This week – as with all others I delight in chatting with new KitchenAid customers. Many questions are tossed around and usually they are about the actual use, brilliance and love of their beloved new KitchenAid mixer, processor or blender. But sometimes I have to admit the questions are about their recipe ‘disasters’.

Mrs Erikson, who I might add sounds like a delightful lady, contacted me as she found her beloved recipe just was not good. An established cook who had been making her two most favourite cakes for many years (and at once stage professionally) and had always had a fabulous result.  But on using her new standmixer found the results where not good!! – Well eeek, I have to say my heart sank with her – how horrible and what went wrong?

The standmixer is the most wonderful mixer ever… but it does work differently to others and initially over mixing or incorrect mixing can result in all sorts of problems –  low volume, heavy dense textures and uncooked centres.  The planetary action of the standmixer ensures it beats like no other – but if a butter & sugar mixture or egg & sugar mixture is under beaten in the initial stages & then over beaten at the final stages the recipe is a disaster.

So the lovely Ms Erikson sent me her recipe and I tested her cake.  It is the best and most delicious lemon tea cake, I have ever made! She is kindly sharing her recipe (just for all the Ask Jo readers) and below are my tips. The result is perfect! I hope to speak with Mrs. Erikson this week and hear her result is now prefect too!

The tips:

• Pre heat the oven, (an external thermometer (available from kitchenware shops or hardware’s is excellent for confirming the oven temperature is accurate) and I prefer to bake static – that is not fan forced, turn off that fan if possible.
• Place the oven shelves in the correct position – for a thicker batter, I like to bake in the bottom third of the oven – this helps to eliminate the cake cracking and also ensures the cake cooks in the correct time.  Many oven manufacturers promise all ovens are the same temperature throughout – but I follow the tried & true old fashioned tips.
• Ingredients: accurately weigh & measure – have them all ready to go before you begin cooking. Scales are my preferred choice, but if you use ‘cups’ – measure accurately.
• Room temperature - for the eggs, butter & milk too. (If the ingredients vary too much – this can cause inadequate mixing. Ensure that butter is soft, so it beats up beautifully)
• Warm the bowl (needed in winter. The stainless steel bowl is designed to chill the mixture, perfect in summer but cold in winter. Rinse the bowl in hot water and quickly dry).
• Cream and beat the butter & sugar with the flat beater until very light & fluffy, wiping the sides down a couple of times with a spatula (I like to add about half of the sugar, beat this a little, then add the remaining) This is not essential but a technique many professional bakers use. The speed for creaming- I start initially on speed 4, and then increase to 8.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time –  the eggs must be at room temperature (If the eggs are cold they will separate and not beat into the creamed butter and sugar – this reduces the volume and alters the cooked texture.
• Flour: Turn the mixer off. Add the flour and milk (scattering it around the bowl.  Turn to speed 1 ONLY. Mix for 1-2 seconds ONLY. Quickly add the remaining flour and milk and mix another 1-2 seconds DO NOT OVER MIX. If there is a little flour around the out side, scrape this into the mixture when pouring the batter into the pan. Add the flour must be done very quickly & lightly. The planetary action of the standmixer is so very quick it easily can over beat the flour.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for around 50 minutes. Let cake cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a rack.  Pour over the lemon juice, while cake is hot and sprinkle with sugar.

Mrs. Eriksons Lemon Tea Cake:

125g butter

1 cup caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup self raising flour & ½ cup plain flour

grated rind & juice 1 lemon

1 tbsp caster sugar, extra

Preheat oven to 180 C. (Grease a large loaf pan and line with baking paper).

Cream the butter & sugar for 8 minutes or until light & fluffy (use the flat beater & beat on a high speed)

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Add the lemon rind.

Add the combined flours alternately with the milk (working quickly on speed 1 and don’t over mix)

Pour into pan and bake (in bottom 1/3) of the oven for about 50 minutes.

Pour over lemon juice (while cake is hot) and sprinkle with the extra sugar

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