Inspired by the royal wedding trend, this lemon and elderflower syrup cake may have a little less grandeur, but what it lacks in adornment it more than makes up for on flavour. With delicate floral notes and lemony syrupy goodness, it’s sure to quickly become your new afternoon tea favourite.
Baking Notes
(1) I used a fluted loaf pan, giving the cake a gorgeous embellishment with minimal fuss, but you can easily use a plain loaf pan if you wish.
(2) If using a fluted loaf pan, ensuring you grease the pan very well, as the cake will have a tendency to stick in the grooves if every edge isn’t greased appropriately.
(3) I used an elderflower concentrate for the syrup, which was very potent, and hence I balanced it with lemon juice for a more well-rounded profile. The syrup for the cake should be palatable and taste delicious in it’s own right with a balance of citrus and floral notes. Depending on the brand of elderflower concentrate that you use, adjust the proportions in the syrup recipe to your taste.
Lemon and Elderflower Syrup Cake
Makes one fluted loaf cake (28cm x 14.5cm x 7cm) and serves 6-8 people
Ingredients
Lemon Loaf Cake
- 265g unsalted butter, softened
- 150g caster sugar
- 75g brown sugar
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 180g plain flour, sifted
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- 70g almond meal
- 2 tsp ground ginger
Lemon and Elderflower Syrup
- 60–85ml (1/4-1/3 cup) elderflower concentrate
- 60ml (1/4 cup) strained lemon juice
Decorations
- Sifted icing sugar, to dust
- Fresh edible flowers (violas)
- Dried edible flowers (cornflowers)
Instructions
Lemon Loaf Cake
- Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced) and lightly grease your loaf pan. If using a fluted loaf pan, ensure it is greased very well.
- Place butter, sugars, salt and zest in a stand mixer with paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy.
- Add egg one by one while beating on medium speed, scraping the bowl between each egg to ensure ingredients are well combined.
- Combine flour, baking powder, almond meal and ginger in a medium bowl, then slowly add half the dry ingredients to the mixer while beating on low-medium speed.
- Continue beating while adding half the juice, then the rest of the dry ingredients, then juice to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared pan, ensuring a smooth, even surface.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in pan for 10-12 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Lemon and Elderflower Syrup
- Combine elderflower syrup and lemon juice to taste. Add a little more syrup or lemon juice as desired. It should be quite tangy, a little sweet, and have lovely floral elderflower notes.
- Drizzle over cooled cake.
To Serve
- Dust with sifted icing sugar prior to serving and decorate with dried and/or fresh edible flowers as desired.
Enjoy!
You may also like:
Lemon Myrtle Cheesecake + Roasted Macadamia Crust
Lemon and Blueberry Layer Cake + Cream Cheese Frosting
Blood Orange Cardamom Syrup Cake
Looks lovely!
Thanks very much Adrienne, if you get an opportunity to make it, would love to hear how it goes! Salma
Hi Salma, I made this lovely looking cake tonight and was just wondering if the amount of butter in it should be less as my cake turned out a bit too buttery/ greasy…I put 250 gr ( less than in the recipe) standard pack of unsulted butter and followed all other ingredients quantities. I think that around 180-200 gr of butter would be sufficient. Does this cake needs to be on a tea cake/ dry side- similar to marble cake for example or not ?
Hi Maria,
Thanks so much for baking this recipe, and I’m terribly sorry to hear it turned out a bit too buttery for your liking. If reducing the quantity of butter gives you a better flavour and texture, I highly recommend adapting it to your palate. I prefer my cakes on the more moist side, so it may be a matter of preference but thanks so much for your input, as it also helps provide other bakers using this recipe with a bit of extra guidance. Thanks again, Salma
Dear Salma, could you please advise how to achieve this beautiful shape of the cake? I’ve tried to search for loaf tins shaped this way, but they don’t seem to exist. Thank you.
Hi Kat,
Thanks for the query. This cake was baked in the Nordic Ware Anniversary Loaf Pan, which can be purchased from Williams Sonoma or other speciality bakeware stores. Enjoy!
Salma