I love lemons – everything about the smell and taste makes me think of sunshine. There will be endless posts this January about the benefits of starting your day with a glass of warm water with lemon, or making citrus-based smoothies and juices to cleanse, but I prefer a little comfort in January when it is cold and grey.
I spent the morning baking a fresh tasting, tangy lemon cake; here it is! It’s based on Tamasin Day-Lewis’s recipe, but I use half the poppy seeds and I won’t specify that you use organic everything 
Lovely as a pudding, warm with a little cream or good vanilla ice cream, or just sliced for tea.
Makes a 2lb loaf
20g poppyseeds
150ml greek yogurt
200g unsalted butter, softened
zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons (seperated)
140g vanilla caster sugar
3 eggs
255g plain flour
1.5tsp baking powder
Preheat your oven to 170 degrees C/325 degrees F/Gas Mark 3. Grease and line a loaf tin.
Mix the poppyseeds thoroughly into the yoghurt and set aside. Using electric beaters, cream together the butter, zest and sugar, ensuring that you scrape down the mixing bowl to make sure all is thoroughly amalgamated. Beat in each egg and keep mixing until well combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Sift the flour and baking powder onto the butter mix, and fold in with a metal spoon. Add the lemon juice and yogurt mix, and keep folding until thoroughly mixed.
Pour the mix into the loaf tin. Bake in the middle of the oven for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto the rack.
Mmmm I love lemon cake, so zingy and delicious
Me too – Nigella also has a lovely recipe for one, a lemon syrup loaf cake – the two are quite different!
I love a good lemon cake, yummy! xx
My next plan is to master lemon meringue, but I’m scared of the meringue!