Preserved Lemon, Ginger & Rosemary Cake
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- 250g/8ozs. butter, softened
- 200g/7ozs caster or superfine sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 300g/10.6ozs. cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 150g/5ozs. crystallised ginger, finely chopped
- 40g/1.4ozs. preserved lemon peel, well rinsed, rind only (discard pulp)
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (or just add a couple of teaspoons lemon juice to milk)
- 2 tablespoons white sugar (optional or use cream cheese icing below)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 125g/4ozs. cream cheese, softened
- 75g/2.7ozs. butter, softened
- 3-4 cups icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50g/1.7ozs. crystallised ginger pieces, halved
Step 1 - Line a loaf tin on the base and sides with parchment and preheat oven to 150C/300F. Beat the butter and sugar together for 5-6 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Add eggs in one at a time beating well between additions.
Step 2 - In a jug whisk the flour, baking powder and ground ginger. Add in the crystallised ginger, lemon peel and rosemary and toss so that the pieces are coated in flour (this prevents the pieces from sinking to the bottom of the cake). Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk and mix until just combined. Scoop into the prepared tin and sprinkle white sugar on top (you can omit this if you are icing it with cream cheese icing). Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the centre springs back to the touch. Cool in the tin.
Step 3 - To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth-around 1 minute or so if ingredients are at room temperature. Add in the icing sugar on low speed and then once mixed increase and add lemon juice and beat until smooth. This mix will be quite wet but will firm up on cooling. Take a #125 piping tip and fit it into a piping bag and then pipe patterns on top of the completely cooled cake (tip: have the larger side of the teardrop facing down). I find it easier to practice it on a plate (you can always scrape it up from the plate and put the frosting back in the piping bag) and once I get the hang of it, do it on the cake. Top with ginger pieces.