I fell in love with this Hummingbird Bakery recipe (yes, it's yet another one of those) the moment I saw it. I have always liked lemons - my childhood party trick was downing a juice of one lemon without a twitch. And that's probably why I never liked lemon-flavoured food. Lemons should have a kick to them, they should be sour - you should feel them like nothing else when you have them and mixing them with food takes all that away. I expected lemon desserts and cakes to taste just like lemons do and they, obviously, don't and never will. Luckily as I grew, so did my taste-bud tolerance (pretty typical I guess) and I have expanded my lemon horizons. These days when I see the word 'lemon' or 'lime' in a baking recipe, I'm all in. And if you like experimenting there is nothing like mixing some lemon and lemon thyme in a cake. They are a match made in heaven. Thank you, Hummingbird!
Lemon and thyme loaf
(based on Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days recipe)
Sponge:
190g soft unsalted butter
190g plain flour
Zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
3 tsp chopped lemon thyme leaves
190g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
1 tsp baking powder
25ml soured cream
1/4 tsp salt
Syrup:
80g caster sugar
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
4 tsp finely chopped lemon thyme leaves
Preheat the oven to 170 C and grease the loaf tin.
Mix the butter, lemon zest, thyme leaves and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, each time making sure they mix well before you add the next one. If you have one of those magical freestanding electric mixers I would recommend using it. If not, be prepared to spend a long time mixing but it is well worth it.
In a seperate bowl mix together the flour (sift it!), baking powder and salt. Add them onto the butter and egg mixture in a few batches, each time mixing well before adding some more. Add the soured cream and mix again. Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for 40-50 minutes. The loaf needs to be firm, so use a skewer to see whether any sticks to it when you insert it across the sponge. It should come out clean.
In the meantime make the syrup*.
Put all the ingredients in a saucepan with about 60ml of water. Bring to boil and simmer until its reduced by about half and then pour the syrup over the cooked loaf as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let the loaf cool completely before serving. Decorate with some thyme sprigs to make it look more interesting. Although it doesn't need it - it will be gone before you have time to appreciate it for its aesthetics. Enjoy!Sponge:
190g soft unsalted butter
190g plain flour
Zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
3 tsp chopped lemon thyme leaves
190g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
1 tsp baking powder
25ml soured cream
1/4 tsp salt
Syrup:
80g caster sugar
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
4 tsp finely chopped lemon thyme leaves
Preheat the oven to 170 C and grease the loaf tin.
Mix the butter, lemon zest, thyme leaves and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, each time making sure they mix well before you add the next one. If you have one of those magical freestanding electric mixers I would recommend using it. If not, be prepared to spend a long time mixing but it is well worth it.
In a seperate bowl mix together the flour (sift it!), baking powder and salt. Add them onto the butter and egg mixture in a few batches, each time mixing well before adding some more. Add the soured cream and mix again. Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for 40-50 minutes. The loaf needs to be firm, so use a skewer to see whether any sticks to it when you insert it across the sponge. It should come out clean.
In the meantime make the syrup*.
*the original recipe calls for less sugar and less water. I however found that that didn't make enough syrup for my liking, so I suggest making a bit more if you like your loaves a bit more soggy.
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