Gluten Free Sticky Lemon & Poppyseed Cake

This is a beautiful gluten free cake: fluffy and moist, with a sticky lemony topping and a crunch of poppyseeds in the crumb. Best eaten at tea time with a good cuppa and the sun on your face.

Recipe
My own recipe.
Serves 6-8

for the cake:
3 large eggs, room temperature
50g poppyseeds
200g golden caster sugar
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
200g gluten free self raising flour mix (Dove's Farm recommended)
100ml creme fraiche
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 small lemon
1 handful demarara sugar


1.Turn the oven to 170C (150C fan oven). Grease a 20cm round baking tin and line the bottom with baking paper.

2. Cream butter and sugar together for at least 3 minutes in a large bowl until fluffy.

3. Add the first egg and a tablespoon of the gf flour, and beat well until smooth. Repeat the process with the other two eggs one after the other, adding a little flour with each and beating until smooth.

4. Throw in the lemon zest, and the lemon juice. Stir into the butter mixture, before adding another spoonful of the flour, the poppyseeds and the creme fraiche. Stir gently until combined, before throwing in the rest of the flour. Gently mix with a metal spoon.

5. Pour into the baking tin, before sprinkling the demerara sugar ontop.  Bake in the oven for 40-45 mins. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean and the cake springs back under your touch. The top may have cracked a little, which is part of its charm.

6. Remove from the oven and leave the cake in its tin for 20 minutes before carefully turning it out onto a wire rack or a plate to cool.

for the lemon syrup:

juice of 2 small lemons or 1 large one
100g caster sugar

6. Heat the lemon juice and sugar gently in a saucepan, until the sugar dissolves. Stir and take off the heat.

7. While cake is still warm, pour the syrup over the cake and decorate with more grated lemon rind or anything else you fancy! Bear in mind if you're adding cut daisies as I did, that these are not edible flowers so should be placed over the lemon rind and not touch the cake itself.

This cake was idly baked while listening to Radiohead's album In Rainbows.