One of my many New Year resolutions this year is to bake more instead of buying treats.

a. It will broaden my culinary skills and

b. I will know exactly what I’m eating – as cliché as that sounds.

We are suffering through one of the hottest summers on record in Sydney at the moment, and my apartment is extremely stuffy with no air con. Why I chose to bake something using the oven I don’t know, but this citrus fruit cake is so light and refreshing – it’s a great fit for this weather.

I got the recipe from The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo (and tweaked it a little), in which she explains that this is the French equivalent of the English sponge cake.

It does taste amazing, though next time I will experiment with decreasing the amount of sugar. 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C

2. Butter a loaf tin

3. Separate 4 eggs and beat the egg whites to stiff peaks with 125g caster sugar

4. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with another 125g caster sugar until thick and pale in colour.

5. In a third bowl, mix 250g self-raising flour with a pinch of salt and finely grated zest from one lemon and one orange. Squeeze half of the lemon in as well.

6. Fold the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture, then pour in the 250g melted butter and gently stir.

7. Finally, fold in the egg whites.

8. Pour the batter into the loaf tin, and bake for 40 minutes, or until the point of a knife comes out clean.

9. Lick the bowl while waiting.

10. Enjoy with a cup of tea!