When life hands you lemons, make lemon drizzle cake!

A recent abundance of lemons on the tree in my back garden prompted me to find a recipe in which I could use them. Luckily, I didn’t have to look far! A friend gave me The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook a few years ago and their Lemon & Poppyseed cake was the 1st (and actually only!) recipe that I tried. So when life handed me lemons, I decided to make lemon drizzle cake! This cake has been a tremendous hit with everyone who’s tasted it. So far, it’s been requested by my mom-in-law, my children (no surprise there to be honest, it’s cake afterall!) and even a colleague of my husband’s. Twice! You know what they say: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Lemon Drizzle Cake

YOU WILL NEED:

Equipment: Mixer, spatula, whisk, 24cm Ring mould

Ingredients for the cake:

85g unsalted butter
245g caster sugar
Grated zest of 1½ lemons
15g poppy seeds
165ml whole milk
235g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 egg whites

Ingredients for the Lemon Syrup:

Juice and zest of 1 lemon
50g caster sugar
100ml water

Ingredients for the Lemon Glaze:

Juice of 1 lemon
250g icing sugar
Pretty sprinkles if desired!

METHOD:

Instructions for the cake:

Preheat your oven to 170ºC, Gas Mark 3.
Prepare your ring mould by generously spraying with Spray & Cook.
Cream together the butter, caster sugar, poppy seeds and lemon zest in a large bowl.
Slowly add the milk in stages and beat until all the ingredients are incorporated (don’t worry if the mixture looks slightly split at this stage).
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
Add this to the butter mixture in 3 stages, beating well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
Using a metal spoon, gently fold this into the cake mixture until well mixed, but don’t overmix or you’ll lose all the fluffiness!
Pour into mould and bake for about 30 minutes until the sponge is golden and bounces back when gently pressed.

Instructions for the Lemon Syrup:

Whilst the cake is baking, make the lemon syrup by mixing the lemon zest and juice, sugar and water in a saucepan and gently boiling it until it has reduced by half and has thin syrup consistency. Do be mindful not to let this boil for too long… I have ended up with a very sticky toffee-ish mess once!
When the hot cake comes out of the oven, pour the lemon syrup all over the top whilst it is still in the ring mould. This makes the cake wonderfully moist. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on to your plate of choice to cool completely.

Instructions for the Lemon Glaze:

Mix the lemon juice and icing sugar until smooth and glossy. It should be thick but pourable – add a little water or more icing sugar to thin or thicken as necessary.
Once the cake has cooled, spoon over the glaze and let it run down the sides of the cake.

The official recipe states “Sprinkle with a few poppy seeds” at this point, but I always opt for prettier sprinkles like the pearls and silver balls seen in the photos. And glitter. Almost always glitter!