A little drizzle!

This past weekend we had my Mum's hen do. I offered to bake a cake and some scones for the afternoon tea part of the party.

My all time favourite cake is a traditional Victoria Sponge, but it's closely followed by a lemon drizzle loaf. If you fancy making this deliciously moist simple bake then read below...

Ingredients:
I always follow the same rule when making a sponge, equal measures of everything! My 'go to' amounts are:
175g butter (I use Asda's Best for Baking which is dairy free)
175g sugar (most recipes say to use caster sugar, but I actually prefer to use standard granulated sugar for a Lemon Drizzle cake, as it gives a slightly heavier and denser sponge)
3 large eggs (room temperature)
175g self raising flour
a large heaped tablespoon of baking powder (rise baby rise!)
one lemon
Icing sugar (around 12 tablespoons)

What to do:
I have a mixer, if you have the same thing then put the butter, sugar & eggs in to the mixer and mix on a fairly high speed for a couple of minutes. If you don't have a mixer, first beat the sugar and butter together, then add the eggs.

whizz whizz whizz

This is what you're aiming for once everything's suitably mixed.

 Once it looks all lovely and dreamily creamy, weigh out your self raising flour and add it to the mix. If you have a sieve handy, use it, as you'll get a lot more air in the mix and that'll help it to rise. Add your baking powder at this point too. Before you mix everything together, grate the rind of one lemon in to the mix. I use a standard cheese grater to do this, but just use the fine side. Don't grate the lemon too much, you want to avoid getting any of the white stuff in! Keep a hold of the lemon.

Once it's all combined, it'll look like this:

I use a silicone baking tin, as I find them so much easier to get the baked goodness out of! I still line it with some baking paper, as I just love the 'WI' style look of a lemon drizzle wrapped, it will also help your cake to soak up the lemon-y goodness.

Once you've poured the mixture in to the tin, bake in the oven on 180 (fan) or 200 if you don't have a fan. Mine takes 30 minutes, but I've learnt in my time that every oven is different, and the only way you're going to produce beautiful cakes is by getting to know your oven. Check back on the cake (but try not to open the door) every 5 minutes or so once it's been in there for 20 mins. You'll know when it's ready because it'll have a lovely golden top and if you insert a sharp knife in to the middle then it'll come out clean! Another way I check is by just giving it a quick shake, if the middle is firm then you're done.

Whilst the cake is cooling, make your lemon syrup by adding a generous amount of icing sugar (I use around 12 tablespoons) and adding the juice of the lemon to this. To get the most out of your lemon, give it a gentle roll on the worktop and pop it in the microwave for 5 seconds, then use a juicer if you have one (if you don't just squeeze the lemon over a jug or glass before adding to the icing sugar so that you don't get the pips in there). Stir the lemon juice in to the icing sugar until it forms a syrup. Sometimes I add more icing sugar or if it's not quite runny enough, a little drop of water. You want it to be glossy, but easy to pour.

Make some holes in the top of your cake either using a skewer or a fork so that the syrup can run in to those and settle in to the cake, when you're ready, pour your lemon syrup on the cake (whilst it's still in the baking tray) and then leave it to cool completely.

I always find that Lemon Drizzle is best made the day before, so that the drizzle can really soak in... but I often can't wait that long because it smells SOOOOO good.

mmmmm.

My favourite bit... next to eating it!

 

 

Let me know if you give it a try!

Ems xx