Naked lemon-thyme layer cake

Makes 1 large cake | Takes 2 hours 15 Min

Ingredients

900g (6 cups) cake flour, sifted

handful lemon thyme, leaves picked + extra (see tip)

10ml (2t) salt

zest of 4 lemons

500g soft butter

1kg (5 cups) sugar

15ml (1T) vanilla essence

20 extra large eggs

For the lime syrup

125ml (½ cup) castor sugar

80ml (⅓ cup) lime or lemon juice

For the candied crème fraîche icing

4 x 250g tubs crème fraîche

500ml (2 cups) icing sugar

100g box candied citrus peel

15ml (1T) orange blossom essence (optional)

To decorate

handful thyme

3 peach roses

honey or golden syrup

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 x 23cm cake tins with baking paper. Mix the flour, thyme, salt and lemon zest together.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale. Mix in the vanilla. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared tins. Smooth the tops and make indents in the centres.

Bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the centres comes out clean. Cool slightly in the tins for about 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Trim the tops so that the cakes are completely level. Cut each cake into 2 even layers.

For the lime syrup, heat the sugar and lime (or lemon juice) on medium-high until the sugar has dissolved. Drizzle over the cut sides of the cakes.

For the icing, beat all the ingredients together until it starts to thicken. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Spread a layer of icing on each cake layer and stack on top of each other.

To decorate, pack thyme around the base of the cake and one or two sprigs on top of the cake. Place the roses on top and drizzle honey or syrup over the side of the cake before serving.

Tip

Lemon thyme has a citrusy scent and flavour. If you can't find it, substitute with regular thyme.

This recipe can easily be halved!

#lemon #thyme #cake #koek