of the oven, leave them in the tin
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 knife
- I 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

Everyday Cooks tips:

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

Category: Teatime
Method: Bake
Cuisine: British

Keywords: cake, tea, royal wedding