I call this tea cake the VLD: vanilla, lime and dill. It is a moist, round sponge with a gentle infusion of its eponymous ingredients, which together give it a beautiful, pastel-green colour. On top, I drizzle a zingy lime and vanilla bean icing, before serving with lime wedges for extra zing.
Vanilla lime dill tea cake
Prep 10 min
Bake 35-40 min
Cool 1 hr
Serves 8-10
180g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Zest and juice of 4 limes, , plus 1 lime extra, cut into wedges, to serve
170g caster sugar
1½ tsp vanilla bean paste, or 1½ vanilla pods, scraped
5 sprigs fresh dill, finely chopped, plus a few fronds extra, to decorate
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
140ml any plant-based milk
100g icing sugar
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6, and line the base of a 20cm springform tin with baking paper.
In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and bicarb.
In another bowl, or in the jug of a blender, mix the lime zest and sugar, rubbing them together with your fingertips to help extract the aromatic oils. Add 40ml of the lime juice, a teaspoon of the vanilla, the dill, oil and milk, and whisk until thick and well combined. (If you have a Nutribullet-type blender, just blend everything instead.)
Pour the liquid over the flour mixture, whisk until well combined, then pour into the lined tin. Put on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Remove, leave to cool fully on a wire rack, then remove from the tin.
To make the icing, in a small bowl whisk the remaining 20ml lime juice with the last half-teaspoon of vanilla bean paste and the icing sugar. Spoon this over the cooled cake and decorate with a few fresh dill fronds. Slice and serve with lime wedges to squeeze over for extra zing.
