This light and refreshing cake recipe is just the sort of thing to have on standby in the freezer for a rainy weekend when last minute guests arrive.
Ingredients
- 175g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
- 175g caster sugar
- Finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
- 3 medium eggs
- 250g self-raising flour
- 50g poppy seeds
- 4 heaped tbsp natural yogurt
For the crystallised rose petals
- 1 pale yellow rose
- Caster sugar, for dusting
- 1 egg white
For the cream cheese frosting
- 100g soft cream cheese, such as Philadelphia
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp natural yogurt
Method
- 1. Carefully pull the petals off the rose. Fill a bowl with sugar. Brush each petal with egg white, then bury under the sugar. Lift out, shake off the excess sugar and leave on a tray to dry for a few hours or until brittle.
- 2. Preheat the oven to 150°c/fan130°c/gas 2. Grease and line a 19cm x 12cm x 9cm deep loaf tin with baking paper. Put the butter into a bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until it is almost white. Beat in the zest and eggs, 1 at a time, and a spoonful of flour with the second and last egg to prevent curdling. Sift over the rest of the flour and fold it in with the poppy seeds and the yogurt.
- 3. Spoon into the tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
- 4. Beat the frosting ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon until fluffy. Spread thickly over the cake and scatter with the crystallised petals.
Nutritional info
Per serving: 461.5kcals, 30.2g fat (17g saturated), 8.3g protein, 50g carbs, 25.5g sugar, 0.9g salt
Chef's tip
Freeze the cake, wrapped in cling film, at the end of step 3 for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly, then continue with frosting.