[Video Recipe] Sakura Lemon Pound Cake

The middle of March in Japan is springtime, and you'll often see quite a few cherry blossom trees blooming all around Japan, with many locals and tourists visiting these spots to see the beautiful flowers. In this article, the FUN! JAPAN team has tried their hand at making a cherry blossom-themed cake! The harmony between the lemon, cherry blossom, and honey is perfect, and you can enjoy the feeling of spring while you eat this delicious teatime snack.

Ingredients

• 100g Unsalted Butter
• 2 Eggs
• 80g Granulated Sugar
• 90g Cake Flour
• 10g Bread Flour
• 20g Almond Powder
• 1 Lemon's Peel
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Tablespoon Baking Powder

★Lemon Icing / Glass Arrow

• 150g Icing Sugar
• 30g Lemon Juice
• 3g Cherry Blossom Powder
• 5 ~ 7 Salted Sakura Decorations

Preparation:

• Prepare a correctly shaped cooking sheet.
• Mix the cake flour, bread flour, and baking powder together.
• Wash the lemon, then peel the skin.
• Using a lemon zester or grater, grate the lemon skin.

（We highly recommend using a natural lemon with no wax）

 Recipe

1. First, mix the unsalted butter and granulated sugar into a pomade, then place it into a hand mixer until it becomes white, after that, slowly mix in some beaten egg wash.
2. Mix in around 20% of the powder you prepared earlier, the lemon juice, and lemon skin.
3. Mix in the remaining powder, and slowly mix the mixture using a rubber spatula. The trick here is to ensure the mixture doesn't thicken!
   
4. Place the mixture into a cake tin and then bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
   ＊Please adjust these times according to your house's oven.
   
5. After around 15 minutes, the face of the cake will start to brown, take it out of the oven here and ensure to make some incisions with a knife before returning it to the oven. This allows the cake to crack evenly, so we highly recommend it for people wanting a beautiful finish!
   
6. After it has finished baking, take it out from the cake tin, reverse it, and allow it to cool off. After the initial heat has dissipated, place it into a large plastic bag, and wait until the following day.
   
7. Mix in some strawberry powder with the sugar, and then the lemon juice, mix until it has the consistency of icing.
   ＊The perfect consistency is one that slowly drips off a whisk. If it's too runny or thick, it can ruin the cake. In the event that it's too thick, slowly add lemon juice drops until it's the correct consistency.
   
8.  Place the cut side of the cake down on a pan, and then place some plastic wrap under the pan.
9.  Slowly pour the icing over the cake to ensure it covers the entire cake, quickly even out the icing with a pallet knife. If there's anywhere that isn't covered, quickly cover it using the knife. If you touch the cake too much during this step, it can become streaky, and the cake can become damaged, so try to finish this step as quickly as possible.
   
10. Before the icing hardens, place the cherry blossom decorations on top. Finally, move it to a plate either straight after doing the icing or after it has fully dried.