Lemon Drizzle Cake..

 

As we were expecting Little Miss Eating-for-Ireland home for the weekend, I made the amateur error of texting her to ask if she had any special baking requests.. Usually the requests are fairly predicable, but that child likes to keep me on my toes, so she slung a request for a Lemon Drizzle Cake my way.

Lemon Drizzle used to be a weekly treat at home, but I had got out of the way of it. However when I looked on the website – www.eatingforireland.com in case you forgot where you were for a minute 😉 – for the recipe, I realised that I hadn’t shared it with you.. apologies! That’s fixed now

If you’re not a fan of drizzle, I love this cake topped with a simple lemon-flavoured icing too.

It’s perfect a Bank Holiday weekend cake, if you have expected or  – better -still – unexpected guests!

EQUIPMENT:                                               

•  A 2lb loaf tin, or two 1lb ones. See NOTES 1
• baking parchment or ready-made liners
• a sieve
• Electric beater
• A lemon zester
• A juicer
• A small bowl
• A jug for the eggs
• A spatula to fold in the flour
• A jug (for the drizzle mixture)

INGREDIENTS: – this recipe makes two 2lb cakes, so half the recipe if you only want one!

• 300g Self-Raising flour
• 1 level teaspoon of Baking powder

• 300g butter or baking spread – I use Golden Cow, in a tub.
• 300g caster sugar
• 50g Cornflour
• 300g of eggs – see NOTES 2 
• 3* large unwaxed lemons, zested, and the juice squeezed into a jug. *You’ll need a total of  200mls of juice, so you may need more lemons. See NOTES 4 and 5

For the Drizzle: I make this while the cake’s cooking, then put it aside. See NOTES 6

• 200g caster sugar
• 100mls lemon juice – Mix both together and stir until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

METHOD:

• Heat the oven to 160 Fan
• Line the cake tin(s) see NOTE 3
• Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder together into a bowl.
• Crack the eggs  into a jug, weigh them, and beat together for a minute or so.

• Beat the sugar and butter together until they become light and fluffy – about 10 minutes.
• Add the beaten eggs in 2-3 batches, beating well between additions
• Add the Lemon zest and 100mls of the Lemon juice, and whisk again.
• Sift in the flour in two or three batches, folding in gently but thoroughly, with the spatula.
• Divide the mixture between the tin(s) and pop in the oven.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
• Put the tins onto a cooling rack for a couple of minutes. Leave the cakes in the tins.

• Prick all over the top of the cake with a fork or skewer, then spoon over the Drizzle .

• Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin.

NOTES:

1. I’ve got 3 different loaf tins, and not one of them says what size they are – the ones in these pictures measure 23 x 12 x 6 cms each.
2. It’s actually very common for proper bakers (I don’t consider myself to be a ‘proper’ Baker) to weigh their eggs – this means that the amount of eggs in the mixture equals the quantities of butter, sugar and flour.  300g of eggs is about 5 or 6, depending on size. I use Large eggs always, so 5 is usually enough. My Cake-making friend Liz uses this system all the time, and if it’s ok for her..
3. In my role as the epitome of bone-idleness, I use  ready-made loaf-tin liners. It’s my only indulgence..  😉 Truthfully, they’re also really handy when making this particular cake as the drizzle stays inside the liner, as it’s meant to. Also, a box of liners lasts forever!
4. The lemon flavour in the cake really comes from the Lemon zest, so if your lemons were not particularly juicy, just add half of whatever juice you got and leave the rest for the drizzle.
5. Unwaxed fruit is available in the shops, but if you have the waxed variety, just wash them under a warm tap, giving them a gentle scrub with a vegetable brush. Dry them before zesting etc.
6. I don’t always use the drizzle on both cakes – I often like to use my Lemon Icing for the second cake. It’s literally Icing sugar and lemon juice, so it’s very easy. In that case I wouldn’t make up the whole drizzle recipe. 10g of caster sugar to 10mls of lemon juice is an easy way to decide how much drizzle you need.
7. Don’t forget that you can use lemon, limes 0r oranges for this recipe! I used a lime to make the icing for the cake below, as I had only one lemon and -ahem- someone might need it for a G+T 😉