How to bake: this is the only recipe for lemon drizzle cake you'll ever need

Though there are several iterations of lemon drizzle - the more modern of which include ground almonds for added depth - I prefer the tried and true sponge method. 

Who does what

Mary Berry throws caution to the wind and suggests adding all the ingredients at once to a mixer and working the dough at speed. This frightens me - a slave to tradition - so I prefer to cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy, adding eggs one by one and then finally the flour. 

Mind your lemons

While we are all watching the cost of our shopping bills at the moment, it's important for this recipe to buy unwaxed lemons if you can. You will find them mostly in the organic section of your local supermarket - I find that they are costing in the region of €1 per fruit, which I know is higher than you might expect. 

If there are no unwaxed lemons available in your locality or budget does not stretch to them right now, then do not worry. Submerge your lemons in hot water prior to zesting them and give them a good scrub with a clean kitchen scrubber to remove the wax before you grate the zest into your mixture. Your taste buds and your tummy will thank you for it. 

How to do it

One of the most helpful lessons I have picked up on my baking journey is preparation. I ensure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature at the beginning unless specified otherwise in the recipe. That way the temperature and texture of the mixture will not be affected before it goes into the oven. 

In all but high summer I keep my butter in the press, so that it is spreadable at all times. Likewise, I do not keep my eggs in the fridge. Eggs for baking should always be used at room temperature, so if you keep your eggs refrigerated, take them out an hour or two before you begin. 

Don't forget the drizzle

Finally, let's talk about the drizzle of your lemon drizzle cake. There are several routes you can go down, each of which will result in a different but equally delicious result. If you make your drizzle with caster sugar simply stirred into lemon juice and poured over the cake you will have a crunchy topping to your cake. If you heat the sugar and lemon juice together until dissolved and pour that over your cake, you will have a sticky topping to your cake and if you mix icing sugar and lemon juice and pour it on top of your warm cake you will have a glazed top, similar to that of a glazed doughnut. The choice is yours. 

Lemon drizzle cake

Allen Recipe By:darina

To Four This Up Well Tin A Days Sealed In Cake Keeps For

Servings

10

Time Preparation

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 50 mins

Time Total

 1 hours 5 mins

Course

 Baking

ingredients

• 175g Butter

• Caster Sugar 175g

• 2 Extra Sugar Tbsp Caster

• Eggs 3

• Flour 175g Raising Self

• Juice Of 1 lemon Zest And

method

1. Oven Preheat 180°c The To

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3. Bake Should Approximately Centre Into To A Oven The Out Skewer Golden For Of The Brown 60 Clean Until Cake Of Inserted Firm Minutes, And The Centre In 50 E The Touch

4. The 2 Sugar To Boil Meanwhile Of Strain The Is And Dissolved Minutes In The Juice Until A Caster The Mixture Saucepan Tablespoons For 2 Add Small Sugar The Of It Together Lemon

5. The Remove Fine The The It Skewer And Leave Lightly Surface Tin, Cake In The From A Prick With Oven

6. Ten A Minutes Of Before Oven, Cold The Out It Lemon Syrup After Cake Serve Is Over The To The Bee Pour It Plate To Turning Onto Leaving