By The Green Parent

06th August 2021

This is one to make at the height of summer when your pot of lemon verbena is throwing out leaves says Catherine Phipps

By The Green Parent

06th August 2021

By The Green Parent

06th August 2021

Yogurt Cake with Lemon Verbena and Lemon Thyme

There are also a few weeks when greengrocers might sell bundles of them. Keep your eyes peeled – the stuff that comes in from Italy is sublime and intense and sherbety.

SERVES 8

  • 15g fresh lemon verbena leaves
  • 5g fresh lemon thyme leaves
  • 160g granulated sugar
  • 250g plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 250g Greek yogurt
  • 5 tbsp butter, melted
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 2 eggs

FOR THE CREAM

  • 250ml double cream
  • 2 tbsp lemon verbena leaves
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar

TO SERVE

  • Fresh strawberries, hulled
  • Crystallised leaves of lemon verbena, basil, mint or fennel
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin, then line the base with baking paper.
  2. Put the lemon verbena and lemon thyme leaves into a food processor with the sugar and blitz until the leaves have broken down. The sugar will have turned the colour of mint ice cream and will have a texture like powder.
  3. Mix the flour and raising agents together thoroughly. Beat the sugar with the yogurt, butter, lemon juice and eggs, then fold in the flour, keeping the mixing to the bare minimum. Scrape into the prepared tin and bake for around 30 minutes, until the cake is well risen, springy to touch and slightly shrunken away from the sides of the tin. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
  4. To make the cream, put the cream in a saucepan with the lemon verbena leaves. Heat gently, until almost on the point of boiling, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse until cooled to room temperature. Transfer to the fridge to chill. Just before you want to whip it, remove the leaves. Add the sugar to the cream then beat until it reaches the soft peak stage. Pile into the centre of the cake then tumble the strawberries and crystallised leaves together over the top of the cream.

READ

Catherine lives in Ealing with her family, where she is teaching both her children to enjoy food, how to cook – and importantly, how to make her the perfect cup of tea. She can be found on Twitter @catlilycooks and on instagram @catherinephipps

Leaf by Catherine Phipps (Quadrille, £25) Photography Mowie Kay

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