Delicious and spongy, experience all the flavour of the best little lemon cake squares with this recipe! And while you’re at it, make double and freeze half of it to save yourself some time later.

MAKES 1 // COOKING TIME 50 min

INGREDIENTS
180 g butter, at room temperature, plus extra to grease
3 tbsp milk
3 large eggs
1½ tsp vanilla essence
180 g flour
250 g caster sugar
3–4 lemons (zest of 1, 100 ml juice)
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Icing sugar, to dust

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 20 × 20 cm cake tin and line with baking paper.
2. Mix the milk, eggs and vanilla essence in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, 150g caster sugar, zest, baking powder and salt. Rub in the butter, together with half of the egg mixture. Combine well.
4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the rest of the egg mixture in two batches, beating well after each addition.
5. Pour into the tin. Place a piece of buttered foil over the batter, to prevent over-browning.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. If the cake does become too brown, turn down the oven to 160°C.
7. In a pot over medium heat, dissolve the remaining 100 g caster sugar in the lemon juice
8. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool slightly, then remove from the tin. Place on a cooling rack and make lots of holes in the surface with a fork or skewer. Drizzle with the syrup, brushing the sides liberally. Dust with icing sugar