LEMON CAKE!

This is one of my favourite cakes to make. I used the basic recipe I found for a Lemon Tea Cake in an old recipe book. The book was called 'Wonderful ways to prepare Cakes and sweets' -  by Ayers and James, and is still one of my favourite books to go to for a cake recipe.

However the original recipe was not lemony enough, and was a lot more moist in a way that didn't give it the best texture for that kind of cake.

The only way to describe this cake is pure lemony joy. If your a fan of lemon curd, lemon tarts and lemon meringue, then you'll LOVE this.

Please note that although the cake itself has no dairy, there is butter in the icing sugar. There are plenty of dairy free icing recipes you could use, as long as you add the lemon juice. You could use non stick baking paper to line the tin too!

Ingredients:

- 3 eggs
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 5 small good lemons, make sure they are juicy when you squeeze them and have a good yellow rind and  
   not too much pith.
- 1 1/2 cup of flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Tablespoon of butter
- 500g Icing Sugar

Utensils: 

- fine grater
- electric beaters
- cake tin
- oven set at 180'C Fan Forced

Method:

Cake:
Take your 5 lemons, wash them and chop of the end and the tops, this make it easier to grate.
Grate your lemons, making sure you get all that good yellow rind, but be careful to not grate for too long in one spot, or you will start grating white pith. Once you have done this set aside your lemon rind. Begin squeezing the juice of 4 of your lemons and set aside another lemon as you will need the juice later to make the icing sugar. Set aside the juice of your 4 lemons, making sure there are no seeds and pulp.

In a mixing bowl big enough for your cake batter, take your eggs and beat them until properly combined and thick. Add the sugar gradually. Now sift your flour and baking soda over your lemon egg mixture and mix together. Butter and flour a non stick cake tin and pour in your batter.

Place in the oven until cake has risen and is golden brown, you should also be able to stick in a skewer and not have batter on the end. Once this is done take out of the oven and let cool for about 20 minutes, then turn upside down to release from tin. Let cool on  a wire rack, then turn it back over so the flat side is on the bottom.

Icing: 
Take the lemon you put aside and squeeze the juice from it. In bowl add your butter and lemon juice,then slowly start adding the icing sugar a few tablespoons at a time and mix until there are no lumps. You may not have to use all your icing sugar, you may have to use a little more. It all depends on how much juice is in your lemon, but you basically want a nice smooth consistency that isn't going to drip and run of your cake.

Once you have this with no lumps, and your cake is fully cooled, ice your cake.

This cake is best left out for the first 48 hours NOT in the fridge, as it may be to moist. Make sure you cover it in foil though.

Yum Yum !