Here is Sarah artfully/haphazardly placing the last candied lemon atop this four tiered lemon sponge cake. This was such a grey, rainy day but my apartment captures the best of the afternoon light. It streams into the kitchen and after a day of no sunshine at all, the clouds broke, just in time to make these candied lemons look radiant.
Find the candied lemons recipe below, and head to The Guardian for the sponge recipe.
candied lemons
2 meyer lemons, or any small lemon, washed and cut into 1cm thick slices, discarding the ends
1 cup Castor sugar
1 cup water
6 lemon verbena leaves
Bring water to the boil in a large saucepan. Add sugar and swirl until dissolved. Add lemon slices and lemon verbena leaves. Turn the heat to low. Push a sheet of baking paper down, into the pot so it covers and touches the surface of the lemons. It will billow, it won’t perfectly sit there, but it will stop all the water from escaping in the cold, steamy kitchen. Cook for half an hour, checking the pot every now and then but not stirring, until the sugar and water mixture is thick and bubbly. The lemons will be candied, sticky, their pith almost translucent. Remove lemon slices and place on a greased wire rack so the excess sugar syrup can drain. Allow to cool.
