There’s a version of lemon cake that tastes like lemon-flavoured cardboard. You’ve had it. Everyone has. It’s pale, it’s a bit dry, and there’s a vague citrus smell that disappears the moment it hits your tongue.
Then there’s the other kind.
Lenton Bakery in Grainthorpe near Louth makes the other kind. Their lemon cakes are made with real butter, free-range eggs sourced locally, British sugar, plenty of organic lemon zest, and Nielsen-Massey lemon extract – one of the most respected names in natural flavouring. No shortcuts, no artificial flavouring, nothing you’d need a chemistry degree to pronounce.
It sounds simple, but that’s sort of the point.
Good ingredients don’t need much help.
- The butter gives the sponge that rich, slightly dense crumb that holds together properly.
- The zest adds sharpness.
- The extract brings depth without going synthetic.
Nielsen-Massey is worth a mention on its own, actually. The company has been producing natural vanilla and flavour extracts since 1907, and their lemon extract is made from real lemon oil. Bakers who care about the end result tend to reach for it.
The fact that Lenton Bakery uses it tells you something about how seriously they take what goes into their mix.
If you’ve not tried their lemon cakes yet, pop over to see them at the weekend.