The Perfect Lemon Drizzle Cake
For me, the Great British Summertime brings the promise of tea and cake served alfresco. I love nothing more than pitching my picnic blanket out in the countryside, along with my trusty picnic hamper and a cheeky glass of something bubbly!My very favourite Summertime cake is Lemon Cake. I agonised for months working on the very best recipe for a Lemon Cake that would be light and zesty, positively bursting with lemon, whilst also being sweet and slightly sticky. There is little more disappointing that a dry, bland Lemon Cake!
This recipe incorporates the classic lemon drizzle method, with the cake doused in lemon syrup as soon as it is removed from the oven. I have also included ground almonds and lemon curd in the cake mix, both ingredients keeping the sponge moist and sticky. This one rises really nicely and creates a very pale, even sponge. I cannot stress enough that your cake will only taste as good as your lemons – organic, unwaxed, the best that you can get your hands on will make this cake something really special.
You may find that you end up with quite a lot of cake mixture with these ingredients. Worry not as this sponge rises very evenly and you should end up with a lovely deep cake. All ingredients need to be at room temperature before you get started so bring them out of the fridge the night before if you can.
Ingredients for an 8" Lemon Drizzle Cake:
- 300g butter
- 400g caster sugar
- Zest and juice 3 lemons
- 8 large free range eggs
- 300g self-raising flour
- 250g ground almonds
- 2tsp baking powder
- 8tbsp lemon curd
Oven temperature: 160C
Method
1) Cream the butter and the sugar until almost white. Seriously, the minute you think you are done creaming, add on another 5 minutes. This is best done in a free-standing mixer, to avoid a very tired arm! I use a KitchenAid with the flat paddle attachment and prepare my other ingredients while it does all the hard work.
2) Beat the eggs in a jug and add the lemon zest and juice to this. Gradually incorporate this mixture into the butter and sugar, mixing all the time and adding a teaspoon of flour if the mix begins to curdle.
3) Add the lemon curd and mix through.
4) Combine your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and fold these into the wet mixture a third at a time.
5) Divide the mixture between two lined sandwich tins, filling them approximately two thirds full, and bake for approximately 45 minutes. The cakes are done when a skewer comes out clean.
Ingredients required for Lemon Syrup
Juice of 4 lemons
120g caster sugar
1) Heat the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the syrup is perfectly translucent.
2) As soon as you remove the cakes from the oven, poke them right down to the bottom of the tin in several places with a skewer. Pour all of the syrup over the top of the cakes but leave each pouring of syrup to soak in before you add more rather than allowing a puddle to collect on top. Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely.
Ingredients for Lemon Cheesecake Frosting
- 125g butter
- 125g cream cheese
- 2tsbp lemon curd
- 500g icing sugar
1) Cream the butter until smooth. Allow 3 minutes for this in your freestanding mixer.
2) Add 2tsbp of lemon curd and beat until incorporated.
3) Add half of the icing sugar, followed by half of the cream cheese. Repeat this with the remaining icing sugar and cream cheese and process until smooth.
4) Spread one of your sponge layers with a generous helping of frosting and sandwich the layers together with the filling in the middle. You can also use this frosting to top and cover your cake if you wish or just give the cake a dusting of icing sugar.
Charlotte White is a professional cake designer based in London. Her company, Restoration Cake (www.restorationcake.co.uk), has a reputation for creating stunning bespoke celebration cakes that taste as good as they look. Charlotte's first book is due for release in Spring 2014.