The Perfect Lemon Drizzle Cake

Ever since I discovered Lemon Drizzle Cakes, I've loved them to bits (bites?). The first recipe I ever tried was Jamie Oliver Nan's Lemon Drizzle Cake. I now know it to be the Lemon Drizzle I least liked. It was too sour, too full of poppy seeds and just too much going on. 

Then I tried the Lemon Drizzle Cake from my favourite recipe site. Now, this is was a Lemon Drizzle I liked. No frills, straight-up, pure lemony goodness with a delectable melt-y icing sugar glaze. I made and fed this recipe to hoards of Hungries who lapped-up every last crumb of it. 

My love for this cake was still going strong when I googled Felicity Cloake's amazing little Perfect blog for Chocolate Cake. Er... what? Chocolate? Where did that come from? Sigh. I was having a craving okay? For a perfect Chocolate Cake, so I went to Felicity and then got distracted instead with the Lemon Drizzle she had made... and I'm still distracted. 

I've made this cake thrice in the space of 2 weeks and I still cannot get enough of it. You know how when you were little, you could stuff yourself silly with your favourite sweet, feel very peculiar after, swear you won't eat so much of it ever again and yet still do when the next opportunity presents itself peculiarity be damned? Well... this is my problem with this cake. I'm addicted.  

To answer Felicity's questions - This IS a big wet sticky kiss of a teatime treat, not a damp squib and YES Lemon is the best-est choice ever!

No fancy photos for this cake. Sorry. It was made with eating in mind, not photography. 

PERFECT LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

Adapted from Felicity Cloake

175g salted Butter, softened

175g Caster Sugar

2 Lemons, zested and juiced

3 Eggs

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

100g Self-Raising Flour

75g Ground Almonds

5 heaping tablespoons Icing Sugar

1 tablespoon Demerara Sugar 

Preheat the oven at 140 Celsius. Butter, flour and line a 2-pound loaf tin. Whisk the Flour and Almonds together in a bowl and set aside. Zest and juice the Lemons. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream Butter, Sugar and Lemon zest with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add in the Eggs one by one mixing well after each addition. Add in the Vanilla and mix that in. Gently fold in the Flour and Almonds set aside earlier.  

Scrap batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30 - 40 minutes at 150 Celsius or until a skewer poked through the centre comes out clean. While hot, use the skewer to poke holes all over the cake. 

In a small jug combine, the Sugars and Lemon juice to make a runny syrup. Pour over hot cake in spoonfuls waiting for the cake to absorb one lot before adding the next. Let cake cool in the tin before removing onto a platter for serving. 

[The only reason I didn't follow Felicity's recipe to a 't' is because the batter didn't need the Milk; I don't like eggy cakes, so Vanilla is a must; and I happen to like Icing Sugar.]