Buttermilk lemon cake

I had a problem. After baking my amazing cinnamon buns I had some leftover buttermilk that needed to be used up pronto. Sure, I could have frozen it. But I could also look online for a yummy buttermilk cake recipe and bake it. Obviously one of these options would be more in line with trying to reduce my bum with the ultimate aim of being able to fit said bum into my jeans, but obviously I picked the other one. To be honest, I have been very worried about my declining number of blog posts. All I eat these days is chicken salad interspersed with the occasional salmon salad. Not very exciting to blog about. So I just *had* to bake something to blog about.

I googled buttermilk cake, and found a recipe for one here. I was looking for a recipe which contained ingredients that I would have at home. I'm sure buttermilk and raspberry cake would have been great as well, but I couldn't be bothered to walk to the store. I'm so incredibly sore from my first time at the gym in three weeks, and the thought of having to climb all 50 steps of stairs to my flat was somewhat overwhelming. The original recipe didn't have a glaze, but I love how coffee cakes are drizzled with glaze and it soaks into the top of the cake and makes it even more sweet.

Lemon buttermilk cake (serves 8):
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

For the glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice

The howto:
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F). Butter or oil a loaf tin (I used my silicone one which doesn't need buttering). Mix oil, eggs, sugar, buttermilk, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice. In another bowl, mix baking powder, salt and sifted flour, and mix it all into the liquids. Pour into the loaf tin and bake until a toothpick into the middle of the cake comes out clean (about 65-75 minutes). Let the cake cool for a while, and pour glaze over the cake.

The verdict:
This cake is super easy to make, and it is really moist and tasty. It would be perfectly fine without the glaze, but I just love lemon glaze. I love the lemon drizzle cake at Bill's, it's just so super moist and sweet. And this cake was very indulgent and absorbed all that lovely drizzle to make a crusty and super sweet topping. 

This cake is definitely best eaten after it has cooled. I tried cutting into it while it was still warm, and the result was not very pretty (as can be seen in the picture). But it cuts very nicely once it's cooled. And it's one of those adult cakes. You know, you have a slice with a cup of tea. Brownies or mud cake, that is something you can binge on, eat a whole batch straight from the baking dish with a spoon. But this is type of cake has to be eaten with dignity. And starting from the bottom of the slice, and working your way up so that you can finish off with the lovely glazed top. Just look at the picture on top, you can see how the glaze has absorbed into the cake making it all sweet and gooey. This cake is also approved by the culinary consultant, so it's just like I'm imagining that it's good. I urge you to try it, it only takes a few minutes and one bowl to whip up, so it's perfect for a sudden craving for something sweet.

Card of the day:
I have been really excited about card making lately. So I thought from time to time I would add a picture and short description of the cards I have been making. I made the card below for my sis when she was down with the flu a few weeks ago. I love the origami bow, the instructions for making that can be found here. Other than that, I used clear embossing ink and powder for the background, and sponged Tim Holtz Distress inks to bring out the sentiments and hearts. The bear is also coloured with Tim Holtz Distress ink, blended with water using a watercolour brush. I think it turned out quite cute.