A hint here, a hint there…
While chatting with a friend I had lost touch with for quite a few years, he asked what was new. I replied that I had gotten married and had a baby girl. This led to further questioning and he finally asked if I still write; (I used to ‘write poetry’ when I was younger). I said I didn’t and naturally he asked why, I did not know what to say- like many other things, it just happened… This was someone I could converse with about many things and here we were years down the line stuck at perfunctory questions and awkward silence.
This wasn’t me, I always had something to say, something to ask but I was now mum. Chores and work somehow made me forget the effects of the conversation but not long after were those thoughts resurrected.
What Set It Off? …
It was a Korean drama about a 38-year-old woman who was trying to relieve her long-lost younger years. She had her son at the age of 19 and remained a housewife for the next 20 years. Her husband was now a well-respected professor who lost interest in her because she didn’t level up to his intellect. So she decides to go back to school hoping to ‘catch up’ to him, and through this journey gets a self-awakening and realization of just how much of herself she has lost.
While watching these familiar clips I realized how much of myself I have lost either due to compromise or the demands of life. I missed the girl who climbed the roof in the evening for light hoping to read just one more page. (In case you’re wondering why I would sit on the roof and not just switch on the lights?
Well, we had to persevere through hours on end of power rationing or blackouts back then.) The girl who poured out her heart on paper, but most of all? The girl who thought, questioned, and spoke about things.
If you are married or have been in a relationship for a few years you may/not agree that changes can sneak up on you. One day you chose not to put your favorite bell peppers because he doesn’t like them. Then before you know it, there is a whole list of things you do to compromise or for whichever other list of reasons.
Eating food with loved ones and seeing the enjoyment on their faces makes me almost burst with joy. So this ultimately became a reason why I always opted to make dishes I thought THEY would like. And this sometimes not only compromised my culinary learning but made me forget myself, but that day came to an end today!
Let the ‘Chips’ Fall Where They May
I knew Fran might not like it but i chose not to glaze the lemon cake with syrup. It felt selfish putting my desires first, but liberating as the moments passed. This may sound like a rather insignificant decision but this has been a starting point in getting back the old self that i missed.
This cake is just as delicious without a drizzle or spread of lemon syrup. However, should you wish to spruce things up a notch then try a lemon meringue frosting. I know i am not alone in this so if you have lost bits of yourself that you wish to have back? Then i hope you can take a moment to remember what it felt like being that person. Why you preferred to eat certain foods, then go into the kitchen and whip up something in honour of YOU! Happy baking!
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Her lemon cake
(+10 rating, 2 votes)
Loading...Lemons aren’t just for lemonade or your ‘morning water’. Squeeze them into this exquisitely moist buttermilk rich cake sure to please that difficult crowd.
Ingredients
- 275g Plain flour
- 250g granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp plus 1/4 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 130g Unsalted butter
- Zest from 3 unwaxed lemons
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 190C
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside
Line a 24cm non-stick spring form cake tin with parchment paper on the bottom
Soften the butter and whisk it until it is light in color then slowly pour in the sugar as you continue whisking
Next add in an egg at a time followed by the vanilla and lastly the lemon zest
Alternating the buttermilk and flour mixture, add half of each at a time to the wet ingredients, gently folding with a spatula before adding the rest of the ingredients. You should end with the flour
Pour the batter in the round baking tin to bake for 20 minutes at 190 C then cover with cling film and reduce the heat to 180C to bake for a further 20 minutes or until baked through
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