Anyone that knows me in person will know of my lemon drizzle cake, it’s my go to when baking for a birthday or special occasion, it’s just one of those cakes everyone loves. People often ask me for my recipe, and I would always reply with oh it’s just something I throw together… because quite honestly it started as a solid recipe but then once memorized began to evolve over time. So now that I’m sharing all my baking secrets and tried and tested cakes, I thought it was time to put my recipe down on paper for all of you lovely people. 

This cake can be adapted for a loaf tin or a round tin, I would use the same volumes of ingredients as my lemon and poppyseed loaf as this will fit an average cake tin easily. But I would keep the amount of lemon and zest the same, as the crowning glory of this cake is its super zingy/tangy flavour, a lemon cake must taste of lemon after all! 

As always tag and share any of your bakes on Instagram, I love to see your creations! 

Ingredients

For the Sponge -

350 g butter

350 g castor sugar

400 g flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

4 large eggs

150 g butter milk (you can use natural yoghurt, Kefir or sour cream)

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

For the Drizzle -

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

50 g granulated sugar

To Decorate -

300 g icing sugar

Juice of 1 lemon (approx)

Lemon zest

2 to 3 tbs granulated sugar

Lemon curd

Method

1 – 

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees C and grease your bundt tin liberally.

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine your butter and sugar and beat on a medium high speed until very light and fluffy. Make sure you stop occasionally to scrape down the bowl and beater to ensure there is no unincorporated butter. Add your lemon zest. This process should take 5 to 10 mins depending on the power of your mixer. 

2 – 

While the butter and sugar are mixing, measure out and sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set this to one side.

3 – 

Once your butter and sugar are pale and fluffy, slowly start to add the eggs, one at a time, ensuring they are fully incorporated. Once the eggs have been incorporated, begin to gently fold in your dry ingredients, alternating with the lemon juice and butter milk. You can mix the lemon juice and butter milk together to make this mixing process easier. I typically do this in thirds and mix until only just combined, ensuring that no dry spots remain. Be careful not to over mix as this can lead to a tough chewy cake. 

4 – 

Transfer your batter to your prepared tin and level it off to ensure an even rise. Bake in the middle of your preheated oven for 50 mins to 1 hour or until deeply golden and a skewer, when inserted in the middle, comes out clean. You may want to cover with tin foil part way through should it brown too much.

5 -

Whilst the cake is baking, prepare your drizzle; add your lemon juice, zest and sugar to a pan and heat until it thickens slightly into a light syrup. Set aside to cool slightly - you will want this to still be warm when applying to the cake.

Once the cake is fully cooked, remove your cake from the oven and, using a toothpick or a skewer, poke holes all over the cake. Using a pastry brush or a spoon, apply about half of your drizzle over the cake, letting it soak in fully. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 mins and then remove to a wire rack. At this point, brush the cake with the remaining drizzle and allow to cool completely.

This is where you can add the final lemon zest, zested in long strips, into the sugar and allow it to sit and almost candy. This will take about 20 mins.

To decorate – 

In a large bowl, add your icing sugar and 2 tbs of your lemon juice and mix with a spatula to dissolve the sugar. You are looking for a very thick but pourable icing. Using an electric whisk, whisk the icing to make it smoother and whiter (lemon icing can be a little yellow). You can add more lemon juice if you would like a thinner icing. 

Set the cake on a wire rack over a baking tray (to catch any runoff) and liberally and evenly spread your icing over the top of the cake, allowing it to gently run down the sides. Once done, allow to set for 10 mins then liberally drizzle with your lemon curd and sprinkle the top with the prepared lemon zest. Cover and allow the icing to set fully and then slice and serve. You can store this cake for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.