Spring Lemon and lime drizzle cake - gluten free

Despite it still being fairly cool, there is definitely signs of spring in our Lancashire garden, the snowdrops are blooming well and there are even a few early daffodils poking through the soil. We have even heard the deep throaty calls of a few early frogs coming from our garden pond. So last weekend in celebration of spring and also for our last cake club I made a beautiful lemon and lime drizzle cake with zingy citrus flavours.

This gluten free cake has a beautiful crumb structure and is complemented with fresh sharp tasting icing drizzled on top.

To get the best results you need to firstly pay a visit to your local market or greengrocer (if you still have one - lucky you) to stock up on fresh juicy lemons and limes. Ideally unwaxed if you can get them, not to worry if you can't as a quick scrub under a running tap removes most of the wax used to help preserve the fruit.

To achieve the beautiful texture and crumb structure I used a mixture of very finely ground cornmeal (polenta), cornflour and white rice flour with a little xanthum gum.

What you need

• 175g White rice flour
• 105g Finely ground cornmeal (its golden yellow, I got mine from Holland and Barrett)
• 70g Cornflour
• 1 tsp xanthum gum
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 225g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs - free range
• 200ml sunflower oil or vegetable oil
• 400ml skimmed milk
• 3 lemons - zested and juiced
• 4 limes - zested and juiced
• Oil spray for oiling tins
• 2 tbsp of granulated sugar
• About 100g of icing sugar

You will also need an approximately 20cm round loose bottom or springform cake tin, base lined and oils sprayed on the sides.

What you do

• Preheat the oven to 180c
• Whisk the eggs and caster sugar until light and fluffy and tripled in volume 
• Sift in the flours, baking powder and xanthum gum, whisk this in along with the milk, oil and the zest of one of the lemons
• Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and place in the oven
• Bake for approx 60 minutes until firm and tests cooked with a skewer.
• Once ready, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack in the tin.
• To make your drizzle, melt the granulated sugar and the juice of 2 lemons in a small pan until all dissolved.
• Prick the cake all over and gentle pour on the warm syrup whilst the cake remains in the tin
• Once fully cool remove the cake from the tin

To make the icing take the juice from the limes and mix with the icing sugar until you have a smooth drizzleable paste, pour over the icing and once starting to set decorate with lime and lemon zest.

Serve once the icing has set, the cake stores well in an airtight tin.

We are linking up to a new linky with this post, Belleau Kitchen's - Simply Eggcellent challenge where you link up recipes containing lovely free range eggs.

                                             

Also to Family Foodies - whose theme this month is  Lets Get Baking . Hosted by Eat your Veg and Bangers and Mash.

                                               
Bake of the Week over at Casa Costello - a weekly baking linky