A lime and lemony cake, mmmmm, music to my ears. I am BIG time citrus dessert lover. Lemon, in fact, is my chocolate. Give me a slice of lemon or orange cake with a large cuppa coffee and I am a happy girl 😀
This recipe makes a large cake and we aren’t complaining 😛
I made it in a bundt pan once and in a loaf tin another time.(Coz I got spanking new bakeware..yeyy!).

A simple recipe, with lots of sweet lime juice and zest in it, gives a soft and citrusy cake. You may use sweet lime or oranges. I have made with both at different times and  both work equally well.

Makes a large bundt cake or a 9×5 loaf cake and 6 cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Pinch my Salt.

Making the lime and lemony sugar :
The first step is to make the very fragrant orange sugar which gives the cake its intense citrus flavour. Take the 200 grams of sugar in a medium sized bowl and add one tablespoon of orange zest  and half tablespoon of lemon zest (or sweet lime zest if using that). Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips to release the oils of the zest into the sugar. You get beautifully scented citrus sugar. Cover and leave till you prep the oven and the cake tin. I saw this at Joy the Baker and have been doing it since for all my citrus bakes.

Grease:
a 12 cup bundt pan or a 9×5 loaf tin and line a 6-cavity muffin pan with cupcake liners

Pre-heat :
the oven at 180C placing a rack in the centre of the oven

Beat together:
2/3 cup (150 grams) softened butter
1 ¼ cup (200 grams) powdered sugar (which has been rubbed with orange/sweet lime/ lemon rind)
till the mixture is creamy.

Add:
2 Eggs, one at a time beating after each addition

Add:
½ cup thick yogurt/curd
½ cup fresh orange juice
1 tsp pure vanilla or orange extract
to the butter-sugar-egg mixture and mix

Sift together :
2 ½ cups ( 325 grams) maida/all purpose flour”
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt (skip if using salted butter)

Add the sifted flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture in 2 lots.

Bake:
in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 55-60 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Cool completely in the bundt pan and then unmould.

And now the fun part- making the lime and lemony syrup!  Add ½ cup of powdered sugar to ¼ cup of sweet lime/orange juice  and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix well till the sugar is dissolved. Poke some holes over the top of the cake and brush liberally with the syrup.  Dust lightly with powdered sugar and sprinkle some zest…..heaven!

Here is a peek at the pilowy soft insides 😀


The cake keeps well for 2 days at room temperature. And here are some shots of the loaf and cupcakes 😀