Irresistible Lemon Drizzle Cake

 

Could this be the perfect cake? Sweet, zingy, extremely moist and light as a feather. It's definitely one of my family's favourites. I've just been asked to make one for my father-in-law's birthday - it always goes down a treat.

I found this recipe in my River Cottage Cookbook. It can also be found online: Link to online recipe 

It's a victoria sponge mixture (equal parts butter, sugar and self raising flour with 3 eggs and added finely chopped lemon zest).

Top tips:

1. Make sure you cream the sugar and butter first for about 10 minutes until it's really light, pale and fluffy - this will make the cake really light.

2. Add a spoonful of flour with each egg to stop the mixture from splitting.

3. Spoon the flour into the wet mixture using a metal knife and fold delicately; this will help retain air and keep the cake light and lovely.

After baking in the oven for 45 mins you will need to pierce the entire top of the cake with a skewer (or cocktail stick) and gradually spoon over a mixture of icing sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice. The first time I did this I thought there was too much syrup and it would be too sweet - this is not the case - the more syrup the better! Take your time and keep spooning it on until it dissolves through the crust of the cake. Just before the syrup dries I like to sprinkle on poppy seeds to make it look even more appetising.

If you take your time, stick to the recipe and use these top tips I promise you will not regret it... Enjoy!