Lemon drizzle cake is a real classic, one we all know and most of us love. There are few things I enjoy more than a wedge of light, moist (sorry) lemon cake with crunchy lemon icing and a cup of tea.
For the cake
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 120 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 200 g caster sugar
- 2 large lemons, zest unwaxed
- 100 ml sunflower oil
- 160 ml water
- 2 large lemons, juice
For the lemon drizzle
- 1 large lemon, juice
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
For the lemon icing
- 2 large lemons, juice
- icing sugar
Instructions : For the cake
- Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin. You can use dairy-free spread in place of butter to grease the tin. Or you can use a loaf tin liner.
- Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, caster sugar and lemon zest to the bowl of a stand mixer and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
- In a jug, measure out your oil, water and lemon juice and mix well before adding into the dry ingredients. Set your stand mixer on a low speed, gradually increasing the speed until you have a smooth and silky cake batter, this should only take a minute at the most if you’re using a stand mixer, be careful not to over mix.
- Pour the batter into your tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. I do a quick check at 30 minutes but find the cake usually needs around 37 minutes to be cooked through.
For the lemon drizzle
- When your cake is nearly ready to come out of the oven add the lemon juice and granulated sugar to a small bowl and mix to combine.
- Once the cake is baked, remove from the oven and pierce with a skewer. Pour one to two teaspoons of drizzle over the cake and then use a silicone pastry brush to brush the rest of the syrup over the cake. Leave the cake to cool for 10/15 minutes in the tin.
For the lemon icing
- Add the icing sugar to a bowl and slowly add the lemon juice a tablespoon at a time until you have your desired consistency. Sometimes I like to make a really lemon-y but quite thin icing but for this cake I made a thicker, spreadable icing for a good crunchy coating. Once you’re happy with your icing, spread over the cake.
- The cake will keep for 2 days in an airtight container but is best eaten within 24 hours.
