If you've watched this year's Great British Bake Off kick off then you've seen some weird and wonderful variations of the classic Lemon Drizzle cake, and are probably still drooling over the thought of them. This encouraged me to whip up my own lemon drizzle, a recipe from Mary Berry herself. I'll be honest, this is a regular occurrence in my household but at least this time there was an excuse. It's the basic recipe, which has been so good to me that I've never thought to change it as the contestants did. Maybe one day!
The recipe makes 16 slices, of decent size. You'll need a 30x23cm (12x9in) tin that's 4cm (1 1/2in) deep (I found mine at sainsburys).
- Preheat your oven to 180 celsius, (fan 160C, 350F or Gas4). Grease your tin and line the base with baking parchment.
- Place 225g butter, 225g caster sugar, 275g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 4 large eggs, 4 tbsp milk, and the grated zest of 2 lemons in a large bowl and beat until smooth. The butter should be room temperature. If not, cut into cubes and microwave for 10-20 seconds. Be careful not to melt it. The mixing should take 2-ish minutes with an electric mixer or 3-4 with a wooden spoon.
- Turn the mixture into your lined tin, and use a spatula to smooth it out.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until risen and springy to touch.
- Once removed from the oven, loosen the edges from the tin with a knife and transfer the cake onto a wire rack.
- Mix the juice of 2 lemons with 175g sugar and spoon over the cake whilst it's still warm, this will ensure the lemon sinks into the mixture and keeps the cake moist.
- Once the cake has cooled, cut into 16 rectangular slices.
It is really that simple! The prep takes 10-15 minutes before cooking, and a few minutes after. If your family are like mine, the 16 slices will turn into 1 within a day or two.
Top tip: To get the most juice out of the lemon, either roll them on a chopping board to loosen the insides, or cut them in half widthways and pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Be careful - they'll be hot after, but you'll be shocked at how much more juice will come from them. To juice them, press half of a lemon over a lemon squeezer (these are cheap and can be found in any supermarket, or stores with kitchen departments. Think Lakeland and Tiger). Twist and turn until the lemon looks empty, and then drain the pith and pips before adding to the recipe for the glaze. If you're doing this slightly in advance, pop the juice in the fridge in an airtight container to keep it fresh.
Let me know if you try this recipe!
Alice.
