I love baking recipes based on lemon. I love that familiar tang, and the more intense the better as far as I am concerned.
When I was looking for a lemon cake recipe on the weekend I immediately thought of The Barefoot Contessa, as I find her recipes always turn out fantastically. This cake was no exception. It’s a beautifully light cake with that deliciously refreshing lemon tang, which was an immediate hit when I took some into work, with those who tried it smacking their lips and saying over and over how delicious it was. I definitely agree and this cake will become a staple in our house.
Don’t you I love it when you are able to find recipes from celebrity chefs that work for you time and time again? Recipes from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa), Nigella Lawson, Bill Granger, Giada DeLaurentiis and Gordon Ramsay are a few that I find work for me with ease. Jamie Oliver’s recipes are another story for me though.
In the recent issue of Delicious Magazine I saw a feature by Jamie Oliver on a vegetarian Christmas. I love that he put together a vegetarian Christmas menu, because as he says “Vegetarians often draw the short straw at Christmas, what with all the fuss over turkey and ham”. I totally agree. So, I decided to try his Christmas Honeycomb Cannelloni. I should mention at this point that I have tried a number of Jamie’s recipes over the years, and have to admit I’ve been less than impressed with the results. I don’t know what it is, because I know that a lot of people love his recipes and find they turn out fantastically for them, but for me the end result is always disappointing. The Christmas Cannelloni was no exception, with both my boyfriend and I finding it disappointing and lacking in flavour, and we were so disappointed in it that the left overs went in the rubbish.
So, who are your favourite celebrity chefs whose recipes you find work for you time and time again and whose recipes do you find don’t work for you?
Lemon Syrup Cake
Ingredients
- CAKE
- 114 g of butter at room temperature
- 1 cups of sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- zest of 4 lemons
- 1 1/2 cups of plain flour
- 1/4 tsp of baking powder
- 1/4 tsp of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/3 cup of lemon juice
- 1/3 cup of buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
- SYRUP
- 1/3 cup of sugar
- 1/3 cup of lemon juice
- GLAZE
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- 1 tbsp & 2 tsp of lemon juice
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and flour a loaf or bundt tin.
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Cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
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Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and beat well in between each addition before adding the lemon zest.
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Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. In a jug combine the lemon juice and buttermilk. Add the flour and lemon juice buttermilk mixture to the batter alternately beginning and ending with the flour.
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Pour the batter into your prepared cake or loaf tin and bake for 45 minute to 1 hour, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
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To make the syrup, in a small saucepan combine the lemon juice and sugar and cook over a low heat until the sugar is disolved.
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Let the cake cool for 10 minutes after coming out of the oven and then make tiny holes in the cake with a cake tester and pour the syrup over the cake.
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To make the glaze, in a small mixing bowl combine the icing sugar and lemon juice and mix until smooth.
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Allow the cake to cool before drizzling over.
Beautiful cake!! I love Jamie Oliver. I find some of his recipes a little disappointing, but most I adore. I think he does pasta and roasted or stewed meats really well! Valli Little also works well for me, always. I can't think of someone who doesn't really work. I'll have to have a think about it!
Heidi xo
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Maybe I've just been unlucky with the Jamie Oliver recipes I've tried, I don't know, but it's been discouraging enough to not want to try them again. I agree Valli Little's recipes are always great.
Hi there, this cake looks fabulous. And you can never have too many lemon recipes. I know it's probably a bit daggy, but I'm a big Margaret Fulton fan (I guess she's still a celebrity chef) – her recipes always work for me. I have also had good success with Gary Mehigan's recipes and of course Stephanie Alexander.
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I've not tried any of Gary Mehigan's recipes but have heard great things. I will have to take a look at his book next time I am in a book shop. Thanks for the suggestion and for visiting 😀
Zest of 4 lemons? Awesome! I can just imagine how fragrant and wonderful this would be while baking.
I love Bill Granger and Nigella's recipes. They always work fantastically.
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It was very fragrant and every time I opened the lid of the cake container there was a wonderful burst of lemon. It was wonderful and definitely a cake I will make again. 🙂 I love Nigella's and Bill's recipes too.
Hmm- sometimes I agree with Jamie, but lots of the time his recipes work out fabulously for me. Nigella's stuff never seems to work for me!
Jennifer this cakes looks so pretty and loaded with zesty lemon… yum!! I have a Linda McCartney cookbook that for many years was my veggie cooking bible, her recipes always seem to turn out wonderfully!
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It definitely is loaded with lemons. I really love that lemon tang. I might have to track down Linda McCartney's cookbook. Thanks for the telling me about it 😀
what is the correct temperature to bake this? surely not 180 do you mean 350?
Hi Lulu. Sorry, I should have said 180 degrees Celsius 350 Fahrenheit. Thanks for picking this up. 🙂
I love lemon recipes too, this cake sounds delightful. Great photography too.
Thanks Liz 😀
wow! this is what i call "love at first sight" i love the cake!!!!!!!
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I have Ina's cookbook – I used to use it a lot but then my collection just grew. Your post reminded me that I need to go visit her again, especially after seeing this gorgeous lemon cake. As for recipes that don't work? Hmm… does my sister's recipes count? Kidding!
My collection is growing too Trissa….by a massive rate. I still turn to Ina's recipe though because they are fantastic basic recipes. 🙂
I also love lemon. especially in sweets.
For me, the most foolproof chef is Donna Hay, but her recipes are all pretty simple in terms of technique and ingredients.
I find Donna Hay has great recipes too. I have to admit I haven't made anything using her recipes for a while though. I will have to rectify that 🙂