Mary Berry's lemon cake tray bake with a lemon cream cheese frosting

Recently I worked in a school for a few weeks to cover a teacher who was on paternity leave. Year 5 was my assigned class and they were a boy heavy, smaller than average class.....little did I know they had a higher than average talent for talking! Having said that they were a really fun class and helped reignite my passion for teaching. To thank them, I decided to have a little party at the end of my time with them. One girl in the class is allergic to chocolate (poor thing!) so I did one chocolate tray bake with vanilla frosting (see blog for recipe) and one lemon tray bake, using a cream cheese topping. These cakes were extremely easy to make and deliciously moist. There was some left over (miraculously) which I put in the staff room. Not 10 minutes later I went back in and it had all vanished! Obviously a hit with both children and grown-ups.

For the cake:
One roasting tin measuring 30cm x 23cm
275g self-raising flour
225g softened butter
2 level teaspoons baking powder
225g caster sugar
grated rind of 2 lemons
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk

For the topping:
400-500g cream cheese
4 teaspoons clear honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
sprinkles!
chopped pecans

Grease and line your tin and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Measure all the cake ingredients into the large bowl and beat until well blended. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level out. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the sponge springs back when gently pressed and the sides have shrunken back from the tin. Leave to cool slightly in the tin then turn onto a wire rack.

To make the topping, mix together the cheese, honey and lemon juice, adding if necessary more lemon juice and honey. Spread evenly over the cake and sprinkle over your chosen decoration. Cut the cake into squares and watch it vanish!