The soft lemon margherita cake is a baked treat perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack. It’s lemon-scented, soft, not dry and not necessarily intended to be dunked. It brings to mind a bit of grandma’s homemade cakes made with love. It can be prepared quickly by hand with an electric whisk or with a stand mixer. The ingredients you’ll need: eggs, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, butter, vanillin, milk, lemon extract and sugar. The cake might show a crack on the surface — this means it has risen well and formed a nice dome. The cake can be eaten plain or filled. If you like cakes you may also try:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients to make the soft lemon margherita cake
- 3 eggs (medium)
- 130 g all-purpose flour (about 1 cup + 1 tbsp (130 g))
- 90 g cornstarch (maizena) (3/4 cup (90 g))
- 100 g butter (about 7 tbsp (100 g; ~3.5 oz), softened)
- 120 g granulated sugar (about 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (120 g))
- 8 g baking powder (2 tsp (8 g))
- 100 ml whole milk (about 3.4 fl oz (100 ml; ~1/3 cup + 1 tbsp))
- 1 bustina vanillin packet
- 1 fiala lemon extract vial
Tools
- Cake pan
- Electric whisk
Steps to make the soft lemon margherita cake
To prepare the soft lemon margherita cake, first take the butter out of the fridge so it becomes soft and spreadable. For this recipe I used an electric whisk, but you can also use a stand mixer. Break the eggs into a large bowl, add the sugar and the softened butter and beat well for a while until the mixture becomes light and frothy. Then add the whole milk and continue mixing with the beaters. Now sift the all-purpose flour, the cornstarch, the baking powder and the vanillin packet. Add everything to the batter. Finish by adding the vial of lemon extract to give even more fragrance.
Preheat the conventional (static) oven to 356°F. Take an 8-inch (20 cm) cake pan and butter and flour it or oil and flour it. I prefer to oil and flour the pan. Pour in the batter and bake. Bake the cake for about 40 minutes. Always do the toothpick test to check if the cake is cooked.
Remove from the oven and let cool before taking the cake out of the pan. Then serve your soft lemon margherita cake.
Storage and tips
You can store the soft margherita cake for a couple of days under a glass dome.
If you want an even more lemony cake, I recommend adding the zest of an untreated lemon.
FAQ (Questions & Answers)
Can I replace the milk with oil?
Yes, of course.
