Luscious Lemon & Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

I have been making this cake for a few years now, and it always comes out perfectly!  It is a lovely, lemony, moist loaf cake, and it will be good as the day it was baked for around a week, kept in an airtight container.  I have added chopped pistachio nuts to the recipe, in the past, and that's a nice, interesting element to the cake. I have also put a drizzly lemony icing on top for extra sweetness and zestiness, but it is just as good without the topping, and indeed without the pistachios.

The cake is more or less effortless, foolproof, and yet worthy of taking centre stage at an afternoon tea with a refreshing cup of tea!  This cake has been made using my new low-fat alternative to butter...Utterly Butterly.  I am sure it will be equally fine made with other brands of low fat spread too.  But, tried and tested with Utterly Butterly I can personally vouch for :)

You will need:

• 2 unwaxed lemons
• 3 medium eggs
• 150g Utterly Butterly (or if you want the full fat version 150g of unsalted butter) - melted
• 170g golden caster sugar (my sugar is stored in a jar with a vanilla pod which adds a new level of flavour)
• 170g self- raising flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 20g poppy seeds

Method:

1.  Heat oven to 160 C (Fan), and grease and line a 2 lb loaf tin

2.  Whisk the eggs and sugar until smooth and creamy with a hand     mixer

3.  Combine zest from 2 lemons, poppy seeds with flour and ground almonds. Fold into egg mixture using a metal spoon

4.  Fold in melted butter and finally the lemon juice from 2 lemons

5.  Spoon mixture into loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean

The option after it is cooled is to make a small quantity of drizzly icing with the zest and juice of 1 lemon mixed with icing sugar, and drizzled over the top to let it run down the sides of the cake in a casual fashion, and then sprinkle a teaspoon of poppy seeds on top, and maybe some chopped pistachio nuts if preferred.  But feel free to leave the top unadulterated - it will not be lacking in taste if left without a topping.

I have been writing this whilst the cake is in the oven baking away!  It has just finished baking and been brought out and the kitchen smells divine.  Need to leave the cake set a while in the tin before lifting it out though :)  Photographs next!

Enjoy!