Blimey, Sunday again already. We’ve all decided we’re bored of roasts, so I’m going for a good old fashioned shepherd’s pie today, then by special request of son #2 I’m going to make a lemon cake. Now, seeing as this child doesn’t eat anything, and I worry constantly (as mothers do) about the state of his insides, I reckon that a lemon cake must at least get some vitamin C into him so it can’t be bad. The inclusion of some cooked and pureed carrots (cue evil laugh: mwa ha ha) into the shepherd’s pie and the forcible ingestion of at least one piece of broccoli and a forkful of peas is as healthy as this child is likely to get without sitting on his chest and ramming it in his mouth, so I don’t think I’ve done too badly.

Anyhoo…the lemon cake recipe:

This is so easy, it’s not really even a recipe, but our lovely neighbour Evelyn used to make it for us and I loved it so much, I’ve attempted to recreate it.

4 oz butter
4oz caster sugar
4 oz self raising flour
2 large eggs
1 lemon
2 tbsp icing sugar

Cream the butter and the sugar until it’s really pale (preferably with an electric whisk - this should be really light), then beat in the eggs one at a time and add the flour just like you would a normal sponge cake (folding with a metal spoon). Finely (and I mean finely, it’s ghastly when you get ‘bits’ in your mouth and can’t help but wonder what they are - especially when cooking with small children) grate the zest of the lemon (unwaxed please unless you want some hideous extras in your cake) and add it to the mixture.

Pour into a buttered cake tin and bake at 180, gas mark er..no idea, for about 20 mins (you know I’m always a bit random about this bit, but I just cook it til it’s done..duh).

Bring it out of the oven and, as this is a pudding, I’m serving it warm, so put it to one side. Meanwhile, squeeze the lemon (you can do another one if you like it really lemony) into a bowl and whisk in your sieved icing sugar.

Carefully take the cake out of the tin (easy if you’re a smarty pants like me and use a springform one), then spoon your gorgeous lemony liquid all over the top of the cake. Serve at once with lots of cream (or custard if you’re #1 son). Smack lips a lot.

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