When life gives you lemons...

(Post 2)

One of my all time favourites is the very simple, yet ever tasty lemon loaf. It always seems to go down a treat with my flatmates and friends too.

I felt the need to bake today as I have just come back to University after a very quick two days at home. No matter how long I go home for, it is never enough time to visit everyone that I hold close to my heart. So it came as no surprise that I arrived back in Stirling feeling fairly unsatisfied. On a brighter note, I got to spend a couple of days with my Mum, Dad and the rest of the family. My mum always used to bake amazing lemon loafs when I was living at home too so it is a nice homely cake and seemed perfect for today.

The fact that I will do pretty much anything to avoid studying is another likely reason I baked today. Sometimes, there is no reason, I just want to bake, but they were my two reasons today.

I went for it and took advantage of the fact that my three lovely flatmates were still all at home and I turned the kitchen into a bombsite. (For a very short period of time, as anyone who knows me is well aware that I like to keep things spick and span!!) So, here goes...

☆ - Prep Time: 30 minutes.
    Cooking Time: 45-50 minutes.
    Easiness: Easy.


Ingredients:

• 225g unsalted butter.
• 225g caster sugar. 
• Zest of 1 ½ lemons.
• 225g self-raising flour. 
• 4 eggs.
• 125g icing sugar
• Juice of 3 lemons. (I use 3 because I like the cake very lemony, but you can use 2 or less.)

Method:

The Sponge: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°. 
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. 
3. Add in the eggs, one at a time. 
4. Sift in the flour and add the zest of the lemons. Mix until the zest in spread evenly through the mix. 
5. Pour cake mixture into a grease proofed paper loaf tin and cook in the oven for 45-50 minutes. 

Cake batter with a sprinkling of lemon zest.

The Topping: 

1. I pierced the cake all over with a butter knife (or skewer) gently. Make sure to get as far down as possible so the juice can reach the base of the cake. 
2. I squeezed the juice of 3 lemons into a bowl and removed all the pips. 
3. I then sieved the icing sugar into the bowl and mixed until the liquid had as little lumps as possible. 
4. I transferred the mixed lemon juice and icing sugar into a small jug and poured all over the sponge. 
5. I removed the cake from the tin and sprinkled the finely grated zest of one lemon and one tangerine over the top whilst the icing is still sticky. This is not a necessary step but makes for a nice presentation.

❤Top Tip of the Post❤ : I always keep Lavender Essential Oil handy whilst I am baking as it helps to heal burns really well and prevents scarring.

I love to have my slice of lemon loaf with a cup of tea once all the cleaning and tidying up is done.

I hope you enjoyed today's post and hopefully the recipe goes well for you! Thank you for reading.