sweet enough bakes

I haven’t posted for a while – Mr McGregor and I have been doing some decorating and re-organisation and there has been no time to think up new cakes. I have spent a few happy, if dusty hours sorting ‘things’ I had stored in the eaves of our house. Much of it was, of course, rubbish (did I really need to keep bus tickets from a trip to Ecuador in 1989? Probably not), but other things really brought back some memories and will need to be looked at properly before being stored somewhere else….

I have managed to find some time to finish ‘my first jumper’ – one of my #50in50 aims. It still needs to be ‘blocked’ – soaked and shaped into a proper jumper shape, but given the weather remains stubbornly wintry, I might get some time to wear it this year.

This is what it looks like at the moment (it is the Carbeth jumper, by Kate Davies Designs, knit in her Buachille wool Macallum). I have really enjoyed the process of creating something useful – now to decide what to knit next.

Anyway, here is a lovely moist cake to bake, I think this is probably one of my favourites.

Lemon and almond cake (pdf Lemon and almond cake)

225g softened butter

50g caster sugar

3 large eggs

50g plain flour

225g ground almonds

½ teaspoon almond essence

grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

21 cm springform tin, lined

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees/160 fan/gas 4
2. Cream together butter and sugar until very light in colour
3. Beat in the eggs ones at a time, include a tablespoon of flour with each one
4. Gently stir in almonds, almond essence, lemon zest and juice
5. Bake for about 50 mins to 1 hour, let it stand for about 5 mins then leave to cool on a rack