Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas 4) and, using your fingers, grease the base and sides of your dish with butter. (I’ve used one of the bowls from the 12cm bowl set in Pigeon Grey here).
Place the butter and sugar in a food processor (or use an electric whisk) and beat until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, egg, and salt then pulse until combined. Add the milk then pulse again until combined.
Scrape the batter into the buttered dish and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until deep golden and cooked through in the middle when inserted with a skewer.
Remove from the oven, spoon over the jam and leave to cool slightly in the dish for a minute or two, then serve up with the custard, or plenty of cold double cream.
For the custard, first, use a speed peeler to create strips of lemon (aiming for the yellow peel, not so much the bitter white pith), then throw them into a large saucepan along with the cream and bay leaves.
Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until bubbles start dancing on the surface. Remove from the heat before the cream begins to boil.
Meanwhile, using a balloon whisk or wooden spoon, beat the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and salt together in a large bowl until completely smooth.
Taking lots of care, pour a few splashes of the hot cream over the egg mixture, whisking all the time to ensure your eggs don’t scramble. Gradually pour the remaining hot cream into the eggs, continuing to whisk all the time.
Pour the custard mixture back into the pan, then heat over a very low heat, whisking regularly, for 5–10 minutes or until the custard is really thick. Make sure the custard doesn’t stick to the base of the pan, this will prevent any lumps forming.
Fish out the lemon peel then either discard, or finely slice and add back into the custard, depending on how lemony you are feeling. Transfer to a jug (I’ve used the 1 pint jug in Pigeon Grey here) to serve warm
The custard is equally delicious cold.
