Lemon drizzle cake

The sun is shinning, its quite warm(a rarity in England,) and tomorrows mothers day in the UK: So i cannot think of a better time than to bake this. Perfect accompanied with a full afternoon tea, or simply just a cup of tea and a good book( addicted to the divergent series at the moment!).

The lemon curd in this recipe gives a lovely subtle lemony hint, but it's a lot more lemony than most recipes that just use the lemon rind. I also strongly suggest using granulated sugar, if you like a crunchy topping, and add more granulated sugar if you like the topping extra thick. Also for the perfect top leave it out for a while so all the lemon liquid can soak into the cake leaving the sugar on top. 

To make this into a round cake; i would double the recipe and split it into two round cake tins.I would then have a middle layer of lemon curd, and a layer of lemon butter cream. Then a round of lemon butter cream on top, and finished with crystallised lemon rind.

Ingredients

75g butter
125g caster sugar
150g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon curd
2  1/2  tbsp milk

for the drizzle

zest and juice of 1 lemon
2tbsp granulated sugar

1. preheat oven to 180°. butter and line loaf tin.
2.beat butter and sugar in a bowl, until very light and fluffy.
3. add flour, baking powder, eggs, lemon curd and milk. mix until all combined.
4. pop in prepared tin, and bake for 40- 45 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. meanwhile, mix the lemon and sugar together.
6. when the cake is cooked, take out and pour lemon and sugar mix on top, while its still hot.
7. leave to cool completely, then slice and enjoy.

Pikelets

 It's nearly time;To give up meat, fish, fats, eggs and milky foods. Joking. Most people I know, try to give up chocolate. I don't, because it never works, but this year I will try. 

These are New Zealand's answer to a pancake. Thicker than the traditional, but thinner and much smaller than the American pancake. Served simply with butter or a dollop of cream and jam. Please no syrup, or lemon juice and sugar: We kiwis like to keep it simple.

Pikelets are meant to be a lot smaller than these,and often served as afternoon tea.A teaspoon of mixture is ideal, but is a faff so i just used a tablespoon. I made about 8 large ones, so you could easily make about 25 normal sized ones. This recipe uses a tablespoon of sugar, but i altered the sugar because i like them not as sweet.

• Ingredients
• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 milk
• 1 tablespoon melted butter, and extra
• butter or jam and cream to serve

1.Sift flour and sugar together into a bowl.

2.Whisk milk and egg together, then add to dry ingredients, whisking until smooth.

3.Heat a non-stick frypan over medium heat and add a little melted butter. Drop level teaspoon of the mixture into the pan and cook until bubbles appear on the surface.

4.turn over and cook until golden

5.serve