In a third bowl, cream the butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until smooth. With the machine running on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk mixture. Spread the batter out in the baking dish.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 1 hour.
Lemon Cream
In a pot off the heat, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the lemon juice, milk and food colouring. Mix well.
Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot, until the mixture has thickened. Remove from the heat. Add the butter and stir until melted. Let cool for 10 minutes.
Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make 35 holes in the cake at equal distance from each other. Gently pour the lemon cream over the cake. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Assembly
Place a sieve over a bowl. Strain the basil cream through the sieve. Compost the basil leaves. Whisk the cream with an electric mixer until semi-stiff peaks form.
Using a spatula, spread the basil whipped cream over the top of the cake. Garnish with the lemon pieces and small basil leaves. The cake will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator. Let sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Note from Ricardo
A few drops of yellow food colouring are added to make the lemon cream more visually appealing since it does not contain egg yolks. Without the food colouring, the cream will be more white than yellow, but will still taste just as good.
