Stranger Foods

Marzipan, lemon & cardamom loaf

Serves 8 | Prep 15 mins | Cook 50 mins

Many of my favourite things in one loaf: this chapter wouldn’t be complete without a lemon cake, and as for some reason I’ve never got on with lemon drizzle, this cake is spiked with golden pieces of marzipan instead. Extremely moreish – especially baked in mini-loaf tins.

Source: The Sweet Roasting Tin

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

170 g unsalted butter, softened
170 g caster sugar (golden if preferred)
3 medium free-range eggs
1 lemon, zest and juice
230 g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 cardamom pods, seeds ground, outer pods discarded
100 g marzipan, chopped into 1 cm chunks

Instructions

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Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas 4. Whisk the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the lemon zest and juice.
Gently fold in the self-raising flour, baking powder and ground cardamom, taking care not to over mix. Transfer the batter to a lined 900 g loaf or between 8 mini-loaf tins.
Scatter the marzipan chunks all over the cake mix, then transfer to the oven and bake for for a large loaf or for mini loaves, until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean (less any bits of marzipan that you hit).
Let the cake cool briefly on a wire rack before slicing and serving warm.
The cake will keep well in an airtight container in a cool room for 2-3 days.

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