We enjoyed this cake one Sunday afternoon with our neighbour a couple of weeks ago.
Lots of lemons. And just for fun, I added some lemon verbena! 😀
Lemony Lemon Cake
Cake ingredients (Makes one 26cm cake):
- 2 sticks (225g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (400g) sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- Zest of 4 lemons
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- 15 fresh verbena leaves
- 1 ½ tsps baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
Lemon syrup:
- 1/2 cup (110 ml) sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease and flour cake pan.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside. Combine the lemon juice and buttermilk in a separate bowl. Cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time. Stir in lemon zest. Fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then gently mix in about 1/2 the lemon buttermilk mixture, another 1/3 of the flour, and the rest of the buttermilk. Mix the last 1/3 of the flour with the lemon verbena leaves and whizz in a food processor until the lemon verbena is just little green specks, then fold into the cake batter. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes.
About 10 minutes before the cake is ready, gently heat 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves.When cake is done, let rest for a few minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan onto a wire rack set over a tray. Use a toothpick or skewer to poke holes in the top of the cake. Slowly pour warm lemon syrup over the top of the cake. Let cake cool completely.
ENJOY!
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Words and Herbs 
That looks very good. Bob loves anything lemon — I might have to give this a try.
It’s a real favourite in our house! 😀
I LOVE anything with lemon. Can’t wait to try this recipe! Love your blog!
Hi Laura! Thanks – hope you enjoy the cake – it’s delicious!
Putting lemon verbena in a cake. Fun, and genius too!
Well, I still have some left, and now the weather’s turned cooler I must find some uses for the rest before the leaves drop! 😉
I love lemon cakes. I promised a receipt – it takes a little while.
Next time we bake, I can take pictures of the making of.
Look forward to it! 😀
Great looking cake Cathy – I’ll need to try making it soon, before the lemon verbena looses its leaves.
If you have any other recipes for lemon verbena, I still have loads that wants using up! The lemon verbena sorbet I made in the spring was good, but it’s a bit chilly for that now!
Does lemon verbena make it taste more lemony, or does it impart any detectable flavor? I haven’t used this herb but it sounds nice. Your cake looks beautiful.
In this cake, with all that lemon juice and zest, I couldn’t really taste the lemon verbena in particular, but it does taste very lemony in general without the slight bitterness of lemon zest. I added it this time because my lemon cake usually has one or two more lemons in it, but I didn’t have that many! LOL! The lemon verbena sorbet I made in the spring was fabulous… like the lemon popsicles we had as children! Or like lemon bonbons!
Looks delicious!!
It was! 😀 Perfect with a cup of English tea! 😉
Oh yes….yummy!!! Would love a bite right now 😉
…I’m waiting for my piece… 😉 ..and I’ll have some tea as well…. 😉
😀 The kettle has just boiled… do you take milk and sugar? 😉
Yes….I will have some milk and sugar . Do you have any of those cute little sugar cubes? 🙂
We can have a tea party!!
Ooh yes! With real china cups and a table cloth! 😉 I’ve got a paper doilie to put the cake on too! 😀
Looks lovely! Not for me though… 😦
Shame you can’t eat citrus fruits. Thanks for commenting nevertheless! 😀
Ooooo lemony cakes ar emy favourite! And I love lemon verbena too. In fact a slice of lemony cake with some of your sunshine I can see in the photo would be perfect!
I’ve made it with 8 lemons before now! And if made in a large tin there’s more surface area for the syrup! 😉
I love lemon cake, a wonderfully refreshing dessert on a summer day!
😀 Made it just in time – autumn is coming!
I have a go-to lemon cake recipe very nearly like this one that I’ve been using for years, but this steps it up with the addition of the lemon verbena (I usually use zest and you’re right, it can get slightly bitter sometimes). I now know I absolutely MUST plant some lemon verbena next year – I want to try it in all sorts of recipes! 🙂
I can only recommend it! I shall buy several plants next year and try other recipes too… I dried the remainder in September and am using it for tea – it’s delicious!
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