A feathery sponge cake, drenched in a glistening, tangy syrup: fairly simple, yet so full of character. These are the words that best describe this cake, in my opinion. The first time I had it was when my boyfriend's mum baked it for me, in the occasion of my birthday. I have been making it ever since, following the recipe she passed on to me, with a little twist: the addition of two tablespoons of lemon curd to the batter, to make it even more lemony! I like using a loaf tin as I enjoy the rectangular, yellow slices that it produces, however you can use a regular round tin if you prefer.
INGREDIENTS
For the sponge
- 125 gr butter (at room temperature)
- 175 gr caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- Zest of one lemon
- 175 gr of self raising flour
- A pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons of lemon curd
- A few slices of lemon to decorate it
For the syrup
- The juice of one lemon
- 100 gr of icing sugar
Cream the butter and the sugar together, then add the eggs, the lemon curd and the lemon zest, beating them well. Gently fold in the flour and the salt.
Spoon in to a buttered cake tin (do not worry if the mixture is hard and sits in little mounds on the bottom of the tin, it will even out as it bakes).
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C, for 30 - 40 minutes until golden and firm in the middle. Test it with a skewer: when inserted in the cake, it should come out clean.
Place the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and warm them up gently, until the sugar dissolves completely into a syrup. Drop the lemon slices in with the syrup and let them stew for a couple of minutes. Pierce the cake all over its surface, then drizzle the syrup over it and arrange the lemon slices on top. Leave the cake to soak in the tin until completely cold, then enjoy with a lovely cup of tea.
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