We had a bit of a crisis and it was all-hands-on-deck, as friends and family came on board to support my youngest daughter, Maude.
Yael and Maude made this cake as part of Maude’s rehab.
I provided the recipe from my 30-year-old copy of The Complete International Jewish Cookbook by the late and wonderful Evelyn Rose.
It’s a great cake to make. You mix everything together in one bowl and once baked, you prick holes in it then pour-in a homemade lemon syrup for tangy-taste heaven.
I used to bake this cake a lot for our West Country Childbirth Group cake stall in the 1980s until I overdosed, vowing I would never bake another fundraising cake again.
We were aiming to improve maternity services. In 1982 we invited the water-birth obstetrician, Michel Odent, to give a talk and over 1,000 turned up. This demonstrated parents’ wishes for a gentle birth and led, eventually, to the UK’s first birthing room in the Royal United Hospital, Bath.
So maybe all that cake baking was worth it.
Put in one bowl: 100g softened butter + 150g caster sugar + 150g self-raising flour + 4 Tbs milk + grated rind of one lemon + two large organic eggs.
I substituted the self-raising flour for plain and used an extra egg instead, on one occasion – it worked well.
Line the bottom of an oiled loaf tin or 15cm square tin with oiled/greased greasproof paper. Evelyn Rose says this extra insulation from the greaseproof paper is important. So heed the cooking maven (Yiddish for expert).
Put the oven on Gas 4/350F/180C to heat up.
Beat all the ingredients in the bowl with a wooden spoon or electric beater, then turn the smooth mixture into the well-oiled baking tin.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Watch the animated movie, Flushed Away, while waiting, as Yael and Maude did.
Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool, still in its tin.
Now make the lemony syrup. Heat the 75g icing sugar with the juice of 2 large lemons (about 4 Tbs) until it gets all-syrupy.
Prick the cake’s surface with a fork then gently pour the syrup over it.
Once the cake is cold, turn out and dust with caster sugar. Share with friends.
Thank you, Yaelski.
Real Food Lover 