Lemon Cake

I don't do a lot of baking because, as I mentioned previously, neither of us has a particularly sweet tooth. Mr. P used to have quite a pronounced one but it mysteriously disappeared a few years back, which rather surprised him. Also my gas oven is really wonky meaning the temperature needs to be checked constantly otherwise it has a tendancy to wander where it will ... one of the joys of living in the countryside and cooking with butane gas! We used to get a lot of power cuts so gas seemed to be the way to go and now until we build on the new kitchen we've planned, and heaven alone knows when that is going to be, I don't want to invest in a new oven until it's for the new kitchen. Anyhow as I don't bake a lot it's not such a problem and I'm now used to its crankiness.

I've been meaning to try this cake for a some time, not only because it sounds so delicate and light, but also because our tree is absolutely loaded with lemons and any recipe that helps me to use them up is very welcome. Actually, I'm not sure who I have to thank for this recipe but I have it noted as being by Dan Lepard from his book Baking with Passion. This is a small cake made in a 500g loaf pan. The only pan I have of this size is rather long and narrow, 23 x 9 x 7cm, so the resulting cake wasn't so deep as I should have liked. A 20 x 10 x 6cm pan would have been better I feel.

Well it was really delicious and wonderfully sunny in colour too. So summery, in fact, I couldn't resist putting a little sprig of bright bougainvillea flowers on top. It has a lovely moist and open crumb and the lemon and sugar are very nicely balanced. An ideal cake to serve with afternoon tea, or any time really.

Lemon Cake - Makes 1 small loaf cake

115g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
115g caster sugar
65ml double cream
grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
45g unsalted butter, melted
butter and flour for the tin

Icing:
30g icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Lightly grease a 500g loaf tin with melted butter. Cut a rectangle of non-stick baking parchment to cover the bottom of the tin. Put the paper in place and butter it, then dust the paper and the side of the tin with a little flour.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Lightly beat the eggs with the sugar until just combined. Beat the cream into the eggs for a minute, then add the lemon zest and juice. Fold in the flour until lightly combined, then gently and carefully fold in the melted butter.

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin. Set the tin on a baking tray in the middle of the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then run a knife between the cake and the sides of the tin. Very gently upturn the cake on to your cloth-covered hand, then place the cake upright on a wire rack to finish cooling.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Slowly add two-thirds of the lemon juice, stirring until combined. add more lemon juice to make a slightly thin icing, but be careful not to thin it too much - the icing will thin further when left for 2-3 minutes. Brush the icing over the top of the cake, letting it drip a little down the sides.

Cook's note: As the cake calls for melted butter and you also need a little to grease the pan, I just melted a couple of extra grams and lightly dipped a wodge of kitchen paper in it for the pan. I needed about 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to make the icing.