Zingy Lemon Drizzle Cake

After a week of nagging from my brother, I made him his promised lemon drizzle cake! If he could eat this all day everyday he would and frankly, I don’t blame him. This is a moist sponge with a sugary, lemony drizzle – great for making in a hurry, and doesn’t involve as much washing up as normal icing (yay!). Even my Dad praised this (praise indeed): after taking a mouthful and chewing slowly, he put down his plate and put up his thumbs…
‘Can I have another piece?’
If I could make my family this happy all the time, I would, so I am going to continue baking them cakes to keep them jubilant. Hopefully this burst of citrus can chase away the blues of cold, wet November days – I spent an hour this morning playing netball in the pouring rain, puddles and what felt like almost antarctic conditions – coming back to a hot chocolate, hot bath and warm cake was like a gigantic hug. Anyhoo, as interesting as my anecdotes are, you’re probably thinking ‘Get on with the damn thing!’ Right, well I shall.

Zingy Lemon Drizzle Cake
You need:
SPONGE
175g/6oz butter
175g/6oz sugar
3 eggs
175g/6oz self raising flour
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

DRIZZLE
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1-1.5 lemons
75g/3oz sugar

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan. As with all basic sponges, cream the butter and sugar until pale. Beat in the eggs and then mix in the flour until well combined.

2) Then, mix in the lemon and lemon zest, adding more if you like it really tangy. Pour the mixture into a lined loaf tin (2lb) or an 8 inch cake tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes (this cake can really vary, but a skewer should come out clean).

3) Leave until warm, then turn out of the tin. Prick the top of the sponge with a fork (the drizzle will then soak into the sponge and make it gorgeously moist – the queen of all words (Miranda?)) In a small bowl combine all the ingredients for the drizzle (don’t worry, the sugar isn’t meant to dissolve) pour evenly over the top of the sponge and eat!

As you can see, this recipe is oh so simple and lemon is probably the best cake flavour ever. Also, this recipe is all my own (as is everything on my blog, unless credited otherwise) I would love to hear what you think about it, so drop me a tweet or a little comment – it would mean a lot. Allez or venga venga (‘go’ in french and spanish) bake away and try to save some cake people other than yourself – I know it’s hard x