This simple and easy lemon drizzle cake is perfect for everyday baking!
If there is one cake I do not eat enough of, it's a lemon drizzle cake, which evidently has not been put on a high enough pedestal despite it being a firm favourite of mine when it comes to cake flavours. And yet, I often find myself reaching for the chocolate instead, and neglecting the beautiful citrus flavours of this British classic. I tried to find the origins of a lemon drizzle cake but history has not recorded much of its first development, only by a Jewish woman in the 1960's was it first ever mentioned. Since then, you can guarantee that if you're attending anywhere will there will be tea and cake you will find a lemon drizzle. I find it amazing how punchy and zingy some lemon zest can be, which completely elevates a simple sponge recipe. And it's all with ingredients you'll definitely have in your cupboard as well as being a simple method to follow, you don't need any fancy skills. I think this cake is perfect if you fancy something sweet, but don't want to go overboard with flavours and toppings etc, you can't go wrong with a lemon drizzle. It's the nations favourite, I don't know anyone that would turn down a slice of this lovely, moist, lemony cake.
If you love loaf cakes and lemon....
Check out my other recipes for more inspiration!
Recipe
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Serves: 8-10
Notes:
- Make sure to really beat the butter and sugar together in the first steps. the long you beat the more air will be incorporated which is essential for a light and fluffy sponge.
- I like to weigh my eggs for more precision when baking, but if your eggs do not add up to the weight specified, add a little milk to make up the extra weight (dairy milk not plant-based).
- Make sure to zest the lemons before squeezing out the juice as it will be harder to do once they've been squeezed.
- If you don't have access to an electric hand whisk or a standing mixer, use a wooden spoon to beat the butter and sugar but it does require a good bit of effort! The switch to a whisk when adding the flour so the batter is smooth.
Ingredients
Cake
- 225 g
unsalted butter, room temperature,
- 225 g
caster sugar
- 225 g
self-raising flour
- 240g eggs (roughly 4 large)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp.
lemon juice
- 75g caster sugar
- 70gIcing sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
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Method
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ fan and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, use an electric hand whisk or standing mixer to beat together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy - about 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape around the bowl to collect the butter.
- Next, add the eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next.
- Beat in the flour and the lemon zest until combined.
- Spoon the cake batter into the prepared loaf tin and spread evenly.
- Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. After 30 minutes of baking, cover the cake with foil so that the top does not burn before the middle is baked through.
- Once the cake has baked, prick all over with a skewer or a fork to make tiny holes.
- In a small bowl, stir together the lemon juice and caster sugar and place in the microwave for 30 seconds to dissolve the sugar. Then pour this all over the warm cake letting it seep into the holes.
- Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin before removing.
- Make the icing - in a small bowl stir together the icing sugar and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice. If it is too thick and crumbly add the other tbsp of lemon juice till you have a thick white icing that gently falls off the spoon.
- When the cake is cooler, drizzle over the icing or spread on top.
- Decorate with more lemon zest, then slice and serve.
- Best stored covered up at room temperature for up to 4 days. Enjoy!
Christina
xx
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