#1 Cut-and-Come-Again Lemon Tea Cake

I am absolutely famished.  It's that time of day right before lunch when my last meal seems ages ago.  "Remember that warm-out-of-the-oven bread with cold butter pats melting in?" I ask myself.  "Was that truly breakfast?  Dinner yesterday?  Last week?"  It's tortuous moments like this that make me think the Hobbits got it right.  What I would do for elevenses.

If there were a hero capable of saving me from this hunger without wasting a moment or rustling a wrapper, it would be last week's Cut-and-Come-Again Lemon Tea Cake.  The cake is simple to make and a British marvel: once you cut it, you can keep coming back for additional slices even days later with negligible change to the flavor and softness of crumb.  Even at 11am right before lunch.  Good-bye tooth-shattering granola bar, and hello lemon cake!

Cut-and-Come-Again Lemon Tea Cake

Adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess

Ingredients:

1 c. butter, softened (wrapper saved)

3/4+ c. sugar

1 lemon, zest & juice (I prefer organic when I'm using zest)

3 eggs

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/3 c. self-rising flour

1.  Mix the lemon zest with 3/4 c. sugar.  Add to softened butter and cream together.

2.  Add each egg to mixture, alternating with 1 T. of the all-purpose flour so the batter gets neither too wet nor too dry.

3.  Gently mix in the remaining all-purpose flour and self-rising flour, then briefly stir in the lemon juice.

4.  Flour a 5ish"x9ish" rectangular pan.  To do so, use the butter wrapper to grease the pan.  Then add a puff of flour and tap the pan so the flour sticks to the butter, coating the entire inside of the pan.  Discard extra flour.

5.  Pour batter into prepared pan, sprinkle top with additional sugar.  Don't be alarmed if it seems like there's not enough batter!  The self rising flour will make the cake expand and rise in the oven.

6.  Bake @ 350, ~1 hr

Notes:

- Let the cake cool in the pan before removing it onto a plate.

- Stored in an airtight container, will last 5-7 days.

- This cake is on the drier side, perfect for serving with tea or coffee.  If a moister cake is desired, a simple lemon glaze would be just the thing, I think.

Lemon Glaze

While cake is baking, mix equal parts lemon juice and sugar (~1/3 c. each) in a small saucepan.  Simmer over low heat until the sugar dissolves.  When cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in the top with a skewer to allow the glaze to soak through, and pour the glaze over the cake while the cake is still hot.  As the cake cools it will soak up the glaze.


PS  Apologies for the lateness of this post and the lack of pictures.  Our naughty camera has been hiding from us since we moved.