LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

I am quiet sure you guys know by now that I bake often, and that I’m pretty good at it (and modest). Also my family likes to request certain kinds and flavors of dessert. This one is no exception: lemon drizzle cake, was requested by my husband. I’ve made tray bake lemon drizzle cakes before but although they turned out reasonably well, they just didn’t have that ‘wow’ factor. So this time I decided to try doing it as a loaf shaped.

This lemon cake is a classic, old-fashioned pound cake. It’s delightfully tingly with lemon flavor drizzle. Serve it with some hot tea and you’re golden. THIS LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE IS NOT ONLY A FAIL-SAFE, EASY RECIPE BUT ALSO RESULTS IN THE MOST DELICIOUS, TANGY AND MOIST CAKE YOU WILL MAKE.

Okay, let’s first consider what makes the perfect lemon drizzle cake:

an intese lemon flavour,

a moist sponge,

a delicate crumb – neither too crumbly nor too dense or wet,

a balance of sweetness and zesty freshness from the lemons,

a delicious lemon drizzle that hardens a little on drying to give a delicious texture when you take a bite,

a beautiful loaf shape

a vibrant golden yellow colour when you cut into it – ideally accompanied with just-so caramelised edges.

Of course, the perfect lemon drizzle cake should also be easy to make, regardless of your baking skill level.

Ingredients...

SPONGE:

225g butter, soft and unsalted

225g caster sugar

4 large eggs

225g self raising flour

2 lemons, zested

1/2 cup milk

DRIZZLE:

100g caster sugar

juice of 2 lemons

Instructions…

1. Lightly grease and line a 10”loaf tin. Preheat your oven to 170°C.

2. With an electric mixer, start by creaming the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 5 minutes. Now add the eggs one by one and give it a good beat after each one and mix well. Then add the milk and lemon zest and continue to mix well for a few minutes.

3. Now add the flour…make sure to sieve it as it creates a much lighter and fluffy cake. You can mix in the flour either with the electric mixer on a low speed or just use a spatula. I prefer using a spatula….so basically you cut through the batter and then scrape through the sides as to incorporate everything evenly. The reason is that you’ve just created air in the batter first by creaming of the butter and sugar and then with the magical powers of the eggs….so you don’t t want to beat it up and knock all the air out and end up with a tough cake. So be gentle with it.

4. Once its all smooth and well incorporated, you can dump it in your tin and with a pallet knife level the top.

5. Bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until golden and the sponge springs back when pressed lightly.

6. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes. (I didn’t remove my cake from the tin but if you want to then you can remove it from the tin using the baking paper. Carefully remove the paper and allow the cake to cool on a wire rack.) Prick the cake all over the top with a fork. This will allow the topping to sink into the cake a little way and imbue it with lovely lemony sugary mmmmm-ness.

7. While the cake is cooling, mix the DRIZZLE ingredients together in a small bowl till the sugar dissolves . Drizzle the topping over the cake while it’s still slightly warm. When the cake cools, this ‘syrup’ forms a crunchy lemony sugary glaze. ENJOY.