Tart, zingy and fresh citrus flavours give this Lemon Drizzle Cake provides a real feel of Spring and hot summer days!
Until the last few months, I have avoided baking. Period. Despite my love for watching Bakeoff and the contestants’ many successes. The failures are also a lot of fun, it always makes me feel a little better knowing I’m not the only one that has never really mastered this skill. I can sit here and blame the oven knowing that there is a lot of truth in that. My oven in the UK just wasn’t up to the job, but the level of precision required is also quite scary. Since being in Spain I’ve started to experiment a bit more and this cake, so far, deserves my top billing!
A mid-morning break with a cup of tea and a piece of cake, an afternoon treat or just a late-night nibble – this Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe will hopefully add a bit of sunshine to the occasion.
I’m lucky enough to live in an area where we have lots of citrus groves around us; we’re often given a bag of oranges, lemons or grapefruit when friends visit. Either collected from their own trees of those of their neighbours and re-gifted.
There’s an abundant supply of fresh citrus fruit wherever you go, so this is my nod to the very much loved Lemon Drizzle Cake.
I’ve also used a variety of Citrus fruit to make my own cordials, as well as Limoncello, a recipe taught to me by Siobhan and her husband Andrew, who also made the move from Lincolnshire to the Spanish town of Cantoria in Andalusia. I’ll include that recipe in a future post.
Lemon and Rum Drizzle Cake
Equipment
- 2lb Loaf Tin
- Electric or Hand Whisk
- Spatula
- Loaf tin cake liner or greaseproof paper
- Zest Grater
- Fork or Citrus Juicer
- Small jug
Ingredients
Loaf Cake
- 225 g unsalted butter softened
- 225 g caster sugar golden or lemon. Note 1
- 4 eggs
- 225 g self-raising flour
- 1 lemon zested
Drizzle Icing
- 2 lemons juiced and zested
- 85 g caster sugar golden or lemon. Note 1
- 2 tbsp spiced rum optional
- 100 g icing sugar
Instructions
Baking the Cake
- Heat the oven to 180°c (160°c for fan ovens)
- Mix together the butter and caster sugar until it takes on a pale and lighter creamy colour. You can do this with a wooden spoon or a whisk.
- Sift in the self-raising flour and the lemon zest, mix until all the ingredients are well combined and you have a thick cake batter.
- Place the liner into the loaf tin, or if using greaseproof paper then butter the tin and carefully line making sure that the cake mix can't stick to the tin.
- Add the cake batter to the tin and give it a good bash on a wooden chopping board to ensure the mix fills the liner/tin right into the corners.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, checking after about 35 minutes. If there's no wobble and a thin metal kebab skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, then you're done. Leave the cake to cool in the tin whilst you prepare the syrup.
Lemon Cake Syrup
- In a small jug, use the fork or a zester to juice the lemons. Add the sugar, rum and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
- Reserve ¼ of the syrup in a small cup. Pierce the cake with the skewer, then gently pour over the syrup so that it soaks into the cake. Any remaining syrup will coat the top of the cake with a crisp sugar crust.
- Once fully cooled removed the cake from the tin and place on a serving dish or platter removing the liner or greaseproof paper.
- Mix the reserved syrup with the icing sugar until you have a smooth thick consistency and then gently pour down the length of the cake. Don't worry if any drizzles down the size, that's what you want after all!
- Leave the cake to allow the icing to set and then serve. The cake will keep in an airtight container for 4-5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
Notes
- I prefer to use golden caster sugar, it has a stronger caramel flavour. Alternatively, you can use Lemon scented caster sugar as well.
Nutrition
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