Last week, I hit a bump of worry with one of my teens, so I did what mothers do: I stayed up half the night trying to sleep, woke up tired and tear-y, and hoped that everything would blow over with the new day.
It did.
But while my kid was out slaying dragons, I was at home working.
(For all you beautiful strangers who don’t know me very well yet: I’m an author and a copywriter, which means I write books for love and write copy for large corporates for my daily bread. Often I work from home and go to meetings in the city.)
That day, I wrote and walked from outside back inside. I worried about my son and I didn’t text. I tried to wait.
Then I noticed we had rosemary growing and a lemon in the fruit bowl, so I caved and made my favourite cake. Because what is better than a kitchen smelling of lemon and rosemary cake?
In my world, nothing says love like baking.
This cake takes away your worry. Imagine yourself combining the fresh rosemary, lemon zest and a little sugar in the bottom of a bowl. Imagine rolling it through your fingers until the sugar mixture is damp and fragrant.
That is love. Love smells like rosemary and lemon.
You’ll need a few things:
sugar (1 cup)
self-raising flour (2 cups)
fresh rosemary (2 tablespoons, chopped)
lemons (zest and juice of 2 is best)
Greek yogurt (1 cup)
olive oil (1 cup)
eggs (2)
If you have this on hand, let’s start. Line a pan with baking paper. Preheat your oven to 325F or 170C. In a bowl, mix the rosemary, lemon zest and sugar. Do this with your hands.
Inhale. Everything’s going to be okay.
Add eggs and beat until pale and thick. Use a whisk. It won’t take long.
Mix in the yogurt, lemon juice and olive oil.
Finally, sift in the flour. Gently fold it all together. Know in your heart that you are a good person. Pour the batter into the pan. It looks professional, like a cake in a cafe.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Cool in the pan.
Share with the people you love.
Enjoy your day, and love your age (and yourself). We’re all out here in the wilderness, doing the best we can.
Catherine x
