The Professional Cinderella

I’m always surprised by the number of people who have never tried lychees. We always had them during the summer when I was growing up, and they are still a tried and true favourite of mine. When I came across this recipe for lychee cake, I had to try it. It’s just as good as I could have hoped it would be. If you’ve never tried lychees, this cake is still worth a shot, as the flavour is perfectly subtle.

Lychee Cake with Mascarpone Buttercream

Recipe by Lyndel Miller- makes 1x20cm round cake

240g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

160g unsalted butter, softened

165g caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

560g tin of lychees, drained

175g unsalted butter, softened

270g icing sugar

120g cream cheese, softened

120g mascarpone

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Lightly grease a 20cm cake tin. I used a loaf pan.
2. Blitz drained lychees in a blender or nutribullet until a slushy consistency.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Whisk to combine.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and combine well. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Fold in blended lychees.
5. Spoon batter into a prepared pan. Bake 40-45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let the cake stand in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
6. To make the icing, beat butter, icing sugar, cream cheese, mascarpone and vanilla for 3-5mins or until light and fluffy.
7. Top your cake with icing. Decorate with summer fruits and flowers. Serve.

Heidi xx