It’s the 2nd January. The kids go back to school tomorrow. I can’t help but feel smug, knowing I have another week off before I go back to the fray.

Wouldn’t it be nice to bake a cake for their lunchboxes? I’m having a look around my larder, there is still so much Christmas fare.

And then I spy a massive bunch of lemon balm. Yay! Let’s combine a bit of Scandi with some remnants of summer days.

Lemon Balm Cake

Ingredients

• 250g butter (room temperature)
• 250g sugar
• 4 eggs
• juice of ¹⁄₂ lemon
• 130g plain flour
• 120 g potato starch/ cornflour/ arrowroot
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 50g crumbled dry lemon balm (or 100g fresh chopped leaves)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 165C or gas mark 3
2. Grease and line a 9″ cake tin (or anything that will hold about two and a half litres of liquid)
3. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add lemon juice, stir to combine.
6. In another bowl, combine potato starch (or alternative) and baking powder; sift the flour mixture onto the butter mixture, stir to combine.
7. Add lemon balm, stir to combine.
8. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a metal skewer comes out clean.
9. Let the cake cool in the pan for a while; after inverting the cake, rinse the cake pan, dry it and place back on the cake. Allow the covered cake to cool completely.