I have been hearing about pound cakes since the start of December, it seems as if everyone is making pound cakes left right and center, okay maybe it is just because I have been watching The Great British Bake off reruns every waking moment of the day… who knows.

I came across this classic lemon pound cake a while back, but every time I go to the super market, I keep forgetting the sour cream. This time around, I remembered.

This cake was so soft and delicious, I will tell you, I was very nervous making this cake as I tend to burn loaf cakes, so every couple of minutes I would stick my nose right up against the glass door to make sure that it wasn’t burning.

I managed to survive, naked cakes are nerve wrecking, I mean iced cakes, you can always hide the burnt and funny parts but not with a naked cake. No sir.

Ingredients for the cake:

• 1 x cup room temperature Rama margarine.
• 1 ½ x cups castor sugar.
• Grated zest of 1 lemon.
• 5 x eggs.
• 1/3 x cup sour cream.
• 1 ½ x tsp vanilla essence.
• 1 ½ x cup cake flour.
• ½ x tsp salt.

Method:

• In a stand mixer, beat the castor sugar and margarine, until light and fluffy roughly 5 minutes on high speed.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla essence together.
• Add this to margarine mixture in two halves and beat on high till combined.
• Sift the cake flour into the egg mixture and ass the lemon zest.
• Mix on high, until everything is well combined.
• Grease and dust a loaf pan.
• Pour the battered into the prepared pan.
• Bake in a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees for 60 – 80 minutes, or until the cake tester comes out clean.
• Turn the cake about every 15 minutes, to ensure that the cake browns evenly.
• Remove from the oven and leave in pan to cool.
• While cooling make the syrup.

Ingredients for the syrup:

• 3 x tbsp. lemon juice.
• 2 x tbsp. tap water.
• 1/3 x castor sugar.

Method:

• Place all the ingredients in a sauce pan and allow to boil till all the sugar has dissolved.
• Poke holes in the cake and pour the warm syrup over the top of the cake.
• Allow the cake to cool in the tin, before turning out onto a cooling rack until ready to eat.