This cake is really moist (great word) and is more lemony than you would believe! If you don’t eat the entire cake whilst it’s still warm, it will keep for a few days in a cake tin. The proportions have to be accurate or it could all go wrong!
This recipe makes around 16 slices of cake.
INGREDIENTS
For the cake:
75g butter (at room temperature)
125g soft brown sugar
A large egg and an additional yolk
A level tablespoon of poppy seeds
The zest of 2 lemons (use a fine grater)
The juice of 2 lemons (save 2 tablespoons
for ‘the drizzle’)
140g self-raising flour
2 pinches of baking powder
A pinch of sea salt
For the drizzle:
A tablespoon of lemon curd
A tablespoon of caster sugar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
A tablespoon of sugar pearls (these taste
like sugar but look like little hailstones)
MAKING YOUR CAKE
1. Heat the oven to180-190°C/ 350-375°F/gas mark 4-5.
2. Mix the butter and brown sugar. Whip together for a couple of minutes until creamy
and light in colour.
3. In a separate bowl, lightly whip the egg.
4. Carry on whipping the butter and sugar mix and add the egg really slowly, bit by bit. The mix
will then become light and fluffy.
5. Stir in the lemon zest and the poppy seeds.
6. Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt. Sift into the cake mix along with the lemon juice and stir.
7. Line your baking tray with greaseproof paper and fill with the cake mix (a non-stick baking tray about 24cm x 24cm x 5cm deep would be perfect).
8. Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until lightly browned on top. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool.
9. Dissolve the caster sugar in the lemon juice that you saved and drizzle over the cake.
10. Using a pallet knife spread the cake with lemon curd then sprinkle liberally with the sugar pearls.
11. Using a sharp knife, cut a generous helping of the cake for you as a reward for all your hard work and store the rest in your cake tin (flowery ones, like the ones your Grandma used to have, are best)
