Michelle Darmody: How to bake a lovely summer lime and mint loaf

summer sweet loaf cake on a table with flowers and a drink in glasses. with coconut cream and lime. dessert for brunch or morning breakfast

Mint is the perfect summer ingredient. It grows vigorously at this time of year. There are many different types of mint, about 600 varieties in fact. It is one of the easiest herbs to grow and has lovely verdant leaves that brighten up any windowsill. It can be used as a tea by itself, or added to refreshing homemade lemonade.

I also pick quite a lot of leaves towards the end of summer and dry them out so I can make mint tea later in the year. It is great to aid digestion after a heavy meal.

Its cooling properties are what make mint such a good summer ingredient. It adds a wonderful boost to this loaf cake. I have a chocolate mint plant in my garden that works very well in this recipe but almost any fresh mint will do. The only one I find a little overpowering is the strong, often medicinal tasting peppermint, but otherwise I love the combination of mint with lime, they match perfectly.

If you would prefer a light dusting of sugar instead of icing on your loaf you can make a mint sugar by rubbing five mint leaves into 100g of granulated sugar. The abrasive texture of the sugar helps the mint to release oils and creates a lovely subtle flavour. This can be used to sprinkle on cookies or other bakes.

Summer lime and mint loaf

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Mint's cooling properties and fresh summer limes make for the perfect combo!

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 175g self-raising flour

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 190g golden caster sugar

• 200mls sunflower oil

• 4 eggs

• 1 small courgette, grated

• zest of 4 limes

• 10 mint leaves, very finely chopped

• For the icing

• 280g cream cheese

• 90g icing sugar

• zest of 2 limes

• 2 mint leaves, very finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.

2. Line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment.

3. Sieve the flour and baking powder together and set aside.

4. Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together until combined.

5. Add the grated courgette and stir it in.

6. Add the lime zest and flour and combine until you have a smooth batter.

7. Stir in the finely chopped mint leaves.

8. Scoop into your prepared tin and flatten down.

9. Place into the centre of your oven.

10. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

11. Allow to cool in the tin for 15minutes, then gently place onto a wire rack to cool completely.

12. To make the icing, whisk the ingredients until smooth.

13. Once the cake is completely cool, ice the top of it and decorate with some lime slices or some mint leaves.

Baker's Tips

Adding courgette to a cake helps to keep it moist and also adds a lovely texture. You do not necessarily taste the flavour of the courgette, particularly with the lime and mint, but it does add to the overall result. As the cake bakes the courgette releases liquid; this also keeps the cake moist for longer preventing dryness. And adding some extra veg to your diet is always a good thing.

I use a very light sunflower oil in this batter. You do not want any oil that adds too much of a flavour which is why the neutral taste of sunflower oil works so well. It also has a high smoking point so it works well as the cake bakes at 180 degrees. It helps to keep the cake moist.

It is best to have all of the ingredients for this cake at room temperature as they will combine better and quicker.

As with all cakes, avoid over-mixing once the flour has been added as it will toughen the cake.

I add the mint at the last minute as I love the little flecks of green throughout the cake and it keeps the punchy flavour. Just a gentle stir into the batter is fine. You can toss the chopped mint in a light dusting of flour if you wish. This will help prevent it from sinking in the cake. It is best to chop the leaves very finely and to discard the stalks.

If the cake is not baked after 40 minutes, test it at five- minute intervals until a skewer comes out clean.

For a more luscious result, you can top this with a chocolate ganache with a drop of peppermint oil.

If you want to step up the decoration, you can candy the lime slices on top of the cake. Add 100g of caster sugar to 100mls of water over a low heat until dissolved. Bring to the boil and add the lime slices then simmer for about 25 minutes. Sprinkle granulated sugar onto a sheet of baking parchment and with tongs remove the lime slices from the sugar syrup and place them on the granulated sugar. Allow them to cool before using.

This loaf cake will last for about three days in a cool airtight container if uniced. Once iced it is better kept in the fridge but will dry out after a day or so.

Delicious variations

Lemon and lime cake

While I love the mint in this cake, it also works very well as a simpler lemon and lime cake. In place of the mint in the batter add the zest of two lemons.

Replace the mint in the icing with the zest of two lemons as well.

Blueberry and lime loaf

In place of the mint, add 100g of blueberries to the batter. It is best to toss them in some flour and stir them in at the very end. Tossing them in flour helps to stop them from sinking as the cake bakes.