Nicola Cornick

Happy Monday! First up, I’d like to congratulate Quilt Lady, who has won a backlist book for commenting on my weekend blog post! Quilt Lady, please get in touch at ncornick(at)madasafish.com and let me know which book you would like! Meanwhile I’m still looking for Bobby and HJ and Jennifer L to get in touch to claim their prizes too!

Now onto the Historical Recipe of the Week! I’ve got a sweet tooth this week, so here is a recipe for 17th century Lemon Drizzle Cake. You’ll need an 8 x 6 loaf tin for this one.

Ingredients: 5 oz self raising flour, 5oz plain flour, 7oz unsalted butter (softened), 7oz caster sugar, 4 beaten eggs (medium sized), the zest of two lemons and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

To make the syrup glaze you will need another 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 3oz caster sugar.

Oven temperature: 140 degrees C, 300 degrees F, Gas Mark 2

Method: Grease and line the cake tin. Sieve the flours together. Beat together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Beat the eggs into the butter and sugar mixture a little at a time. Fold in the flour. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice.  Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for and hour and 15 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the syrup glaze. Sieve the lemon juice into a small pan and add the sugar, stirring all the time. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves and then remove the pan from the heat. When the cake is ready, drizzle the lemon mixture over the top and leave to cool before removing it from the tin.

Then – eat it and enjoy!

I have noticed that a lot of my historical recipes are puddings and cakes. Hmm. I’ll try to find a savoury recipe next time!