This one deviated a little from the recipe because our oven is really odd; sometimes it over-cooks, sometimes it under-cooks; it burnt the first batch of thin crispy scones I made, and when I made the lemon drizzle cake, after the appropriate time on the appropriate temperature, it was still quite raw inside. Mum turned the temperature down for ten minutes and then down again for another ten minutes, and after that when we put a skewer into the middle of the cake, it came out clean rather than goopy with uncooked cake mixture. It was enormous fun to poke fifty holes into the crisp cake crust to drizzle lemon sugar all over, and it was wonderfully crunchy when the lemon sugar crystallised. Dad had his huge grin and chanted “Cake! Cake!” when I told him and Mum the cake was done. He had two slices, I had two slices, Mum and Tid both had one each. (I had another one this morning - the 11th October - and so did Dad, probably; Tid, Dad and Mum finished it off.)
Ingredients
Two unwaxed lemons
275g caster sugar*
175g unsalted butter, softened
200g selfraising flour
Half a teaspoon baking powder
3 large free-range eggs
*(175g for cake, 100g for lemon sugar)
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line the base and sides of a loaf tin with butter and then greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Finely grate the zest of the lemons. Put 175g of the sugar into a large bowl and cream together with the butter, before adding and blending in the two eggs, the flour, and the baking powder, until you have a smooth thick mixture. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and level the surface gently with a spatula. Bake for 35 minutes or until well risen and pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Squeeze one of the lemons to get about three tablespoons’ worth of juice and combine with the remaining 100g of sugar until you have a smooth mixture.
Turn the cake out onto a wire rack set above a plate. Remove the baking paper and gently turn the cake the right way up. Make about 50 deep holes in the top of the cake with a skewer. Slowly and gradually spoon about half the lemon sugar over the cake, allowing it to thoroughly coat the top of the cake and drizzle down the sides. Leave the cake to stand for 5 minutes and then do the same with the remaining lemon sugar. Leave to set for at least an hour or until the sugar and lemon has crystallised. Serve the cake in thick slices with a nice cup of tea.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
This recipe is one of the adapted versions at the end of Nigella Lawson’s My Mother-in-Law’s Madeira Cake. She says, “I love a good old-fashioned seed cake; if you do too, add a couple of teaspoons of caraway to this mixture. For a lemon poppy seed cake, add the juice of another half lemon and a tablespoon or two of poppy seeds.” Mum makes lemon poppy seed cake herself in the same metal loaf tin that I made the lemon drizzle cake in yesterday (10th October). I haven’t yet made this cake, I’ll let you know when I do and how it turns out.
Ingredients:
240g softened unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
Grated zest and juice of one and a half lemons
Tablespoon and a half of poppy seeds
3 large eggs
210g selfraising flour
90g plain flour
A buttered and lined loaf tin
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice and the poppy seeds. Sprinkle with caster sugar (about two tablespoons should do it) as it goes into the oven and bake for one hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and let it cool in the tin before turning it out.
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