Nutmeg Cake With Lemon-Mace Sauce

Nutmeg Cake With Lemon-Mace Sauce
Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Sauce
7 1/2 tablespoons honey
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup water
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch of ground mace
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-9-inch cake pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, superfine sugar and brown sugar. Add the butter and cut with a pastry blender or two knives until it forms coarse crumbs. (You can also do this in the food processor.) Press half of this mixture into the prepared cake pan. To the remaining half of the mixture, add the baking soda, nutmeg, egg and sour cream. Mix to blend. Pour this batter on top of the crumbs in the pan, and sprinkle with the walnuts.
Bake until the sides of the cake come away from the pan, 30-40 minutes. Set the pan on a rack and cool slightly, then turn the cake out onto the rack to cool further. (The cake should be served warm.)
For the sauce: Combine the honey and salt in a saucepan and heat gently to melt. Dissolve the cornstarch in the lemon juice and add to the pan, along with the water. Bring gently to a boil, stirring constantly, until thick. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest, butter and mace. Stir to melt the butter.
Slice the warm cake and serve immediately with warm sauce on top.
Serves six.
"The Encyclopedia of Herbs, Spices and Flavorings," Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz
(1992 Dorling Kindersley)