Tea Cake with Royal Icing

Tea cake

ingredients

Maida(plain flour) - 3 cups
Baking powder - 3 tsp
Butter -1 cup
Sugar - 3 cups
Eggs large - 6
Vanilla essence -1 tsp
Salt - ¼ tsp
Lemon zest - 1 tbsp
Rum (optional) -1 tbsp

preparation

All ingredients should be in room temperature.

Sieve maida and baking powder thrice and keep aside.

Powder the sugar and mix it with soft butter in a large
mixing bowl. Mix till it is silky soft.

Separate the yolk and the white from the eggs.
Add the yolks, essence, salt and rum to the mixing bowl .
Wisk till it has a silky flow.

Beat egg whites frothy to its peak.
Add egg whites to the mixing bowl and slowly
fold in. Now spoon by spoon fold in sieved
maida and lemon zest.

In a baking dish apply butter on all sides and
dust it with maida. Pour the cake batter to
half the baking dish and pat it on
the work floor to release air.
If you want to decorate the cake with
nuts on top, first dust the nuts with plain flour
then sprinkle the nuts on the cake or else
the nuts will sink to the bottom.

Preheat the oven at 180c .Place the baking dish and
bake for 45 minutes. If you are pouring the cake batter
in cups or small bowls , you will get your cakes
ready in 25 minutes. After the baking time
prick the cake with a skewer and if it comes out clean the
message is your cake is done.

Royal icing

Icing sugar - 400 gms
Egg white - 1
Lime juice -1 tbsp
vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp

In a bowl beat egg white gradually adding
icing sugar and vanilla essence. Add lime juice and
whisk faster till it stands on its peak
very smooth and white like snow.

Royal icing can be used to cover the cake,
do lattice work or write with a nozzle.
Adjust the icing sugar as you need the flow.