Lemon Sour Cream Cake with Pine Nuts

The hubby and I have a little addiction to pine nuts.  We will put them in everything we can whether it be pasta, lasagne or salad.  However, I have never had them in a sweet dish.

Imagine my delight when I bought Classic Cakes by The Australian Women’s Weekly with one of the very first cakes in the book being a Lemon Sour Cream Cake which just happens to be topped with pine nuts.  The oven was calling.

After gathering the ingredients…

… beat the butter, lemon rind and caster sugar until light and fluffy.

Slowly beat in the eggs and then stir in the sour cream and flour.

What you end up with is a nice thick cake batter.  Pour it into your pan (I use a loose bottom pan as it isn’t the kind of cake you can turn upside down to get out) and put into the oven.

After about 15 minutes, remove the cake from the oven and sprinkle the pine nuts and sugar over the top and push it into the top of the cake ever so gently.  The original recipe suggests you mix the pine nuts and sugar in a bowl before pouring it over the cake, but I think it is a little bit pointless as the sugar predominately sits at the bottom of the bowl anyway.

Let the cake cook for another 45 minutes and check to see if it has cooked through.

I had to leave it in for another 15 minutes or so until the skewer came out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan 5 minutes before you remove it.

As my hubby is allergic to honey so I leave the last step of the recipe out, but if you like you can pour 90g of hot honey over the hot cake and allow it to soak in.  Let the cake completely cool before serving.

The first time I made this cake it didn’t cook all the way through and was a little doughy.  To my surprise, the hubby actually preferred it this way (it’s usually me who likes the doughy cake or mancakes).

Regardless, it is absolutely delicious, great with ice cream and another way for us to get our pine nut fix!

Print Recipe

Lemon Sour Cream Cake with Pine Nuts

Adapted from Classic Cakes by The Australian Women's Weekly

Course

Cake

Servings

slices

Ingredients

• 250 g butter softened
• 1 tbsp lemon rind finely grated
• 2 cups caster sugar (440g)
• 6 egg(s)
• 3/4 cup sour cream (180g)
• 2 cups plain/all-purpose flour sifted (300g)
• 1/4 cup self-raising flour sifted (35g)
• 1/2 cup pine nuts (80g)
• 1 tbsp demerara sugar
• 1/4 cup honey optional (90g)

Course Cake Servings slices Ingredients 250 g butter softened 1 tbsp lemon rind finely grated 2 cups caster sugar (440g) 6 egg(s) 3/4 cup sour cream (180g) 2 cups plain/all-purpose flour sifted (300g) 1/4 cup self-raising flour sifted (35g) 1/2 cup pine nuts (80g) 1 tbsp demerara sugar 1/4 cup honey optional (90g)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and line a round spring-form cake tin with baking paper, then set aside.
2. Beat the butter, lemon rind and caster sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat thoroughly in between each addition.
4. Stir in the sour cream, plain flour and self-raising flour in two batches.
5. Spread the mixture into the lined spring-form cake tin and place into the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
6. Working fast, remove the cake from the oven and sprinkle over the pine nuts and the demerara sugar, pressing them gently into the top. Return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
7. After removing the cake from the oven, allow the cake to cool in the cake tin for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and sitting top side up on a wire rack to cool completely.

Optional Step:

1. Heat the honey in a small pan on the stove then drizzle the hot cake evenly with the heated honey. Allow the cake to cool before serving.

Recipe Notes

The cake can be served when it has cooled slightly after removing from the oven as it is delicious warm.