Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake

A moist Lemon sponge infused with a rich lemon syrup.

 

This Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake is soft, moist and full of the strong signature lemon flavour. This cheap and cheerful cake is a crowd pleaser and can easily be made with different flours to make it gluten free. This loaf cake can help relax a busy office environment, or make everyone hungry for another slice, either or. None of which are bad options if you ask me.




Equipment:

  • A wooden spoon

  • A large bowl

  • Tbsp & tsp measure and scales

  • 1 large loaf tin

 

Ingredients:

  • 225g Butter

  • 225g Caster sugar

  • 4 eggs

  • 225 self raising flour

  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced

  • Shop bought lemon juice

  • 85g caster sugar.

 

Method:

  1. Turn your oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ gas 4

  2. Place the butter and (225g) caster sugar in a bowl and cream them together. Cream?, glad you asked, it is another one of those techniques you are just expected to know in any recipe. Basically use a wooden spoon and push the butter into the sugar. Tilt the bowl slightly and very slowly push the butter into the sugar by pushing the spoon into the side of the bowl, then take the butter mix away from the bowl edge and scoop in more sugar. And repeat, yes this takes a long time, but is definitely worth it.

  3. Now crack in the eggs. It is vital that you mix in only one egg at a time into the mix. When you’ve added one egg mix until the egg has been completely combined into the mixture. Then add another egg.

  4. Now fold in the flour. Folding?, glad you asked, it’s simple to do. Hard to do correctly. I suggest using a silicone spatula, scoop the mixture off of the edges of the bowl and in a single stroke cut through the centre of your mixture. Repeat this again, making sure to pull the bottom of the mixture to the top to slowly mix in the flour.

  5. Pour this mix into the loaf tin, or multiple smaller loaf tins.

  6. Bake for 30 minutes and then check if it’s cooked, take a blunt knife and push it into the most risen part of the mix. If the mixture, or any of the mixture on the knife is still “wet” then place back in the oven.

  7. While cooking measure the caster sugar and mix the lemon juice and the caster sugar together. If the mixture is not liquid enough add some of the shop bought lemon juice until the sugar has seemingly dissolved into the mix or no bits of sugar can be seen.

  8. Once the loaf is cooked, take it out of the oven. Quickly use a blunt knife to poke many hole in the loaf but don’t hit the tin, so don’t push the knife in all the way. How many holes is enough holes, well if a section of the bake soesn’t have a hole close to it it will have a weaker lemon flavour, so fill the bake with as many insertion points as you feel necessary. I did around 12.

  9. Pour the lemon syrup onto the bake and continue pouring until you run out of syrup. Now leave to cool in the tin.

  10. Once cool, cut the cake out of the tin and serve. The heat from the cake cooling will turn the sugar into a crisp layer around the cake.

  11. Eat this cake now, or put in the fridge, lasts a few days.