CAKE
8 oz Raisins 6 oz Soft brown sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon 6 oz Plain flour
150 ml Whiskey 1 pn Salt
6 oz Softened butter 1 pn Ground cloves
3 Eggs 1 ts Baking powder
-ICING-
Juice of 1 lemon Warm water as needed
8 oz Confectioners’ sugar Crystallized lemon slices*
*As garnish, if desired. — Put the raisins and grated lemon rind
into a bowl with the whiskey, and leave overnight to soak. Grease a
7-inch cake pan, and line the bottom with parchment; preheat oven to
350F. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Separate
the eggs and sift the flour, salt, cloves and baking powder into a
bowl. Beat the yolks into the butter and sugar one by one, including
a spoonful of flour and beating well after each addition. Gradually
add the whiskey and raisin mixture, alternating with the remaining
flour. Do not overbeat at this stage. Finally, whisk the egg whites
until stiff and fold them into the mixture with a metal spoon. Turn
into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 1 1/2
hours, or until well risen and springy to the touch ~- or test with a
skewer: when it comes out clean, the cake’s ready. Turn out and cool
on a wire rack. .
Meanwhile, make the icing by mixing the lemon juice with the sieved
confectioners’ sugar and just enough water to make a pouring
consistency. Put a dinner plate under the cake rack to catch the
drips, and pour the icing over the cake a tablespoonful at a time,
letting it dribble naturally down the sides. Don’t worry if a lot of
it ends up on the plate underneath — just scoop it up and put it on
top again. When the icing has set, it can be decorated with
crystallized lemon slices if you like.
Yields
8 servings
