food : lemon cake

I try to get around to making a cake for my partner on their birthday each year. I am not much for making sweets. It just isn't my thing usually (I prefer having more rice to having more sugar). This year, 2024, I tried this recipe. We actually made it twice, two weeks in a row. It is really really easy to make and comes out nicely. It is not an impressive cake, but it is tasty and simple. The lemon is really refreshing and the sugar is just right for those with a sweet tooth.

Ingredients

Instructions

1. In a bowl empty/scrape-out the contents of a can of coconut milk and whisk. This will combine the fatty and watery parts of the coconut milk. Set aside
2. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease an 8" by 8" baking dish (we use pyrex)
3. To a second large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder
4. In a third bowl whisk together 224g of coconut milk (from the first bowl), lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract
5. Pour the liquid mixture from the third bowl over the dry ingredients in the second bowl, and fold together gently until there are no dry spots. It will be thick and lumpy; do not add more liquid
6. Pour into the greased 8" by 8" baking dish and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon or spatula
7. Bake for 25 minutes
8. Let cool and then eat. Or, optionally, add a sugar icing to the top:
   1. Whisk in a bowl: 1 C powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 0.5 Tbsp soy milk (or other liquid of your choosing), and 0.25 tsp vanilla extract
   2. Pour over top of cooled cake and smooth out to cover the whole surface

Notes

• I recommend using the weights if you have a scale, rather than the volume based measurements
• We like eating the cake after it has been in the fridge a bit. This cake is always a little bit dense, but in a nice way, and the cold just adds to the refreshing lemon taste