Lemon Tea Cake

Lemon Tea Cake

Ingredients

85 g all purpose flour (maida) or 85 g self rising flour (3/4^th level of Indian standard measuring of 1 cup / 200 ml / 8 oz capacity)

½ teaspoon + 1 pinch baking powder

85 g unsalted butter softened (@ room temperature)

85 g powdered sugar (3/4^th level of Indian standard measuring cup of 1 cup / 200 ml / 8 oz capacity)

2 eggs (net weight 106 gm),  beaten (@ room temperature)

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Method

Grease baking dish with 1 teaspoon butter and dust with 1 tablespoon flour (sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of flour inside a cake pan and shake to coat all greased surface. Turn pan upside down to tap out the excess flour ).

Sieve thrice flour, baking powder and salt.

Sieve powdered sugar.

Preheat oven (OTG) at 180 *C or 350 *F.

In a big bowl, beat  soft unsalted butter (@ room temperature) until creamy with the help of an electrical beater.

Add powdered sugar and beat until creamy.

Add egg one by one and beat until smooth and creamy / light golden color (use electric beater).

Add sieved flour in batches (2 batches) and gently mix with the help of a thick tablespoon (do not use electric beater at this stage) until well blended / smooth cake mixture.

Add  1 teaspoon  grated lemon rind and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Combine all the ingredients well.

Please do not add  milk, leftover lemon juice, water …. If the cake batter is too thin, it won't bake properly.

Final procedure:

Transfer this cake mixture into a greased baking pan – ring / loaf pan / square or round (or paper lined ). Here I used Borosil Loaf  dish 0.8 litre (Dimension (Length x Width x Height): 230mm x 100mm x 65mm). Spread evenly with a spatula, and bake at 180 * C or 350 * F for 30 - 35 minutes or till golden brown or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean / leaves from the sides of the pan. Keep aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Run a knife round inside of the pan to loosen the cake, and then invert the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack.

 Keep aside for one hour and later cut into desired shape and size (or  once it reaches normal room temperature, cover cake gently with a butter paper and store in a refrigerator for minimum 2 hours or overnight. Then it will be very easy to make perfect slices).

Cake cutting tip:

Heat a knife first before cutting a cake for crumble-free slices. To heat the knife, you can run the knife under very hot water (or heat knife directly in a gas flame) then wipe dry with a clean towel.