• Making time 1hour 10 minutes
• Preparation time  40 minutes

Ingredients

• 175 g butter at room temperature
• 175 g caster sugar
• Three eggs
• 250 g self-rising flour
• One teaspoon baking powder
• 40 g poppy seeds
• Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons

To finish

• 125 g icing sugar
• 3-4 teaspoons lemon juice
• Citron peel, cut into thin strips

If there is anything that we need to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.

– Carl Jung

Preparation:

1. Beat the sugar and butter together in a mixing bowl until pale and creamy, gradually mix in an alternate spoonful of beaten egg and flour until all has been added and the mixture is smooth.
2. Stir in the baking powder, poppy seeds, lemon rind and five lemon juice to make a soft dropping consistency.
3. Spoon the mixture into a greased 1 kg loaf tin, its base and two long sides also lined with oiled greaseproof paper spread the surface level and bake in a preheated oven, 160^oC, set timer for 1 hour 10 minutes until well risen, the top is cracked and golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
4. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then loosen the edges and lift out of the tin using the lining paper, transfer to a wire rack, peel off the lining paper and leave to cold.
5. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl then gradually mix in enough of the lemon juice to make a smooth coating of the icing.
6. Drizzle over the top of the cake in random squiggly lines, add strips of peel to the top and leave to set.
7. Store in an airtight tin for up to 1 week.