When I think of summer one of the first flavours that comes to mind is lemon! It is so refreshing and bright, and pairs well with a lot of other flavours. Lemon drizzle cake is one of my favourite desserts – the cake is intriguingly fluffy and dense at the same time, meaning it is nice and soft, but perfectly moist as well. The sponge itself is nice and zesty, while the drizzle is tangy and lemony. The poppy seeds are a great addition too, because they give a lovely crunch to your bite and an appealing look! In this recipe I will show you just how easy it is to make this great cake with a tip on how to make that signature dome of a loaf cake. The method is very straightforward – called all-in-one method, you literally put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix – it’s that simple!
Ingredients:
- 225 g plain flour
- 225 g caster sugar
- 10 g baking powder
- 225 g unsalted butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 20 g poppy seeds
- 85 g caster sugar + juice of 1 lemon
PRO TIP:
To achieve that bakery style, perfectly domed top with that lovely crack in the middle, pipe a line of softened butter down the middle of the loaf pre-baking! Simple!
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a loaf tin with some butter and parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place the flour, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl and stir together just to evenly distribute the baking powder.
- Add in the poppy seeds, lemon zest, butter and eggs. Using a wooden spoon or a mixer of your choice, mix until all the ingredients are combined and homogenous, for about 2 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and if you want, look at the pro tip to see how to achieve that bakery style domed top.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes check if the cake is browning too much, it will probably not be cooked yet. If it is getting dark, cover it lightly with some aluminium foil and bake for another 20 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick from the centre comes out clean and when it lightly springs back from a touch.
- Let the cake cool slightly, but not fully. Make the drizzle by mixing the caster sugar with lemon juice and pour over a slightly warm cake. It should set quite quickly, but let the cake cool completely before serving. Once cooled, slice up, and enjoy!