Lemon, thyme and courgette cake
Serves 12
Ingredients
6 large free-range hens’ eggs
350g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter
400g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 lemons, zest only
500g courgettes, coarsely grated and patted dry with kitchen towel
1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
Pinch of salt
For the icing
200g mascarpone
200g unsalted butter
750g icing sugar
2 lemons, zest only
For the decorations
200g caster sugar
2 lemons, thinly sliced Sprigs of thyme
Method
Heat your oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas mark 4 and line two 20cm cake tins with baking parchment.
Using a stand mixer or electric mixer beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest together for a couple of minutes. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl and gradually pour these into the butter mixture, beating continuously until the mixture is smooth. Finally, gently beat in your dry ingredients (self-raising flour, baking powder, pinch of salt) being careful not to overmix, and fold in your grated courgette and thyme leaves.
Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins (I weigh my mix into the tins to ensure they’re identical in size) and bake for 40-45 mins on the same shelf, in the centre of the oven until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, or the internal temperature is 98°C. Be sure to bake your cakes as soon as the mixture is ready, and also try and avoid opening the oven door during the baking process.
When cooked, leave the cakes to cool in the tin for 10 mins and then turn them out onto a wire rack. When the cakes are almost cool, make your icing by beating all the icing ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
To make some candied lemon slices to decorate your cake with, simply heat 200g caster sugar with 200ml of water in a pan over a medium heat until boiling. Lower your thinly sliced lemon rounds into the pan and turn down low to simmer for 15 minutes. Use some tongs to retrieve your boiled slices of lemon and place them on baking parchment to air-dry OR into an oven at 60°C for 1 hour, turning halfway through cooking. Combine all icing ingredients in a bowl. Sandwich the cakes together using a third of the icing and place the remaining twothirds of the icing on the top and smooth with a palette knife over the top and around the sides of the cake. Pop the kettle on while you decorate your cake with the candied lemon and sprigs of thyme and get ready to tuck into a well-deserved slice of cake.
Three-year-old Archie (who makes a mean poached egg) inspired the café’s Wee Ones menu, catering for those with a smaller appetite. Salt Café also welcomes dogs, and is registered with the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Scheme.