by
Diana
It’s very
difficult to unlearn those things that are an intrinsic part of the way you see
the world. As my multiple grammatical mistakes reveal, English is not my first
language and no matter how hard I try, Spanish would always flourish one way or
another.
In (Venezuelan) Spanish the word for lemon means actually lime.
We call ‘limón’ the smaller, green more bitter variety of citron and ‘lima’ the
big yellow one. This knowledge is so embedded now in my stubborn adult mind
that it comes with images and flavours which makes it even harder to
deracinate. I know I am not dyslexic so perhaps I am just obstinate.
Last week I was searching for a recipe calling for the ‘limes’ I
had lying around in the kitchen and found one that solved all my problems and
actually called for both. As I didn’t have ‘lemons’ I just used limes and to
make things even more confusing I covered the cake with almonds so my
citric problems would never be revealed. I told everyone at the office that
because of the almonds, it was a deceiving cake, and inconsistently described
it as both lemon and lime when people dared to ask. Perhaps I’m just a liar.
The cake is really good though, so I hope you like it too!
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| © The Teaspoon |
Ingredients
180 g all-purpose flour
200 g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp lemon zest
80 ml olive oil (you may use vegetable oil)
125 ml semi-skimmed milk
2 eggs, bitten
4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp almond extract
Lemon Glaze
125 g powdered/confectionary sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp almond extract
100 g toasted flaked almonds
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F/180C.
Line a loaf baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine the flour, caster sugar, baking powder,
sea salt, and lemon zest.
In a separate bowl, mix the oil, milk, eggs, lemon juice and
almond extract. You may use an electric mixer or a whisker to combine
everything (1-2 minutes).
Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and
mix.
Then, pour the batter in the prepared loaf tin.
Bake for approximately 55-60 minutes or
until a knife inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool at least 15 minutes before
removing from the baking tin and placing on a cooling rack.
Glaze
To make the glaze, use a small bowl to combine the
lemon juice, almond extract and confectionary sugar. Use a spoon to
mix well. Add the almonds to the mixture and delicately mix again.
When the cake is on the cooling rack (and still warm) pour glaze
over. Allow the glaze to set for approximately 5-10 minutes and that's it.
Enjoy!
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