Squidgy Lemon Cake

So there sat this bowl full of lemons..... They were lovely and bright and cheerful.  But lemons aren't ornaments, they are for eating.  What should I do with them?  I'd seen a lemon curd recipe that looked nice but you can't eat just lemon curd.  It has to go in or on something.

I started digging through my folder of recipes.  I collect recipes from newspapers, magazines, and of course, the internet.   Pinterest  is a great way of collecting ideas from many great bloggers.  I pin lots of recipe ideas there for future use.

I'd pinned a recipe for Lemon Brownies, that's what I decided to bake.  But when I read the recipe it didn't look quite right to me.  So I started tinkering with it.  And that's how I ended up with this.....

Squidgy Lemon Cake! It's quick, easy, lovely, and very lemon-y.  Here are the ingredients you need to bake it:

3/4 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup white sugar (caster sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or Stork Margarine  (yes, I do use Stork for some cakes)
2 eggs 
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons lemon finely grated lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.  Line a square baking tin with baking paper or butter it well.  

In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.  Beat in the eggs.  Add the flour and salt, stirring until combined.  Add the lemon juice and lemon zest.  Stir well to distribute the zest.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.  Do not over bake - the cake should be cooked but still light coloured.

While the cake is cooling, make the Lemon Glaze.  This is the squidgy part of the recipe.   Mix together the following ingredients:

1 heaped cup of icing sugar
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Spread 1/2 of the glaze over the cooled cake.  Let it sit a few minutes to firm up a bit.   When the first layer of glaze has set,  spread over the remaining glaze.  Immediately cut the cake into serving sizes so the glaze oozes into the cut edges of the cake.   That's how the cake becomes squidgy.    

We had our cake with a cup of steaming hot tea. There is nothing like a bit of lemon to add the taste of sunshine to a cold, rainy day like today.  Be sure to store any left over cake in an airtight container to keep the squidge in your Squidgy Lemon Cake.  

*Here's a handy hint: microwave your lemons for about 30 seconds before juicing them.  They should be warm but not hot.  You will get lots more juice out of them when they are warm.