I have my grandmother's gem irons and have many deliciously fond memories of the more traditional ginger gems.  

However I dusted off the irons and played around with a few different flavours.  I also had a surplus of homegrown lemons which added a fresh flavour to new life to my gems. 

Preparation time - 15 minutes

Cooking time - 10 minutes

Skill - easy

Makes 24

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, softened, plus 20g for iron moulds

200g sugar

Pinch salt

2 lemons, grated zest and juice

2 eggs

225g flour

1 tsp baking powder

125ml milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C

Place the gem irons in the oven to heat up.

Cream the butter, sugar, salt and zest until light and fluffy.

Add the lemon juice.

Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

Sift the flour and baking powder together.

Add alternately with the milk to the cake batter until combined.

Remove the hot irons from the oven and add a dot of butter (2g) per iron. Work fast as you want to keep the irons hot. 

Once all the irons have butter and the butter is bubbling, add a dessert spoon of the lemon batter to each iron mould. 

When complete return quickly back to the oven and bake until risen and lightly golden (10 minutes).

Cool a little before removing from the irons.

Enjoy