This has popped up in more than one place recently, in a favourite Nigel Slater book, as well as in the newspaper, as "Lemom Surprise." The original source, however, is apparently Margaret Costa.

I'm no expert in sweet baking, but this seemed pretty fool-proof and was consumed readily.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 100g butter
• 175g caster sugar (I used half demerara to reduce the refined sugar in the mix)
• grated zest from 2 lemons, and juice of 3 lemons -- use organic ones, as even unwaxed lemons are treated with a host of chemicals to prevent mould, I suppose
• 4 eggs, separated
• 50g plain flour (Untreated Baker's n.4 worked well for me)
• 500 mL milk

Method

Butter a large 2 litre oven dish, preferably glass, allowing you to see through the sides for this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until it's smooth. Add lemon zest and juice, then beat in the egg whites, one at a time.

Gently beat in the flour and milk. The batter will not be completely smooth.

Using clean beaters and a mixer, beat the egg whites until they stand up in peaks, and then fold them into the mixture. Pour this into the buttered dish, and set the dish in a larger roasting tin with water in it to come halfway up the sides of the dish.

Bake in the oven for forty-five to fifty-five minutes, during which time the batter will separate into a golden brown sponge on top, and a lemon custard on the bottom (my metal oven dish with dimpled bottom doesn't show this as well as a glass one woul, but the layers did seaprate just as hoped!)

Cream or sour cream is optional with this. The photos are rather unglamorous, but it was a straighforward recipe that we all liked. Hope you enjoy it.