Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake.

Oo helloooo. I'm sorry it's all been a bit sporadic around here lately... I've been so good and organised with my 2 posts a week over the past couple of years and now I keep being silly and forgetting to press publish or having a little holiday and getting all the posts prepared but not actually telling you about them. What a wally.

And I'll be starting a new job next week, in a new town with a new schedule and having not started yet it's hard to see how it'll all work out...when will I bake, when will I run, when will I tell you how excited about my latest peanut butter discovery??

Plus, it's winter now, or at least it felt like it when i walked home yesterday... battling through the wind and rain, mascara more on my cheeks than my lashes... which means it's dark, which means I am SO much less productive at either end of the day.

So I hope you don't mind but I'm just going to see how I go and work it out along the way. It'll work out I'm sure. In the mean time, here's some cake, to say thanks for coming back and fingers crossed for lots more peanut butter excitement.

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake.

Adapted from a Life Made Simple Recipe

A few notes:

• You could change the citrus here, orange would be lovely.
• The recipe below is for a 2lb cake tin... but I like my 1lb one better for cakes so I used about 2/3 of the mixture in that and the rest as muffins (baking for 20 minutes after the cake was done so I didn't have to open the oven door part way through the cooking time). You do as you will.

Makes a 2lb loaf cake

You will need

1 x 2lb loaf tin, greased and lined

For the cake

190g caster sugar

60g soft brown sugar

225g butter, at room temperature

Zest 3 lemons

3 tbsp lemon juice

5 tbsp sour cream

5 eggs

225g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp poppy seeds

Pinch salt

For the syrup

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

For the glaze

50g icing sugar

lemon juice

• Preheat the oven to 160c.
• Beat the 2 types of sugar and the butter together until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the zest, juice and sour cream, followed by the eggs, one at a time.
• Gently fold in the flour, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt until everything is well combined.
• Pour the mixture into your prepared loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes...I wouldn't expect it to be ready at this point but you want to check if the top is browning too quickly and you need to cover it with foil. 
• Name for a further 15 minute or until firm and a skewer comes out clean.
• Leave the cake to cool for a while in the tin while you get on with the syrup.
• Pop the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved.
• Prick the cake all over with a skewer or cocktail stick and then spoon over the syrup so it soaks into all the holes.
• Remove the cake from the tin to cool completely.
• When it's cooled, make the glaze by mixing just enough lemon juice to make a smooth paste with a dropping consistency.
• Spoon over the cake and let it dribble down the sides...mmmm.

Lemon, Olive Oil and Poppy Seed Muffins.

I LOVE olive oil a lot. It is one of the many reasons I am 100% sure that something went majorly wrong with the whole being born in England thing. The other major one being my love of the sun and being hothot, as in the sweat drippy kind. Yep the Med calls to me and my misplaced genes really very loudly....especially in February.

So to make up for my very British and sub 20°c existence, I immerse myself (not literally...unless I'm on some particularly extreme beauty kick) in the green grassy liquor. I love it so much that I would not be disappointed if my last meal were a bottle of the good stuff, some fresh bread, proper tomatoey tomatoes and salt and pepper....ow and cheese, got to have cheese.

It's really just a happy coincidence that it's all good for you and whatnot...it's one of those good fats that I think of as giving my insides a wash. Useful, given that those unhealthy buttery fats would be included in most other versions of my last meal.

You can replace butter with a healthier fat consistently in baking, but that's not what's going on here. Here the olive oil and fresh lemonyness is the point...for deliciousness, not anything else. If you were a real connoisseur you could seek out a particularly lemony olive oil, because they do vary greatly in flavour notes and all that jazz, though I used a cheap, not overly flavourful extra virgin here because it's what I had (read: I am not a connoisseur). I hope you make them so you can accompany on my imaginary trips to the sparkling sea-ed home land. 

What would your last meal be? 

Lemon, Olive Oil and Poppy Seed Muffins.

A few notes:

• The secret to good muffins is speed; have everything ready so that as soon as the mixture is ready...bosh, in the oven.
• If you want to get fancy, you know, like me, you can make your own muffin cases out of greaseproof paper. It's simple, cut 15cm-ish squares, fold in half, fold in half again, then make a final fold by bringing the two folded sides together making a point with the centre of the square. Open in out and squodge into your muffin tray. If that makes no sense at all maybe have a look at how these overly cute kids do it.
• I LOVE olive oil and so was happy to use extra virgin to get as much flavour as poss, but if you're less of a fan, do feel free to substitute virgin which will be a less distinct taste.

Makes 12

You will need

a 12 hole muffin tray, lined with cupcake cases

200g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g caster sugar

pinch salt

1 tbsp poppy seeds

juice and zest 1 lemon 

about 120ml milk

1 egg

60g olive oil (see note)

For the syrup

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp caster sugar

• Preheat that old oven of yours to 200°c.
• In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb, caster sugar, salt, poppy seeds and lemon zest.
• Pour the lemon juice into a mixing jug, then pour in milk until the combined mixture reaches the 200ml mark....it will look disgustingly curdled but that's ok.
• Whisk in the egg and olive oil followed by the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Divide the mix equally between your cupcake cases and get in the oven asap.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until gold and firm.
• Meanwhile make the syrup by gently heating the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved, then let it bubble for a minute or 2 before removing from the heat.
• When the muffins are baked, let them cool for a few minutes in the tin before moving to a wire rack.
• Poke the muffins all over with a skewer or piece of uncooked spaghetti to make little holes for the syrup to soak down into.
• Pour spoonfuls of syrup over the muffins and let it soak it while the muffins cool.
• Breakfast sorted.

Lemon Tart...it's easy but don't tell.

I’ve never made a Lemon Tart before....*gasp*...shock horror. It’s one of those things that if you bake, you surely have a recipe for Lemon tart, and make it all the time like it’s so easy peasy even though it’s the sort of thing that would make uneasy bakers quake in their boots. It’s a classic you see and involves making pastry AND setting a custard. It would be a ‘Technical Challenge’ on the Great British Bake Off, it might have been already, I don’t reaaaaally watch it....I know...*another gasp*.

But guess what...turns out it IS easy. Ok it might not be the MOST faff-free recipe in the world, especially when you also have a Thai curry bubbling away and a bowl of bread dough waiting to be dealt with at the same time. But the fact that I managed it successfully amongst these other commitments, which you should know were also a success, without having a kitchen-based-meltdown are proof of easiness.

It does indeed require attention and a lot of kitchen timer action; with the pastry being in and out of the oven, but nothing is beyond the average cook’s skills and if you make your pastry in a food processor then your laughing.

So go on, impress with a Lemon Tart and let people think that you’re highly proficient in all the French classics and like to make filo pastry to wind down at the end of a long day. I won’t tell. With Love and Cake.

Lemon Tart.

Original recipe pinched from Rick Stein in Delicious Magazine.

A few notes:

• The original recipe calls for a mixture of lemons and limes, and I indeed added 1 lime to the mix, but feel free to stay classic and lemony.
• I made the pastry in a food processor, it just seems so much more accessible to me that way, but if the opposite is the case for you as you don't have such heavy machinery, just use your finger tips to rub in the butter and to bring the dough together.
• The lemons MUST be unwaxed; if you can't get them don't include the zest in the filling.

Serves 8-10

You will need

a 25cm round tart tin, 3cm deep, greased and floured

For the pastry

250g plain flour

25g icing sugar

150g unsalted butter, chilled from the fridge

2 egg yolks and 1 white

For the filling

3 unwaxed lemons

1-2 limes

6 eggs

250g caster sugar

150ml double cream

• First lets make the pastry. Pulse together the flour and icing sugar in a food processor (or sift into a bowl).
• Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the egg yolks and 1 tbsp of cold water and pulse until a soft dough forms, adding 1 more spoonful of water if necessary.
• Remove the dough from the processor and form gently into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
• Next, roll the pastry out thinly onto a floured surface. I used the cling film it was wrapped in to cover the pastry as I rolled, to stop the rolling pin sticking which worked well.
• Line your prepared tin with the pastry, and gently prick the base with a fork. Cut off the excess (freeze it if you want to save it for another day) and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200°c and pop a baking sheet inside.
• Blind bake the pastry case; line it with a scrunched up piece of baking paper and fill with baking beans, or uncooked rice or dried beans (save them to continue to use for the same purpose, just don't cook them to eat).
• Place the tart tin on the baking tray in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges have started to colour.
• Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 3-4 minutes.
• Brush the inside of the pastry case with the egg white and pop back in the oven for another 2 minutes.
• Remove the pastry from the oven and turn the heat down to 120°c.
• Now we make the filling. Grate the zest from the lemons and set it aside for now.
• Then squeeze enough juice from the lemons and limes so you have 150-175ml.
• In a bowl, gently whisk together the eggs and sugar...you're looking to mix them together, not froth them up.
• Mix the citrus juice and cream into the eggs and pass the mixture through a sieve to remove pips and big bits of fibre.
• Stir in the zest.
• Now you're ready to fill our pastry case. You can either do this out of the oven and just be super careful when lifting the tart or you can put the tart on the baking sheet in the oven, pull it out slightly and pour the filling in so you just have to slide the tart back in the oven.
• Either way...bake for 45-50 minutes until just set, a tiny bit of wobble is good as it will continue to firm up once it's removed from the oven.
• Cool before serving and eat as soon as poss.

A Right Royal Lemon Cake.

Well helloooo there. I doooo hope you’ve been having muchmuch Jubilee fun. I kiiiiind of want to not care and to poopoooo the whole notion, a millionaire Gran in a hat having Gary Barlow through her a party, as a tacky indulgence, but alas, I am not that person. Somehow, at some point I became the person that threw a Royal Wedding parting and made a red, white and blue cake and made red, white and blue bunting out of cardboard and string. I am not ashamed...it is me and my ‘any excuse for joy and excitement’ soul. It could be worse, I could care about Made in Chelsea...oh wait....moving swiftly on.

This year, I didn’t quite reach the party throwing point; people up here across the border seem to care veeery little about the whole thing. I think the wedding was just more of a ‘thing’ because of the St Andrews connection. But I diiiiiid dust off the bunting and, of course, I made a cake. A lemon cake with lemon buttercream and white chocolate ganache to be exact. This is in fact the same one I made for my Royal Wedding do, and I think it’s one I’ll return to as a brill, fairly simple but rather spectacular centrepiece. For this occasion though I thought I’d omit the food colouring; a bit more class seemed appropriate this year; don’t think you’d EVER find HRH tucking into a red, white and blue cake.

While it IS simple I prOMise, there are a few steps required if you are to get the full ‘party cake’ effect. None of them are fiddly or majorly effortful, but they do require time, not from you, just in general, to cool and set etc, so you need to start off your efforts at least the day before you want to serve.

Allllllso, this is one of my beloved vegetable cakes....a courgette lemon sponge in fact, and therefore a million times more moist than it deserves and just gets moister and moister as time goes by. It also means there is noooo butter in the cake mix...allowing room for all that icing. You will need it, there is A LOT, but that’s the way I like it. I hope you do too. Happy Jubilee. With Love and Cake.

Lemon and White Chocolate Celebration Cake.

Adapted from Harry Eastwood's magnificent Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache.

A few notes:

• I'm guessing you probably don't have 4x18cm cake tins, I know I don't. In fact I had to fiddle with the original recipe which was written for 3 tins, which is why the measurements are a bit random. So what to do...hopefully you have 2x18cm tins so just halve the recipe and make 2 layers, and then start again and make the other 2. The tricky thing is the eggs...you cant really halve an egg. So...easiest thing to do is to go by volume; 7 beaten eggs is about 400ml, so use 200ml for each half.
• Of course though if your 'occasion' is not quite up to Jubilee status and you don't fancy quite so much effort and faff, just stick to two layers. And while you're at it, it would still be a fabulous cake without one or other of the icings, or totally bare naked if you prefer.
• My stars and hearts...I LOVE. Allllll they are is melted while chocolate poured into silicone ice cube trays (hearts) and cookie cutters on greaseproof paper (stars) and left to set. Dust with a spot of edible glitter and don your party hat.

Makes a rather tall 18cm, 4 layered cake

You will need

For the sponge

4x18cm loose bottomed cake tins, greased and lined

7 eggs

270g caster sugar

430g courgette, finely grated

290g plain flour

190g ground almonds

4 tsps baking powder

zest of 4 lemons

3 tbsp strawberry jam (or your fav)

For the buttercream

100g butter, at room temp

400g icing sugar

4 tbsp lemon juice

For the ganache

150g double cream

150g white chocolate, finely chopped

• Ok, here we go. First, as always, preheat you oven to 180°c.
• Now whisk together your eggs and sugar for a good few minutes until pale and bubbling full of air.
• Next, whisk in the grated courgette, then sift in the flour and fold it in to the eggs with the ground almonds, baking powder and zest until well combined.
• Pour a quarter of the mixture into each of the prepared tins and bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch.
• Leave the cakes to cool in the time for around 10 minutes, and then turn out and and remove the greaseproof paper, leaving to cool completely before icing.
• While the cooling is happening you can get on with the buttercream. Just whisk the soft butter until it is nice smooth paste.
• Then add the icing sugar and lemon juice a bit at a time; whisking to combine and scraping down the bowl in between each addition.
• Now to make the ganache. It's easy. Pop the cream in a small saucepan over a medium heat and bring juuuust to the boil. 
• Pour straight over the finely chopped chocolate and let sit for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, so that the heat left in the cream slowly melts the chocolate. It wont take long.
• When it's smooth and all melted, give it a good stir and leave in the fridge while you get on with the other bits and bobs. 
• So now you've done the hard work...now it's just time for a little prettifying.
• First stack the cakes on your serving dish, spreading 1 tbsp of jam on the top of each cake as you go, just leaving the very top bare.
• Now for the buttercream. First you want to do a 'crumb layer', which basically means use about 1/4 of the buttercream to ice the cake in a thin layer all over, and you'll notice that all the loose crumbs get caught and stuck in the icing. Now the cake needs 30 mins or so in the fridge, which will trap all the crumbs and stop them poking through into your proper layer of buttercream.
• When the 'crumb layer' is cold and set, it's time to ice the cake with the rest of the buttercream and give it another 15 minutes or so in the fridge.
• When that's done it's time for the ganache. It needs just to be poured over the cake and left to drizzle but only do this when the ganache has had a good few hours in the fridge and is not very far from being set, otherwise it'll slip right off and you'll have a very messy kitchen and a ganache-less cake.
• Now, you've done it....save for the addition of a few white chocolate twiddles if you fancy and a flourish of glitter...you're ready to celebrate. Just don't forget to invite me.

Mini Lemon Loaves.

Oh dear, I've just realised that the recipe I have for you today is the 3rd one from Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess since Christmas. Sorry. I usually like to mix it up, getting lots of different inspiration from lots of different places, but with Nigella on my shelf, well, I find it hard to focus on anything else given the beam of golden light and angel-song that emanates from her and her books.

I got an Amazon giftcard for Christmas you see (thAAAnks Mark and Nicky), and of course my immediate thought was "Mad Men season 4...YESSSSSS", thought whilst participating in a little jig. And theeeeeeen it turned out, joy of joys, that I had just enough prezzy pennies left for Nige and her Domestic Goddess Guide, which is a book I've wanted for 10 billion years.

So of course I've devoured every single word. This little bit is my favourite: "Though description is irrelevant: the utter gorgeousness of just one bite of these chocolate macaroons reveals the rank inadequacies of language. Eat them: that's enough." That's how I feel about most of my waffle on here...I'm telling you about it because it's wonderful to eat, so really, all I'm ever saying is 'pleaseplease just make it then eat it'. 

I hope you don't mind my Nige-athon, because I have a feeling it's going to be a long one. With Love and Cake.

Mini Lemon Loaf Cakes

Adapted from Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess.

A few notes:

• Nige actually makes mini lime loaves but I wanted lemon. You feel free to use any citrus flavour you like, just make sure you use unwaxed, otherwise you'll end up with the zest drying out and being "a bit like hair". Wooopsiiiiies my mistake.
• Don't worry if you don't have an amazing Secret Santa friend who gives you vintage mini loaf tins for Christmas, just use fairy cake cases in a fairy cake tin.

Makes 8-10

You will need

mini cake tins, lined; I improvised with grease-proof paper

125g soft butter

175h caster sugar

2 eggs

zest of 1 lemon

175g self-raising flour

4 tbsp milk

For the syrup

4 tbsp lemon juice (juice of around 1 lemon)

100g icing sugar

• Preheat your oven to 180 °c.
• Now cream your butter and sugar together until lightened in colour and then beat in the eggs, one at a time, and the zest until creamy and fluffy looking.
• Next fold in the flour and milk and spoon into your lined tins.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until risen and golden.
• While the cakes are cooking prepare the syrup by heating the juice and sugar in a little saucepan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
• As soon as the cakes are out of the oven prick all over with a skewer or cocktail stick or even a bit a dry spaghetti, and pour over the syrup slowly, allowing it to be absorbed all over. You might want to go over them twice, adding just a bit of syrup at a time, so it gets soaked in evenly. 
• Leave the cakes in the tin for a good while, until nicely cooled and properly soaked.
• Then turn out and enjoy.

Homemade Lemonade

Hiiyaa, so it seems I'm on a bit of a lemon kick. I think it must be because it feels like we've had all that Scotland has to offer in terms of summer this year. I'm pretty sure we've averaged two nice days a month and that we've had all we'll get for this month...it must now be time to don woolly socks, close the curtains early and despair that the washing will never get dry. 

I therefore feel compelled, given that it is still only really August, to fill our little flat with as many summer vibes as possible. Enough to drown out the pitter-patter of rain against the windows. And so what could be more appropriate to bring that summer feeling than sunshine coloured, sharply-sweet homemade lemonade.

This was one of July's two sunny days, or was it in my sunny daydream?

I have no idea how the clear, fizzy stuff that has never seen a lemon in its life relates to this still and traditional version. I would never choose to drink the fizzy stuff, except with Pimms of course, but give me the real deal, that almost induces a wince with its sharpness quickly followed by the reassuring presence of sugar and I can feel the sun on my face, even in Fife, on a rainy day. 

If you've never tried it homemade before...as in proper homemade, not from a bottle that is labelled homemade, I say have a gogogo at knocking up a batch. It's not time consuming and it will make you feel all Enid Blyton. With Love and Cake. 

Homemade Lemonade

From Delia's Summer Collection.

A few notes:

• You must use unwaxed lemons, otherwise you'll pretty much be making wax-ade, yuck.
• When removing the peel, try to only take the yellow part. The white part will add bitterness.
• This looks boootiful in lovely swing top bottles, but fear not, plain old plastic ones will do just fine too.

Makes just under 2 litres

You will need

a non-metal bowl

bottles

6 lemons

150ml granulated sugar

1.5 l water

• First give the lemons a really good wash and scrub.
• Next, use a potato peeler to remove the yellow layer of peel and pop in your bowl.
• Squeeze all the lemons and pour the juice onto the peel followed by the sugar.
• Next boil the water, pour on top of all the lovely lemonyness and give everything a good stir.
• Cover with a tea towel and leave aside in a cool place overnight.
• Next morning have a taste. If it's too sharp for you add a bit more sugar.
• You can strain it at this point if you fancy but I like the bits left in.
• Transfer to your bottle, chill and enjoy with lots of ice and topped up with a splash of fizzy water if you'd like. Soak up the sun. 

A Late Lemony Birthday Cake.

Hellooo there,

So have you morphed into Carrie Bradshaw? Are you eating lots of Pancakes? Have you taken a picture of the Statue of Liberty? Hope so.

I’m afraid I’m feeling a bit like a bad sort of friend at the minute. You see we took a little trip away and properly lived the Riviera life-style; no phones, no computers, playing Monopoly by candle-light. It was the sort of holiday which meant the knotty muscles in your back melted away in just one balmy night, and you don’t think of one single to-do list, which is big news for a nut like me...but I’ll go into details about that another time.

The thing about being in a different country and not knowing the time or date or day is that when far away friends’ birthdays are around the corner, you remember that it’s their birthday on the day, then you get back and realise that that day was wrong and you just text your friend on their birthday without even mentioning it to them. 

This feels mean and makes me sad because birthdays are the BEST, second only to Christmas and also, I love post and missing out on receiving birthday post is a terrible notion. I therefore must make up for it with cake and late birthday love and hope that they forgive me. With Love and Cake.

Lemon Curd Cake

From Avoca Tea Time

A few notes:

·         If I made this again, I’d double the quantities for the butter icing and use it both on top and in the middle of the cake. The whipped cream adds a nice fluffy texture but the subtle taste is a bit lost amongst all the zingy-ness.

·         To cut the cake into two layers, cut through with a bread knife and then use the knife and another similar implement to criss-cross over each other in the middle of the cake. That way, the top layer that is lifted off is supported all over.

Makes a nice big cake

You will need

For the cake

A 23cm cake tin

225g soft butter

225g caster sugar

4 eggs

225g self-raising flour

1 lemon

1 tsp baking powder

For the middle

A medium carton of double cream

A jar of lemon curd

For the butter icing

50g soft butter

100g icing sugar

 Zest of 1 lemon

·         Preheat the oven to 170°.

·         Grease and line your cake tin. I know it’s a hassle, but you’ll regret not doing it.

·         Starting with the cake, cream the butter and sugar together until creamy and light and then gradually beat if the eggs.

·         Gently fold in the flour and baking powder, followed by the zest of the lemon and the juice of half.

·         Spoon into the tin and bake, low down in the oven, for around 55 minutes, though check what it looks like after 45. It should just be turning golden and be firm in them middle.

·         Once cooked leave to cool for a bit then turn out the tin and leave to cool completely. Icing a warm cake is a bad plan.

·         Meanwhile, whip the cream and put together the butter cream by beating the butter until it increases in volume and takes on a lighter colour.

·         Beat in the icing sugar, the zest of the new lemon and the juice of the half left over from the cake mixture. It’ll look impossible at first but you’ll get there.

·         Now it’s ready to assemble. Cut the cake in half horizontally and pop the top half on the dish that you’re serving the cake from. The top becomes the bottom you see.

·         Spread this half with whipped cream and top with ¾ of the jar of lemon curd.

·         Now nestle the second half of the cake on top, with the base facing upwards. This way you get a nice even surface.

·         Spread the butter icing on top of the cake and drizzle with the rest of the lemon curd.

·         Sing happy birthday and make a wish.

Oranges and Lemons

Dear Little Sis,

I’m not usually one to get sucked in by fancy labels and shiny bottles when it comes to food shopping, I mean I love them and lust after them but will rarely spend extra pennies on something just because of what you take it home in. So usually a packet (yes packet, cardboard AND plastic!) of ‘Lemons with Leaves’ would have made me wishwishWISH I lived in Tuscany and could buy such things from a wrinkly old lady in the sun, and then scoff at the silly people that would buy such things in ASDA in Scotland. But everything changes when I see that little yellow ‘reduced’ sticker which tells me that buying said lemons will be cheaper than buying normal ones. I simply had to save the scoffing for another day and allow myself to be whisked away to sunny shores and cliff top lemon groves.

So when life gives you lemons...make Oranges and Lemons Battenberg Cake. That’s how the saying goes right? This cake looks like she’s the product of many hours of pampering and preening. But I promise she’s much more low maintenance than she appears; easy peasy lemon squeezy you could say. She is also light as a feather and would be perfect served with your favourite sugary tea and chats with friends or perhaps take her with you on a picnic, I can imagine her basking in the sun on a warm rug. Enjoy...With Love and Cake.

Oranges and Lemons Battenberg Cake

A few notes: 

•  Battenburg or Battenberg? Who’s to say.
• I made the lemon curd as I was in full on lemon-mode, but you could just as well use bought stuff or any sort of jam you fancy, ooo or even marmalade, now there’s an idea.
•   If you don’t fancy using marzipan (why? It’s amazing) then you could use shop-bought white icing. You could even paint it yellow with some colouring.

Makes one large cake

You will need...

1 small rectangle pan

150g softened butter

150g granulated or caster sugar

150g plain flour

3 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

2 lemons

2 oranges

2 tsp orange colouring

1 jar lemon curd

400-ish g of ready-rolled marzipan

·         -Preheat the oven to 180°.

·         -Line a rectangle pan (I used one measuring 29x18cm) with parchment paper, making a fold that runs along the centre so the pan is split into 2 sections, as above.

·         -Beat the butter, sugar and flour together until light and creamy. It may take a while to come together but it’ll get there eventually.

·        - Beat in the eggs, one at a time followed by the baking powder.

·         -Transfer half the mixture into another bowl.

·         -Into one half of the mixture fold the zest of both lemons and the juice of just one and into the other half fold the zest of both oranges, the juice of just one as well as the orange colouring.

·         -Gently pour the cake mixtures into each side of the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes.

·         -Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

·         -When it’s time to assemble the cake, lay one sponge on top of the other and trim so both rectangles are the same size and then slice down the middle to make 4 skinnier rectangles.

·         -Place the marzipan on a flat surface dusted with icing sugar and spread over a layer of lemon curd.

·         -Lay an one rectangle in the middle of the lemon curd and brush the 3 exposed sides with more curd.

·         -Lay a rectangle of the opposite colour snuggled next to it and brush with more curd.

·         Do the same with the remaining rectangles on top of those on the marzipan, making sure the lemon sponge is on top of the orange sponge and vice versa.

·         -Wrap the marzipan tightly around the sponge and trim the edges and seam neatly.

·         Press the seam together and turn the cake over so the join of marzipan is underneath.

·         -Stand back, feel proud and eat cake.