Soaked lemon cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 225 g butter, soft
• 425 g sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 3 tbsp lemon zest, freshly grated, heaped (about 6 large lemons)
• 440 g flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 50 ml lemon juice
• 175 ml buttermilk (at room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 g sugar, for soaking
• 125 ml lemon juice, for soaking
• Powdered sugar, for dusting OR:
• Icing sugar mixed with a little lemon juice as a glaze

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 180°C, grease and flour a large loaf pan (30×14) with butter. Cream the softened butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, until the sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes). Then stir in the eggs, one at a time, and the lemon zest until well combined. Sift the flour into a bowl and mix with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, combine the lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Now alternately stir the ingredients from both bowls into the butter mixture. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 60-75 minutes. It’s best to do a skewer test, as every oven heats differently. Remove from the pan and set aside in the pan. For the topping, heat the sugar with the lemon juice until the sugar has completely dissolved. After about 10 minutes, remove the cake from the pan and place it on a wire rack. I then place this over a roasting pan and slowly soak the cake, tablespoon by tablespoon, until it’s all used up. Then let the cake cool completely. I then mix about 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar with a little lemon juice and sprinkle it over the top of the cake. This gives it a subtle lemon flavor. You can also make a proper glaze with more powdered sugar and lemon juice and spread it over the cake. Or you can just dust it with a little powdered sugar.