The Simplest Lemon Cake ya might ever bake...

This is mostly  a Darina Allen recipe with a bit of tweaking from me ... this is a simple simple cake .. it's one of those wonderful recipes, that I love so much, that involves putting everything in the mixing bowl and blending it into one big mess.


3/4 Cup /170g soft butter
3/4 cup/190g superfine/castor sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups/250g self-raising flour


Put everything in the mixer and give it a right lash til tis smooth.
Get her into a shallow roasting/baking dish  .. sometimes called a jelly-roll tray here  in North America I believe.


Bake at 350F/180C for 25 to 30 mins until it's nice and brown.


Take it out of the oven and leave to rest a bit.


That's your basic cake. As you'll see it doesn't contain any lemon in it. For a really juicy moist cake the simplest way iks often to add the moisture after the cake has been cooked. That's the way me Aunty Nellie made them and she makes the best lemon cakes in the world!


Lemon Addition
Get a wee saucepan (this can be started as soon as you have taken the cake from the oven), you want the juice of two lemons and the rind of one in the saucepan. To that you add 3/4 cup/190g ordinary sugar. While that's heating up and the sugar is dissolving in the lemon juice get a stick of cinnamon (or a half teaspoon if ya don't have sticks) and about 6 cloves and add to the lemon and sugar in the pot. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 mins then take off the heat.


Cut your cake into nice portion-sized squares, take the pan of lemon mix and pour it all over the cake, cover it as evenly as possible. Eat as soon as the cake has cooled a bit.
Tasty.