lemon quatre-quarts

250 gr flour
250 butter
250 sugar
2 lemons
baking powder
(a little orange water if you like)
4 eggs
icing sugar (for the icing)







So, you melt the butter slowly in a saucepan and add the sugar, mix well until creamy. Then add the four egg yokes one by one, (so separate them from the whites) ,  alternating with two large spoons of flour (so at the end 8 large spoons of flour should add up to 250 gr) don't forget to add the baking powder into the flour.
Then add one lemon juice with the zest. this is when you can add the orange water but don't over do it.
turn the oven on.
beat the egg whites nice and firm with a pinch of salt.
add them delicately to the cake mix.
place the mix some buttered tin.
cook first relatively hot, then lower. check with something pointed to see if it's cocked. it should come out just dry but still greasy.

once it's out, you can make the icing:
quite a bit of icing sugar mixed with the juice and zest of a lemon and a little butter. it should be quite thick, mix it very well until creamy. then place over the fire and bring it to boil, it'll start foaming, stop just before it starts getting dark. it should be transparent and will get quite thick when drying.

even better if you add slightly roasted poppy seeds with chopped pistachio and pine nuts over the icing.