BAKE of the week

LIME POUND CAKE WITH GINGER

THIS week’s bake is from one of our new favourite books, Bake To Impress by Christian Hümbs. Christian may not be a household name here, but he’s an award-winner and presents the German version of Bake Off. This cake has a summery twist of lime – but ginger makes it perfect for this time of year.

Bake To Impress by Christian Hümbs, £14.99, DK.com.

You’ll need

● For the cake:

● 3 limes, plus fine strips of lime zest for decoration

● 60g fresh root ginger

● 200g unsalted butter at room temperature plus extra for the tin

● 150g caster sugar

● 100g light brown sugar

● 4 eggs

● 260g plain flour, plus extra for the tin

● 2 tsp baking powder

● For the icing:

● 1 lime

● 250g (9oz) icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/150C fan/ gas mark 3/325°F. Butter the loaf tin and dust with flour, shaking out extra. 2. Wash and rub dry the limes. Finely grate the zest. Squeeze the juice and set aside. Peel and finely chop or grate the ginger. 3. Cream the butter in a high-sided bowl with the sugars, a pinch of salt, lime zest and ginger, using an electric hand whisk, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour and baking powder and fold this in. 4. Spoon into a 10” loaf tin and smooth out. Bake on the middle shelf of the hot oven for 70–80 minutes. If it is browning too much, cover with foil after 35–45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool a little in the tin. 5. Bring the lime juice to the boil in a saucepan and pour evenly over the still-warm cake. Let the cake cool completely in the tin. 6. Squeeze the lime for the icing and stir with the icing sugar and 3–4 tbsp water to make a smooth, thick icing. Cover the cake with the icing and scatter with the strips of lime zest (if using). Leave the icing to dry and set for 1–2 hours.