Wedding cake - zingy lemon

Wedding cake - zingy lemon

Tier two of our three tier wedding cake, this gives a real citrus hit and the drenching of lemon syrup keeps it beautifully moist

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 30

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

Plus cooling

Method

  1. Heat oven to 160C/fan140C/gas 3. Prepare the inside and outside of a 23cm tin, as before. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs a little at a time. Add a tbsp of the plain flour if it starts to split. Fold in the flours and a pinch of salt, followed by the lemon zest and juice.
  2. Spoon the mix into the tin and bake for 1 hr 15 mins until well-risen and golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Meanwhile, make the syrup by heating the sugar, lemon zest and juice in a small pan until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
  3. Once the cake is out of the oven, leave to cool until it's just warm, then use a skewer to poke holes down to the bottom all over the cake. Pour the syrup over, letting it completely soak in after each addition. Leave to cool completely, then either wrap or fill and ice the cake. The unfilled cake will keep well if you wrap it with baking parchment and cling film for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to a month.

Per serving

269 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 33g, fat 8 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 20g, sugar 0.17g, salt 0 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2006.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 81-91

  • Binder photo mrsshambo

    17 November 2012

    mrsshambo commented on this recipe

    My niece asked me to make her wedding cake but as both of us are coeliac we are having a problem finding recipies that suit. Would it be possible to make these cakes with gluten free flour? Has anybody done so and how did they turn out?

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Di

    05 January 2013

    Di rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This cake tasted delicious. I have the same problem as a few others though with the top of the cake being a little soggy with the syrup. i adjusted to recipe to make a smaller cake as it was only a practice. http://www.cakebaker.co.uk/baking-tin-size-conversion-calculator.html This website was really useful to use.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo DCR

    14 January 2013

    DCR commented on this recipe

    Hi! I am making the lemon cake for my granddaughter's christening cake, having 2 tiers both in lemon. Can you help me out with the quanitity and cooking time needed for a 5" / 13cm cake tin size pleas? Thank you very much! dcr

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo jane

    04 February 2013

    jane commented on this recipe

    I made this for a 70th birthday and used an 8inch tin. I did not need to adjust any quantities and it cooked in the time stated. I did however only divide it into two layers as it did not seem thick enough for three. Everyone said it tasted wonderful. The lemon taste was perfect and it was still moist even though it didn't get cut for eight days. Would definitely use this recipe again.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo jane

    04 February 2013

    jane rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Angelch

    26 February 2013

    Angelch commented on this recipe

    Can anyone tell me how me how deep this cake should be? Also i would like to make it in a 10" square what quantities should i use and how long should i cook it in a fan oven? I a bit short of time so would need to know today.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo sugarplum

    07 March 2013

    sugarplum commented on this recipe

    I made 3/5 of the recipe for a 7 inch round tin and it only rose to two inch what height is the cake mean't to rise too. The Chocolate cake was huge and tasted fatastic.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo emma

    08 April 2013

    emma commented on this recipe

    Beautiful cake but the syrup left the cake too soggy so will make again leaving that out

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Supercakes

    18 April 2013

    Supercakes rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this cake after a disaster with Mich Turner recipes and it was my life saver! I used an 8" square cake tin, kept the same quantities as above and it came out perfect. The cake was delicious and will def use again! Thank you so much for this recipe! Also I noticed that lots of posts are querying what to do if they want to change the recipe to scale up/down tin sizes, I used a website called cakebaker.co.uk which has a 'cakeometer' which calculates the differences. It does not however provide cooking times, so just be sensible and keep an eye on things!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo lucylacy

    21 April 2013

    lucylacy commented on this recipe

    Just wish I'd had Mary Berry to hand when attempting this one. Although I did the scewer test the cake dropped when it cooled and was a bit of a doughy texture. The mixture did separate a bit when I started adding the eggs and I did add a bit of flour then. Any suggestions welcome. I'm supposed to be making this for my daughters wedding in August and having trial run(s). At this rate I'll be popping down to Waitrose last minute :(

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Mitz154

    17 May 2013

    Mitz154 commented on this recipe

    Fab recipe for a wedding cake. Delicious, would definately make again and again

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 30

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

Plus cooling

Ingredients

  • 350g unsalted butter , softened
  • 350g golden caster sugar
  • 6 eggs , beaten
  • 140g plain flour
  • 280g self-raising flour
  • zest of 4 lemons , juice of 3 (about 100ml/3½fl oz)

FOR THE SYRUP

  • zest and juice 2 lemons
  • 100g golden caster sugar
Print this recipe
Add to your binder

Per serving

269 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 33g, fat 8 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 20g, sugar 0.17g, salt 0 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
  • You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close