This honey thyme and lemon cake are sweet, delicate and delicious. It’s best served with a dollop of yoghurt. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add sugar and to that add room, temparature butter then cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy for about 4 minutes. Add the eggs and beat them in the mixture one a time and beat well with the mixer in between each addition, you are trying to add air into the batter which will result in a lighter and fluffier cake.

To give this cake more flavour and a small amount of sweetness, you will add honey, if you are not a fan of honey, you can substitute that with an equal amount of sugar. Add vanilla essence for flavouring and mix everything until fully combined. In a separate bowl, you will need a cup of ground almond and to that add a cup of fine semolina. This cake is gluten-free as long as you are using gluten-free baking powder.

To the almond and semolina, add a pinch of salt and baking powder then mix until well combined. Zest one lemon and give it another quick mix then pour the dry ingredients into the batter and use a wooden spoon to give everything a good mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour the batter into a round, or rectangle baking tin, if you are making cupcakes with this batter you should get about 10 or so cupcakes from this batter.

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and springs back when pressed. When the cake is finished baking, make small holes on the cake with a skewer pour the syrup, over the cake then place the cake back in the oven for 10 minutes for the cake to absorb all the syrup then serve when the cake is cooled with a dollop of yoghurt.

Ingredients;

  • 2 Sticks (1 Cup | 225g) Butter
  • ½ Cup (60g) Powdered Sugar
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • ¼ Cup Honey
  • 1 cup (100g) Ground Almonds
  • 1 cup (185g) Semolina
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Lemon Zest

Syrup;

  • ½ Cup (100g) Granulated Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Honey
  • Lemon Peel
  • 3-4 Springs of Thyme
  • ½ Cup (125ml) Water

Instructions;

  1. In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time, beating well in between each addition until they are fully combined. Add in the honey and vanilla and mix until combined.
  2. In a separate bowl measure out the dry ingredients, the ground almonds, semolina, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Mix until combined.
  3. Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet and use a wooden spoon to fold everything together until well combined.
  4. Pour the batter into a prepared loaf tin and bake in a 180C|350F oven for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  5. While the cake is baking, add the sugar, honey, lemon, thyme and water into a small saucepan and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
  6. Remove the cake from the oven. Using a skewer, pierce holes throughout the cake and pour over the syrup. Place the cake back into the oven for 10 minutes to absorb all of the syrup.
  7. Cool on a cooling rack before serving with a dollop of yoghurt.