Mrs Darlington's Zesty Lemon Traybake

Makes 21

Pre-heat the oven to 160 degs /fan 140/ gas 3

Grease a 30 x 23cm (12 x 9 in) traybake or roasting tin then line the base with baking parchment.

A light, zesty sponge with a lemon curd and lemon icing topping. Perfect for picnics or packed lunches.

  • Ingredients

  • 225g / 8oz softend butter

    225g /8oz caster sugar

    275g / 10oz self raising flour

    2 level teaspoons of baking powder

    4 large eggs

    4 tablespoons milk

    finely grated zest of 2 lemons

    For the icing:

    280g/10oz icing sugar

    The juice of a lemon

    6 tablespoons of Mrs Darlington's Lemon Curd

Method to Success

Measure all the ingredients for the traybake into a large bowl and beat until well blended. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top very gently with the back of a spatula.

Bake in the pre-hreated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cake has shrunk from the sides of the tin and springs back when pressed in the centre with your fingertips.

Leave to cool in the tin.

In the meantime, spoon the Mrs Darlington’s Lemon Curd into a disposable piping bag and cut off the end of the bag to make a small hole.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the lemon juice and mix until the icing is smooth and has a spreading consistency. Add a little more lemon juice if its too thick or a little more icing sugar if its a little too runny.

Pour the icing over the cake, spread it quickly and gently to the edges with a small palette knife. Pipe parallel lines of lemon curd widthways across the top of the cake, at about 2cm (3/4 inch) apart.

To get the slightly zig-zag  design, drag the tip of a cocktail stick or the point of a knife across the lines lengthways. Work quickly before the icing sets.

Leave the icing to set before trimming away the edges of the cake and then cut it into 21 pieces.