When life gives you lemons, well, who among us would actually make lemonade? Not me, for one! A moist, fluffy, sweet-but-tangy lemon cake? Now you’re talking!
It was one of those weeks in the office, where nobody has brought us cake / chocolate / biscuits / sweets (yes, we are very spoilt, and it’s amazing), and free highlighter pens just don’t quite help with sugar cravings in the same way….
I had some lemons in the bottom of the fridge that had been need a use for a week or so now, and after a long conversation about lemon cake in the office the previous week, whereby we decided it was the best cake for all our tastes, well, it was a match made in heaven really!
After flicking through several recipes, I settled on a lemon drizzle cake recipe that I can’t for the life of me find now. I upped the lemon so it had more flavour, and, as you’ll see, split it into two cakes so I had one for work, and a smaller one to take with me for dinner at a friends the next evening.
The only difference between making these and one big loaf (other than the tin size!), would be the cooking time, which you’d need to up to around 45 minutes, if not more, to make sure it’s thoroughly cooked in the middle.
Ingredients
225g butter
225g white sugar (caster or granulated)
3 eggs
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
Juice and finely grated rind of 2 lemons
For the sugar crust
Juice and finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon
80g white sugar
For the lemon icing
Juice and finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon
80g icing sugar
Method
- Make as per normal sponge cakes – beat the sugar and butter until fluffy, add the eggs and flavouring, then fold in the sieved flour and baking powder
- pour into your prepared tin(s) and bake at 180 degrees C for 25- 30 minutes (2 cakes) or 45-60 minutes (1 big cake), until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean
- if topping with the sugar crust: keep the cake in its tin, and lightly prick small holes all over the with a thin skewer. Mix the sugar and lemon together, and pour all over the top of the cake. Leave in the tin until cool, when the sugar will have formed a crust in the top
- If topping with lemon icing: take the cake out of its tin and allow to cool completely. Mix the icing sugar and lemon well; and pour all over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy! One recipe and two light, fluffy and so deliciously lemony loaf cakes.
Best enjoyed in big, thick slices. YUM!
