My friend Ellen has joined a cult.
I tried to tell her that all schools were the same, but receiving four notes about fundraising within the first week of her child starting kindergarten has her completely convinced. She can see herself standing on street corners next, jingling a collection tin.
One of the missives requires her (it was an imperative, not a request) to produce a baked item for the school’s cake stall. El felt that her latest attempt – a date loaf which she unfortunately decided to bake in mini-muffin pans, prompting her youngest son to dub them “poo cakes” – might not be a best seller. She asked me yesterday for an easy, pretty recipe and I promised her I’d post this one up.
This dead simple recipe comes from an old Women’s Weekly cookbook, and it was almost the first cake I ever learnt to bake.
Why is it so great? Because it uses very few ingredients, there’s no sifting involved, and the cream cheese produces a fine crumb that is moist and tender every time. The ingredients are readily available, the batter is made in mere minutes, and the cake keeps well for several days.
When I’m weary, this is the recipe I turn to. It’s universally popular, adaptable and bakes consistently well every time.
- 125g (4.5oz) cream cheese (I used Philadelphia), at room temperature
- 250g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind (about the rind of one lemon)
- 320g (1½ cups) caster (superfine) sugar
- 3 large (59g) eggs
- 225g (1½ cups) plain (all purpose) flour
- icing sugar (for serving)
1. Preheat oven to 175C (350F) with fan.
2. Beat the cream cheese, butter and lemon rind together until smooth, add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the flour in two batches, stir lightly until smooth. Spoon into a well greased 20cm (8″) ring tin or baba pan. Note: I used a Wilton bundt pan, which was a bit too large for this amount of batter.
3. Bake the cake for 30 minutes at 175C (350F) with fan, then reduce the oven temperature to 150C (300F) with fan and bake for a further 20 – 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in its tin for 10 minutes, before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust the cake with sifted icing sugar before serving.
PS. A note on cream cheese – I’ve made this with nearly every permutation of Philly cheese – from the original solid block to the light spreadable. It’s worked well every time!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Would this recipe be good with poppy seeds?
Foodie, I’ve never tried it. It might, though, because it has a similar texture to a pound cake?
Now this looks like something I ought to try!:)
Yum! Great pictures! would powdered sugar be the American equivalent of caster (superfine) sugar, I wonder?
Thank you! According to my google searches, caster sugar is sold as superfine sugar in the baking aisle in larger US grocery stores. My friend Dan tells me it’s also called baker’s sugar or ultra-fine sugar.
I believe powdered sugar is the equivalent to our icing/confectioners sugar, and too fine for this.
Caster sugar is basically white sugar that has been ground a bit more finely, but still granular. Some sites suggest grinding regular sugar in a food processor (though every time I’ve done that, I’ve ended up with powdered sugar).
I wonder, though, if you could just substitute granulated sugar by weight (ie. 320g), rather than by volume? It’s the same sugar, it’s just ground more finely.
Hope that helps, Celia
caster sugar measures the same as granulated in volume too, cup for cup. tried it last week.
that looks so moist, i bet it’s great with the morning coffee! is it a pain to wash that tin? i pondered getting one, but even the one i have one annoys me, and it only has a few ‘waves’.
serendipitously, yes, celia! if you’ve made something similar to my soup, i made something close to this, in the same bundt pan, only using apples. i have yet to write about it. i have some bread rising now, but as i’m likely to find you baking two times out of three, i won’t call that one coincidence.
Dana, in theory caster sugar should take up less space, since it’s more finely ground. I’m amazed it measured up the same in both weight and volume..
The tin is pretty easy to wash up, as the coating is quite good. Some of the designs are hard, though – I borrowed Maude’s rose pan once, and it drove me bananas getting cooked cake out of the crevices. I once wrote about my bundt tins, you might enjoy the post, Dana…bundt tins
Back onto the question of cleaning, Pete solved it for me by buying me a brush from the auto section at Kmart. He said the car buffs were very particular about their cars not getting scratched, and he was right – this was the softest brush you ever saw.. :)
That looks fantastic.
yum, yum it looks reallt delicious and so easy! Can’t wait to have a go.
This could be a problem… wow.
j.
Oh I too can relate to the kids fundraisers. I have a 3 year old in pre-school and each month I have a new target to reach and a new fundraiser. I am running out of people to ask to help me! LOL! As for this recipe I plan on trying it out this weekend…maybe sooner because it sounds delicious and EASY which are my favorite two words to use when it comes to baking!
Hahaha…my friend El will be happy to know that other people are in the same position! And this recipe really is easy – important with a three year old running around! :)
Fantastic! Can’t wait to try this recipe out. Thanks for posting this and I’m off to explore more of your blog. :)
This looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing.
I should not have come here. Now I’m really hungry.
This looks so wonderful, and yes, very pretty! I adore simple cakes like this. I am going to file this one away to break out in a couple months when it’s finally strawberry season – I think this sounds like it would be amazing with a few sliced berries along side! Thanks!
It would be lovely with berries! Sometimes I use this cake as a base for trifles…
Congratulations on your placement on the WordPress home page today! This cake looks so good, and I appreciate you including the measurements and temperature in both European and U.S. variations. I am going to bake your cake this week — yum!
Thanks Eliza, it’s very exciting! :)
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Just looking at those pictures made me so hungry!
Oh I am so glad I just found your blog. (Thanks word press!) its great to read a fellow Sydneysider with similar beliefs. Great site. Look forward to trawling through. Will you be my bloggy mentor?:-)
Just had a look at your blog, it looks wonderful! :) If you’re enjoying Gourmet Farmer, you might want to google River Cottage – Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall did what Matthew Evans is doing about ten years earlier, and there are now several series on his adventures. We’re absolutely hooked!
Thanks for the River Cottage tip- it looks wonderful. Many happy readings to be had in there!
I like the shape. Could be cool to do something really geometrically complex with it.
Yes, it’s quite versatile, would work in interesting shapes. I’ve baked it in everything from baby flower pans to square pans, which I cut up to make character birthday cakes for the kids!
So I made this vegan. Instead of cream cheese, I used tofu cream cheese found at Trader Joe’s in the cheese section, and instead of eggs, added the egg substitute from Whole Foods, and the cake tasted very yummy. And oh yes, also instead of the butter, added vegan margarine, and a cup of apple sauce. And the cake was very very yummy
Veena, thank you for letting us know that! How great that you were able to make it work with all those substitutions!
This is a really yummy blog lol I have to come back for all the great desserts…
I want to try this! Thanks for sharing!
this recipe looks delicious! will try soon. last week i posted in my recipe blog a lemon bread in which i use yogurt instead of cream cheese. in my recipe for traditional birthday cake i use cream cheese as well. looking forward to more recipes. love your site! http://www.foodielady.wordpress.com
How lucky am I that I actually had a slice?!
How lucky am I to have been able to share it with you? :)
looks yummy….
I am a vegetarian. Is there anything that can be substituted for an egg?
Rohit, Veena left a comment above about a vegan version that she made, which might be of use to you?
Cheers, Celia
Great looking texture to this cake – and I love the cake tin shape too!
Thanks Suelle. One of my too many bundt tins.. :)
I’ve got this pan and it’s really cute. You can add all sorts of details on top to make it look more flower like too! :) Although perhaps the cake doesn’t need it as it sounds good on its own,
Wow, that looks fantastic.
Will miss your delights this week…hmmmm, I love easy-to-make-cakes, especially to bake with the kids. This is a must make….soon. Lots of love!
I NEED that bundt tin…. :)
Nice sounding cake….I love those easy ones which don’t need anything fancy, or any fancy processes, that you end up making time and again. I used to make a lemon cake like that, but it got to the point that everyone who asked us over would also ask me to bring that lemon cake. A good thing that it was so easy, but in a perverse way it started to annoy me, so I stopped making it. Yes, I know I am quite mad. This could be a good replacement cake for the lemon one!
That is a seriously GORGEOUS cake. Makes me want to skip work today to stay home and bake. I bet it smells amazing when it’s in the oven. YUM!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. This was sooooo easy to make, and turned out great! Lovely bundt pans too!
Glad you liked it! Thanks so much for the feedback! :)
I know this is an older post, but I’ve been dying to make this every since I saw it. I only have another week or so on crutches, but after that I’m back in the kitchen. Is it a very mild lemon flavor or is it fairly lemony. I adore lemon so if it’s very mild I’d want to play with it a bit to add some more lemon.
Carrie, it’s quite lemony! Hope you’re feeling better soon…
Hi Celia,
I just wanted to let you know that I looove this recipe… and your blog! I have made this a couple of times, and then found the consistency so good that I converted it into a traditional choc/vanilla marble cake similar to the ones my Mum used to make when I was a kid. Fantastic :) so delicious and naughty. I
Thanks for sharing!
Leah
[…] her aunt I just had to use the lemons. This recipe for lemon cream cheese cake, which I found at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, has been pinned on my Pinterest board for a little while now waiting for the perfect occasion. […]
[…] from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial has never failed me with her recipes and this lemon cream cheese cake was no different. It was so […]
Thanks for posting this recipe! This was my FAVOURITE cake from my mum’s old women’s weekly cook book. I’ve been wanting to make it for ages but didn’t have the recipe as I’m living abroad. Making this tomorrow for a little taste of home. Cheers!