As classic as the Victoria Sponge, one must never leave out the lemon cake in one’s eating repertoire. Easy to make, quick to serve, fast to go; the lemon cake is a must-have for tea and great to leave lying around the kitchen whenever you have the munchies. Don’t you sometimes just crave something citrusy and sour?? Sour gums just don’t cut it. I recently got back from Oxford for Hans’s birthday and Hans is famous for her lemon cake. At least, I am quite certain it’s the best I’ve ever tasted because she gets the texture right! So fluffy and almost creamy to taste. Although she didn’t make any, her mum Barbara did. So that was like double the exhilaration. Whenever I go to visit, honestly - I get very excited about the food. Hans’s mum serves the best meals ever: from musaka, to burgers, to stuffed roast pork, not to forget the best rhubarb crumble and great selection of ice cream ever (indeed they are now familiar with my fetishistic obsession with ice cream). This time round, not only did I get that amazing crumble, Hans’s birthday tea on Monday morning included her birthday cake - 3 layered Lemon Cake with a buttercream and lemon curd layer, topped with white-as lemon frosting with yellow cream flowers and yellow jelly hearts! Can you not say, that sounds like the ultimate lemon cake?! I was completely blown away by the layers. All of it worked! Buttercream, lemon curd and lemon frosting. I’d say that is indeed a power team.

Completely awe-stricken, I was convinced I couldn’t make anything that tasted as good. But determined to come close, I thought I’d experiment with a recipe that’s been lying around for a while. The lemon is such a versatile fruit and just about every part of it can be saved for respective dishes. I’m always glad to use the whole lemon and this recipe uses it all, not to worry. However, I was actually rather worried about the taste of the lemon though because I was going to use a pale-looking (which means it’s quite an old lemon lacking in juice) lemon that really, just looked quite sad. On a good day, do try to choose the best lemons you can find because the better your ingredient, the better the final outcome. I hear Meyer lemons are fantastic for baking. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen any around here so settling for organic fairtrade lemons are my best bet. I found a food glossary website - a very handy one to bookmark - that tells you about lemons and how to pick the right ones. It’s got all ingredients list out from a-z. Definitely comes in useful when doing my grocery shopping. If you’d like to have a look, click here for it.

The cake turned out well structured and buttery, very tasty but not too sweet. Flavourful and vanilla-rish (but not in a fake vanilla essence sort of way) from the yoghurt. I recommend getting a good yoghurt you like, preferably one that has been blended with vanilla seeds for a more authentic taste. Also, it shouldn’t be too liquidy. Try to get a yoghurt that’s (low-fat is still acceptable) quite creamy and dense in texture as this will definitely be a plus for the cake. I’m very pleased this cake turned out a success and will definitely make this again. The recipe is a keeper! Phew! I’m having a slice as I type, and it’s already my second. Ah! I so love lemon cake. I can already see myself tucking in to another slice after dinner.

Lemon Vanilla Yoghurt Cake with Lazy Lemon Drizzle
Ingredients

80ml vanilla yoghurt with seeds
2 tbs single cream
1 cup caster sugar
100g butter, melted
2 medium sized eggs
zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
2 cups self-raising flour

For the drizzle:
juice of 1 lemon
about 1/2 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180d Celsius.
Whisk together yoghurt, sugar, butter, eggs and zest. When combined, beat in flour then soften with 2 tbs cream. Mixture will seem rather thick but that’s fine. Grease loaf tin and fill with batter. Bake for 55min to 1 hr.
Once you start smelling that baked lemon scent, go into the kitchen and have a quick look! When cooked, remove and cool in tin for 5min. Turn out and let cool on wire rack.
You can make a lemon frosting for this if you want to prepare it into neat slices with a lovely white frosting on top. But that really is Hans’s niche and I’m not a very neat person. I like swishy, swirly, messy, spontaneous presentation so I went with a drizzle. Given, you might call that laziness, but I argue this is more ‘a la modernity’.

A frosting requires more icing sugar to get it to a near buttercream-like heaviness.
Mix the juice and sugar together till white and creamy. Wait till cake is cool then drizzle all over the top, letting it fall down the sides in any way you like.
Then grab a knife, cut yourself a big, fat slice and dig in. Make sure you’ve got a good cuppa with you as well for the best lemon-cake experience!