This is a recipe that I thought of from scratch and while it is rudimentary it is simple enough that even the most green of bakers should be able to make it easily.
This is a fairly light cake although it is quite moist and dense so once you have tried it according to this recipe then try playing around with the ingredient amounts.
Ingredients:
350-400g each of both plain and self-raising flour (don't feel afraid to add a little more flour if the mix ends up looking not dry enough)
200-300g lemon curd
5 Large eggs
2 Tablespoons sunflower oil
400g honey instead of sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda or baking powder
lemon juice and grated rind of two lemons
100g poppy seeds
20-30ml vanilla extract
4-6 tablespoons brown muscovado sugar
Method:
Step 1 - Preheat the oven to either 200C fan-forced or 220C double-sided and line a deep baking tray with baking paper that you have crumpled and re-rolled out.
Step 2 - Sift the flour and bicarbonate/baking powder into a large mixing bowl and mix together and then create a well in the middle. On the side, crack the eggs into a bowl or jug and then beat them before adding in the oil and mixing well until the eggs and oil has a tiny bit of a cloudy tint to it
Step 3 - Pour the eggs and oil into the centre of the well in the flour mix and fold it until it is mixed all in. Afterwards, mix in the honey, lemon juice, vanilla extract and 2/3 of the poppy seeds and mix well until all is combined.
Step 4 - Spread half of the cake mix into the baking tray and then spoon in and spread all of the lemon curd on top of this. After the curd has been distributed as evenly as possible, spread on top the rest of the cake mix.
Step 5 - Sprinkle the remaining poppy seeds, grated lemon rind and brown muscovado sugar on top of the cake and then place into the oven for 30 minutes. Check when the cake is cooked by inserting a knife into it and if it comes out as mostly dry or with just a bit of lemon curd on it and no moist cake mix then its nearly cooked.
Step 6 - Leave to cool for 1.5-2.5 hours before serving with lemon and ginger tea or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a glass of white wine.
