Pink Lemonade Cake
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 45 minutes plus cooling time
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6-8
For Cake
- 2 cups/300g/10.6ozs. cake flour*
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
- 185g/6ozs caster or superfine sugar
- 230g/8ozs butter, softened
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs buttermilk
- Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
- Lemonade flavouring OR 1/4 cup/60ml/2flozs lemon juice
For Frosting
- 180g/6ozs. butter, room temperature
- 600g/21ozs icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Pink food colouring
- 1 teaspoon citric acid (can be found at the supermarket in baking section)
- 100g/3.5ozs. raspberry jam
- 3 frozen raspberries
- 1/2 lemon, cut into thin slices
Cake flour can be bought at the supermarket. You can also make it at home. To make 1 cup/150g/5.2ozs of cake flour replace 2 tablespoons of plain all purpose flour with cornflour/fine cornstarch and whisk well. I usually mix up a big batch of this and keep it in a container ready for baking cakes as it produces a softer texture.
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 130C/266F (very low oven). Line 2 x 15cm/6inch tins with parchment on the base and sides. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a beater attachment mix the flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda and sugar together. Whisk the eggs with the buttermilk, lemon zest and lemon flavouring in a jug.
Step 2 - Beat in the butter until smooth. Then add the egg milk mixture until it looks like a cake batter. Divide into the two tins and smooth over the top with an angled palette knife. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the centre springs back when touched gently. Cool completely.
Step 3 - Beat the butter using an electric mixer for 1 minute or until smooth. Add the icing sugar and beat on low speed at first and then increase and add the lemon juice, pink colouring (go gently on the pink, you can always add more but you can't take it out) and citric acid. Beat for 4 minutes or until fluffy.
Step 4 - Place the buttercream into a large piping bag and place the jam into a small piping bag. Place one cake on the cake stand or cake board and pipe concentric circles in icing as shown with gaps in between. In the gaps pipe the raspberry jam. Place the other cake on top and then pipe the frosting over the sides of the cake. Smooth with an angled spatula. Then pipe icing on top and make swirls with the spatula. Smash the frozen raspberries and decorate with the pieces and lemon slices.