Alison says: “I don’t want to oversell this cake, but I just want to say it’s one of the more delicious things I’ve made in my lifetime. I refer to it as ‘house cake’, which is of course, cake to keep in your house at all times.

“I am not what I would call an earnest person, but in all earnestness just slicing into it makes a bad day better, the baked equivalent of burning sage or palo santo to clear the energy.

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp flaky sea salt
¾ tsp ground turmeric
220g sugar, plus an extra 2 tbsp
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tbsp lemon juice, plus ½ lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
185g sour cream or full-fat Greek-style yoghurt, plus extra for serving (optional)
2 large eggs
125g unsalted butter, melted
whipped cream, to serve (optional)

You’ll also need

A 10 × 23cm loaf tin (for some reason, finding a standard-size loaf tin is nearly impossible, so get as close to these dimensions as you can. While you could use either a metal or a glass tin, I prefer metal because it conducts heat more evenly)
Baking parchment

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 10 × 23cm loaf tin with non-stick cooking spray or butter.

Line with baking paper, leaving some overhang on both of the longer sides so you’re able to easily lift the cake out after baking.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and turmeric in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the 220g sugar with the lemon zest and rub together with your fingertips until the sugar is tinted yellow and smells like you just rubbed a lemon in there.

Whisk in the sour cream, eggs and the lemon juice until well blended.

Using a spatula, add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just to blend. Fold in the melted butter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared tin, smoothing the top. Scatter with the lemon slices and extra 2 tbsp sugar.

Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown, the edge pulls away from the side of the tin, and a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, 50–60 minutes. (I love deeply caramelised lemon, but if they’re getting too dark, lay a piece of foil on top to prevent burning.)

Let the cake cool before slicing.

Note

Cake can be baked up to 5 days ahead, wrapped tightly, and stored at room temperature.

From Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman (£22, Hardie Grant), out now

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