Lemon Loaf Cake

I made this delicious cake for my mum's birthday. She is not a massive sweet fan so I couldn't make a traditional birthday cake with lots of icing like I did for my sister. Lemon cake is one of the few cakes my mum likes and this Raymond Blanc one is fancier than your average lemon loaf (it has double cream and rum in the ingredients!!).

You will need:

5 eggs
300g sugar (caster preferably)
140ml double cream
4 lemons
2 tbsp dark rum
80g butter
240g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
150g icing sugar
3 tbsp apricot jam

You will also need a 26cm x 9cm x 8cm loaf tin lined with grease proof paper. 

Begin by mixing the eggs, sugar, cream, zest of 3 lemons, rum, butter, flour and baking powder together. The mixture should look like this:

Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tin and bake for 55 minutes or until a skewer can be inserted into the center of the cake and come out clean. Turn the cake onto a wire rack to let it cool for 10 minutes before glazing. While the cake is cooling warm the apricot jam up in the microwave. Also mix the juice and zest of a lemon and the icing sugar together in a pan over a low heat. Gently brush the warmed jam over the cake and then brush the lemon/icing mixture over the top. Place the cake on a baking tray and return it to the oven to set the glaze. This should take about 5 minutes and the glaze should become clear. 

As my mum is not a big icing fan I decorated this cake with fondant flowers which could easily be removed. 

Happy Baking xxx