Two long weekends in a row, friends visiting and a lemon cake.

We've had a long weekend for Easter and another one now with Anzac day. And summer is still hanging on in there. Well, not really, it's most definitely cooler in the evenings, but still lovely and warm during the day. So warm, in fact, that I am having a second asparagus season, which is just crazy. It all ended in December, like it was supposed to, then lo and behold a whole lot of spears are coming up again now. Six months early! Rocket and lettuce seeds I sowed in summer are coming up now in the wee pot I put them in!

odd.

For Easter Chris and Dan came over from Melbourne. We had a very relaxing time, and it was so lovely to see them.

The sun even came out so that we could have Easter breakfast on the deck.

We went over to Russell for dinner and the sunset was truly beautiful.

Chris, giving Rachel a last apple before they headed back to Melbourne.

Today I baked a lemon cake, we're going out diving tomorrow and it's always nice to have a wee treat when we surface.
My Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook arrived yesterday, so I had to christen it!

This is the nicest lemon cake I have ever made, and there is something wonderful about going to the garden, picking a couple of lemons off the tree, wandering in to see the chickens and collecting some eggs, then coming back inside and using them immediately.

Lemon Loaf Recipe

Ingredients 

• 320 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• zest of 2 lemons
• 350 g plain flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 250 ml whole milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 200 g unsalted butter
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 50 g caster sugar

Cream together the eggs, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Sieve together the flour, salt and baking powder. Separately, mix together the milk and vanilla extract.   You need to combine the dry and wet ingredients with the butter/sugar mixture. The recipe recommends doing this by adding the wet and dry ingredients in thirds and mixing well in between. I didn't! I did it gently, all in one go.

Melt the butter, and pour this into the mixture. Beat well. This makes quite a runny mixture. Don't worry, it works!

Grease a 23×13 cm loaf tin. Pour in the mixture and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes at 170°C.

Lemon Syrup

 Now, make the lemon syrup that is to be drizzled on the loaf. Gently heat the juice and zest of a lemon with 50g caster sugar and 100 ml water, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil the liquid until it has reduced to a syrup. This takes around 15 minutes or so. 

When the baked loaf is still hot, pour the lemon syrup all over the top and leave to cool.

This finished cake, and it is beautiful and very lemony - yum!