Lemon Cake (a dressed up Lemon Drizzle)

I’m not a fan of lemon drizzle cake. This is because, when I think of lemon drizzle cake, I think of the dense, overly sweet and sometimes oily, packaged version you can find in many commercial chains or served at any public gathering.

So imagine my surprised when I baked a lemon drizzle cake which came out fluffy, moist - without being greasy - and with a fresh, lemon taste. It was a recipe from Emma Duckworth and I think she nailed it. It remains, to this date, my favourite lemon cake.

In the version below, I used the recipe to make a more grown up version of the cake by baking it in a round tin and decorating it with candied lemons and blackberries.

Note that you could sub the lemon for any other citrus fruit to transform this into an orange, grapefruit or lime cake.

Slightly adapted from Simply Sweet Nostalgic Bakes

For the Lemon Cake:

230g unsalted butter, COOL room temperature

175g caster sugar

Zest of 2 lemons

3 eggs, room temperature

220g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

For the Lemon Cake:

65g sugar

80ml fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

For the glaze:

120g icing sugar

30ml fresh lemon juice

Lemon Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a 8” cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper (you could also bake this in a 9x5 inch loaf pan).

  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs. Set aside.

  4. In a small bowl, rub together the sugar and lemon zest with your fingertips. This will help release the fragrant citrus oil.

  5. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Scape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

  6. With the mixer running on low speed, add the egg mixture little bit at a time, beating well between additions to make sure the egg is well incorporated into the mix before adding more. This will help prevent your batter from split. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

  7. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.

  8. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.

Lemon Syrup

  1. While the cake is in the oven, make the lemon syrup by combining the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan.

  2. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat.

  3. Once the cake is inverted onto the wire rack, prick the still hot cake all over with a skewer before carefully pouring the warm syrup over it. Allow the cake to cool completely.

Glaze

  1. Sift the icing sugar into a medium medium bowl and whisk in the lemon juice until you have a smooth glaze. Adjust the consistency by adding either more lemon juice (or water) or icing sugar until you reach the desired thickness.

  2. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake.

Laurence ReevesComment