Little Lime Loaves

I thought I'd better bake something with the copious amount of limes from our tree. A girl can only drink so many margaritas.


Little Lime Loaves
slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess
Makes 8

For the Loaves:
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
zest of 1 lime
175g self raising flour
pinch salt
4 tablespoons buttermilk

For the Syrup:
1/4 cup lime juice
100g icing sugar

Make the Loaves:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Spray an 8-hole mini loaf pan with cooking oil spray.

Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and lime zest and beat on low speed until combined. Sift the flour and salt together, then add them to the butter and sugar and mix until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes.

Make the Syrup:
Put the lime juice and the icing sugar into a small saucepan and heat over a low flame until the sugar has dissolved.

Once the little loaves are out of the oven, immediate pierce the tops all over with a long skewer. Slowly pour the hot syrup evenly over the loaves. The syrup will soak into the little loaves, down the sides and through the holes on top. Leave the loaves in the pan until all the syrup has been absorbed (about 15-20 minutes). Take them out of the pans while they are still a little warm (otherwise they might stick), and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Finely grate some lime zest over them before serving.