Lemon Sponge Cake

So, I was sitting in my office this Thursday, just minding my own business and trying to force myself to read this maths textbook (which is both incredibly useful and incredibly boring) when my supervisor strolls in.  I spy a box in his hands, "Ohh! A present for me? Awww, shucks!"
Turns out it actually was for me. It was a box of eggs. Fresh eggs. From his chickens.  AWESOME!

Seriously, look at the colour of these yolks!

So I spent the rest of the day thinking 'what can I do that is gonna make good use of these fresh eggs'. Sponge cake. Sponge cake is what I can do. Or at least I assumed I could do it, it didn't seem too hard.  It wasn't.  I started off with what I think was my granny's recipe for sponge cake, and then I played with it a bit. Which is probably kinda dangerous for the first time making a recipe, but it turned out well anyway.

Lemon Sponge Cake with Lemon Glaze
Lemon Sponge Cake
3 eggs, separated
1 cup white sugar
1 T hot water
2 T lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best, ~half a lemon)
1 cup white flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Lemon Glaze
1 1/2 cups icing sugar (or caster sugar)
2 T lemon juice (1/2 a lemon)
1 t lemon rind
1 t vanilla extract
1 T butter, extra soft
1/4 cup orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C.
2. Beat the egg whites until stiff.  Gradually add 1 T of sugar out of the 1 cup.
3. Beat the egg yolks until buttery in colour, add remaining cup of sugar. Beat until combined (will probably form a lovely grainy texture).
4. Combine egg yolks and egg whites, stir to combine - using a spatula, 'fold' the ingredients together so you don't squish the air out of the egg whites.
5. Add hot water and lemon juice, stir.
6. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
7. Pour batter mixture an ungreased cake tin or bundt pan, bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden in colour and a fork stuck in the middle comes out clean.
8. Let cake cool completely before removing from tin (~3 hours or overnight).  Run a knife along the edge of the tin to loosen cake and remove. Once cake has cooled, prepare the glaze.  
9. Whisk or beat together sugar, butter, lemon juice, lemon rind and vanilla with half the orange juice.
10. Add remaining orange juice to adjust texture.
11. Pour over cake.

I brought this cake into the office... and the first compliment I got was "I liked the nice, wet icing".  I am pretty sure the glaze is all about preference. I found it a bit too sweet and a bit too wet for me... but that's also because I'm fairly certain you're supposed to use a confectioners sugar / icing sugar... but I didn't have any so I used caster sugar. You might consider using the finer sugar for a lighter icing.

And for the record - drink your morning coffee before taking photos. Sorry for the poor lighting/out of focus-ness.