Sunday 19 August 2012

Lemon Bundt Cake with Lemon Buttercream and Raspberries


Here it is.  Sunday's birthday cake for the boyfriend.  You can sort of see why Wednesday's cake was the preliminary version, what with the buttercream and the raspberries.  However, rather than a regular sponge cake, it's a lemon bundt cake with a lemon glaze.  There are also raspberries sandwiched in between the two halves rather than a layer of raspberry jam.

I made this along with a chocolate cake (which is for the boyfriend's sister) Saturday afternoon. I actually had to make this cake twice because the first one broke when I was trying to get it out of the mould.  I was so frustrated but luckily had just enough ingredients to do it over.  I've pretty much used up all my lemon extract though.  I'll have to buy some more at some point.  I changed my method of greasing for the second attempt and it slid out like a charm.  Thankfully!  I'll be keeping the first one for cake pops.

Everyone that had the cake thought it was delicious and really lemony.  The boyfriend says it is even better than Wednesday's cake, so yay!


Recipe - adapted from King Arthur Flour's website
Greasing method from Cake Decorating Magazine 

For greasing:
  • 1 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
  • 1 tbsp flour
For the cake:
  • 225g/8oz unsalted butter
  • 400g/14oz caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 360g/12.75oz plain flour
  • 225ml/7.6fl.oz milk
  • 1 tbsp lemon extract 
For the glaze:
  • 40ml/1.4fl.oz fresh lemon juice
  • 75g/2.6oz caster sugar
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
  2. Mix the melted butter, oil and flour together and use a pastry brush to apply to every nook and cranny of a 23cm/9inch bundt tin.
  3. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, butter and salt until pale and creamy.
  4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in well after each addition.
  5. Add the baking powder and mix.
  6. Put the flour into a bowl and the milk into a jug.  
  7. Add some of the flour to the cake batter and mix to combine.
  8. Now add some of the milk to the batter and mix in.
  9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until all the flour and milk is used but making sure the last thing you add is flour.
  10. Stir in the lemon extract.
  11. Spoon the mixture into the bundt tin, trying to keep it evenly distributed.  Smooth down the top with a spatula.
  12. Bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  13. Once baked, remove from the oven and let sit on a rack in its tin for 5 minutes.
  14. Meanwhile, make the glaze by combining the lemon juice with the sugar in a bowl.
  15. Turn the cake out of its tin onto the cooling rack.  If you greased the tin well, it should just slide out.  If necessary, run a knife around the edge of the tin to help.
  16. Use a skewer or a toothpick to poke holes all around the top of the cake.
  17. Use a pastry brush to coat the cake in the glaze, allowing it to sink in and then applying another coat until all the glaze is gone.
  18. Leave to cool completely.
Decoration:
  • 140g/5oz unsalted butter
  • 285g/10oz icing sugar
  • 1 tsp lemon extract 
  • Yellow food colouring (optional)
  • 225g/8oz raspberries 
  • Icing sugar for dusting
  1. Mix together the butter, icing sugar, lemon extract and food colouring, if using, until you get a nice, creamy buttercream.  You want to be able to pipe it and have the shape stay so you don't want it too runny.
  2. Cut the cooled bundt cake through the middle with a serrated knife and carefully remove the top half, flipping it over and putting it to one side.  Put a thin layer of buttercream on the inside of each half.  You don't want to use it all because you need just over half of it for piping.
  3. Cut the raspberries in half, one after the other, placing the two halves on top of the buttercream on the bottom layer of cake.  Keep going until the buttercream is completely covered.
  4. Carefully put the top layer back on top of the bottom layer.
  5. Put the remaining buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large, round tipped nozzle.
  6. Pipe a zigzagged pattern around the top of the cake and then pipe a ring of blobs on top of the zigzag.
  7. Place the raspberries in a ring around the top of the cake.
  8. Use a sieve to dust the top of the cake with icing sugar.

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