This is my favourite cake. It was a classic recipe of my late Italian grandmother. Part of its appeal is that it tastes great using both milk or parve — with white wine instead. The oil as an alternative to butter or margarine makes it moist. It is perfect for tea, breakfast or as a snack any time of the day. I also like to serve it as dessert with fresh strawberries and lemon or seasonal fruit.

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Grease a 24 cm round spring-form tin lightly with butter or margarine. Cover the base with greaseproof paper.
• Tip in the breadcrumbs or matzah meal and turn the tin to coat it thinly with them. Discard any crumbs or matzah meal that have not stuck.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar with a hand whisk or ideally, an electric mixer.
• Add the lemon zest and juice, the vanilla extract, the wine/milk, the oil and a pinch of salt and mix.
• Sieve in the flour and the baking powder and gently fold to combine.
• Pour the cake mixture into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes. A skewer or toothpick inserted should come out clean; if any wet batter remains, cook for 5 minutes longer and test again until done. Cool in the tin on a wire rack.

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