Dessert

Lemon and rosemary cake with mascarpone cream

Name: Lemon and rosemary cake with mascarpone cream recipe
Yield: 1 x 20cm cake
Ingredients: 145g caster sugar; Zest and juice of 2 lemons (about 1 tbs zest, 1/3 cup/80ml juice); 150g unsalted butter, chopped and softened; 125ml olive oil; 2 eggs; 250g yoghurt; 20.00 ml rosemary leaves, finely chopped; 300g self-raising flour; 250ml cream; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 85g icing sugar; 250g mascarpone

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1 x 20cm cake

P72 Lemon and rosemary cake with mascarpone cream

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by Clare Scrine

CLARE SCRINE, FOOD WRITER

Dec 30, 2022

"The rosemary in this cake is subtle but it brings an interesting edge to what is otherwise a great, but simple, butter cake. You can serve it the day it’s iced, or keep the mascarpone separate and simply serve it warm, with the cream on the side as a simple dessert, perhaps with some fresh fruit such as peaches and raspberries. Although it’s wonderful with lemon, this cake works with any citrus. I particularly love to sub in blood oranges for the few weeks a year they’re around at the markets."

2/3 cup (145g) caster sugar
Zest and juice of 2 lemons (about 1 tbs zest, 1/3 cup/80ml juice)
150g unsalted butter, chopped and softened
1/2 cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
1 cup (250g) natural yoghurt
1 tbs rosemary leaves, finely chopped
2 cups (300g) self-raising flour

Mascarpone cream

1 cup (250ml) double-thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
2/3 cup (85g) icing sugar, sifted
1 cup (250g) mascarpone, at room temperature

Method

1.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced and generously grease or line a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper. Use your fingers to rub together the sugar and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl until the zest releases some oil and smells beautifully fragrant. Add the butter, lemon juice and olive oil, and use electric beaters to mix for a couple of minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, and beat again for 1 minute. Don’t worry if the mixture splits a bit at this point, it’ll come back together when you add the flour. Stir through the yoghurt, 1/2 tsp salt and rosemary, until well combined, then add the flour and fold it through the mixture.
2.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin, then transfer to the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, until the cake is just set and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes, then remove from the tin and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.
3.

To make the mascarpone cream, use electric beaters to whip the cream, vanilla and icing sugar in a bowl until the mixture is just beginning to thicken. Add the mascarpone (soften it a little in the microwave, if necessary) and whip again to combine, until the mixture is thick and pillowy, but stopping before stiff peaks form. Serve the icing generously mounted and swirled onto the completely cooled cake, or alongside individual pieces. I like to top the cake with whatever fruit or flowers I have around, but it’s perfect just as it is.