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Lemon Custard Cake

Custard filling

25g cornflour
300ml full fat milk
2 egg yolks
2 dessertspoons sugar
Rind and juice of a lemon
3 dessertspoons good lemon curd


Cake

225g self raising flour
125g tub margarine
75g sugar
1 beaten egg
good dash of vanilla essence
A little milk to mix
A little egg white to seal and paint

Make the filling first

1. Blend cornflour in a cup with a little of the milk
2. Mix egg yolks and sugar with fork. Add blended cornflour and gradually mix in the rest of the milk.
3. Put in a pan over a very low heat and, stirring continuously, bring to the boil.
4. Remove from heat, beat in the lemon rind, juice and lemon curd. Leave the custard to cool.

For the cake

5. Rub marg into flour
6. Mix in sugar, beaten egg, vanilla. Add a little milk, a tablespoon at a time and mix to a stiffish consistency.
7. Grease a loose bottomed 20cm cake tin and line with greased baking paper.
8. On a well floured worktop roll out just over half the mixture to a round approx. 27cm/10ins
9. Fit this carefully into the tin. You might need a couple of goes at this, if the dough splits don't worry just re-roll and start again. Then fill with the cooled custard. I decamped my saucepan to the fridge to make sure it was well chilled.. Fear not about the skin.
10. Brush around the edges of the cake with unbeaten egg white.

11. Roll out remaining cake mix and fit on top, again if it splits or cracks simply re-roll and drop on top of custard sealing it well with the egg white. No gaps please. Brush the top with remaining egg white.
12. Bake in centre of oven Gas 4/350F/180C for about 30 minutes or until the top is shiny and firm and golden.
13. Lift out of tin on removable base and slide orf base onto a cooling rack. Be careful, very careful. This is a thick heavy custard filled confection that demands a delicate touch.

Last night I served it simply, a wedge on a plate dusted with icing sugar. It could have some chilled cream poured over it and a few raspberries would be divine too.

Recipe by Mrs Carol Goldsmith of Beccles, Suffolk published in The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook, 1984.

This went down well with Mr Horsehound, Mr Hairy and Mother although she had only a finger sized slice. The lads had decent wedges, Me? A ladylike morsel.