Day 37: Easy lemon cake

Have you ever heard of Father’s Day Eve as in Christmas Eve? Well, Dear Husband came up with this concept following the birth of Dear Son in 2009. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he wouldn’t agree to a Mother’s Day present when I was 8 months pregnant so as “not to tempt fate”. Effectively, that meant that year I didn’t have a Mother’s Day but he had a Father’s Day seeing as Dear Son’s birth fell in between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. It really is a man’s world at times. And sure any chance I get to score a present off Dear Husband is worth a try. 

So, getting back to the point about Father’s Day. The deal is in our house that for Father’s Day, I will make Dear Husband whatever dishes he wants. All he has to do is let me know what he wants in advance. Therefore, this morning, I was presented with a small piece of paper which detailed the dishes he would like for his Father’s Day Eve dinner and his actual Father’s Day breakfast. Top of Dear Husband’s list of all-time favourite foods is a sirloin steak, fried mushrooms and onions, pepper sauce and potatoes. So, that’s what I made except I made the paprika potato wedges instead of creamed potatoes. I’ve used Rachel's recipe for paprika wedges quite a few times now as they are incredibly quick and yummy. For dessert, the recipe which featured from Rachel’s cook book was Easy lemon cake.

Like most cakes, the recipe was straightforward. I no longer have a working food-processor and although a KitchenAid is on my wish list, to be honest, I couldn’t justify spending that amount of money now on something that isn’t essential – no matter how good they look. Pre-children, I probably would’ve bought one but must admit to having turned into one of those mammies who would feel guilty on purchasing unnecessary-big-spends. Like, it’s not to say a Kitchen Aid is a pair of shoes or a handbag which I consider essentials (!). Nonetheless, never did I think I’d see the day where I’d feel guilty about buying a domestic appliance but that’s what motherhood has done to me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, I had to do with my good old electric hand whisk whereby I creamed the butter, added the caster sugar, eggs and milk before folding in the plain flour and baking powder. When I was putting the mixture into the baking tin, I actually did a double-check on the recipe as I thought I’d gotten the quantities wrong considering how small the mixture was for a cake but, no, I had followed the quantities exactly. Into the oven the cake went for 30 minutes which left me enough time to clean up the mess so far. Honestly, if you are under some illusion that I live in domestic bliss with a super-clean, super-tidy kitchen all of the time, you’re wrong. Before I commence any cooking, I do have to have the kitchen clean and tidy though because I will need every square inch of work top and table by the time I finish. And, I just love the sight of a tidy kitchen. Another thing is that I can’t go to bed at night without tidying up the kitchen first. That’s why I can often be found tinkering about in the kitchen at midnight emptying the dishwasher. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without my dishwasher. Believe me, the last thing I want to be doing at night is tidying up a messy kitchen but I have this thing about dragging yesterday’s mess into tomorrow – not a good start to a day. I’m pretty sure there’s an ancient proverb about it too.

Back to the recipe and the icing was extremely easy to make - icing sugar and a few tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Onto the cake it went once the cake cooled and voila!

The verdict…

Dear Husband gave the cake 8 marks out of 10. Typically it wouldn’t be something he’d go for and typically it wouldn’t be something I’d bake but it was, as they say, scrumptious. I loved it myself as did Dear Son. I also liked that it wasn’t a massive big cake so each slice was a nice portion without making it feel too heavy. I only wish that I’d had those wee crystalised fruit decoration thingys my granny used to have for decorating her cakes. They really would have finished off the presentation nicely so forgive me on the plain old icing. So there you go. A simple and probably a bit more sophisticated cake than the good old Victoria sponge.

P.S. Do not let on to your Dear Husbands about the Father’s Day Eve thing but keep in mind for next year when you propose a Mother’s Day Eve! Sure us mums are worth it! Happy Father's Day!