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The Garden House (Devon, England)

The destinations are beginning to blur but looking at the tour guide booklet, I see that we are now in Plymouth. Today, we visited two gardens designed by Keith Wiley.  The first is The Garden House , where Wiley worked as Head Gardener for 25 years (from 1978-2003). The 10-acre estate was purchased in the 1940s by former Eton schoolmaster Lionel Fortescue and his wife Katherine. It was formerly home to the  vicars of Buckland Monachronum. The Fortescue's renovated the gardens and ran a market garden business and raised cattle.  The remains of some of the original buildings in the vicarage still stand in the garden and serve as a romantic backdrop in the Walled Garden - I loved the way they had massed ferns together. Just stunning! Surrounding the walled garden and venturing out away from the house are more naturalistic plantings  - Today, the head gardener is Nick Haworth, who was previously head gardener at Greenway , which we visited earlier.  Keith Wiley lef...
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Lemon Pound Cake


A most delicious pound cake and the best lemon one we've tried. We had it with strawberries and whipped cream. Enjoy!

Lemon Pound Cake

Cake
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2-3 tablespoons lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
Syrup
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Glaze
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice (or enough for desired consistency)
Preheat the oven to 325. Generously grease a 10" Bundt pan with shortening or baking spray. Dust the pan with granulated sugar.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, lemon zest and lemon juice together. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light (about 3-4 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well.

Lower the speed of the mixer and beat in about 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/3 of the buttermilk mixture. Continue the procedure ending with the last 1/3 of flour mixture. Beat until incorporated, scraping the bowl and beaters as necessary.

The batter will be thick. Transfer it to the prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack. Carefully run a thin-bladed knife around the edges of the pan and the center post. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

As the cake cools, prepare the syrup by combining the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

Remove the cake from the pan and brush it with the lemon syrup. Let the cake cool completely.

After the cake is totally cooled, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. You want a medium consistency, not too thick and not too thin, just to the point where it is run down the sides of the cake.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver
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