Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe

Many years ago a friend gave me the perfect lemon drizzle cake recipe and I have been searching all my cooking archives but I have lost it !  I have a folder of some great recipes that I have begged borrowed and stolen over the years and its a list of handwritten recipes and tips that I have had given to me over the last thirty years and lemon drizzle cake was one of those recipes that for some reason I just could not find so I had to find a recipe that looked similar to what I can remember.  I can promise you that this was very tasty but it still was not as good as I remember.

When I posted on Facebook that I was cooking lemon drizzle cake or coconut cake most people chose the lemon drizzle so its obviously a great favorite.  The other test I did was to Google sponge cake recipe and the best lemon drizzle cakes and I was stunned how many people are searching online for this old fashioned lemon syrup cake recipe.  

There is a lovely luxurious recipe by Raymond Blanc and I believe he has served this for over 25 yrs!  I know I have been baking it for over 30 yrs and it always gets a few yums and wows!  So why not try this recipe and see what reaction you get.  I used the small disposable mini loaf cardboard cake tins from Morrisons which are £1.39 for 6.  I just like the presentation of them and you can actually open them quite easily and get 3 slices per loaf so a great addition for a lunchbox idea.  This recipe filled 6 and only 3/4 fill as you do not want them overflowing.

Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe

1. You will need a 26cm x 9cm x 8cm/10in x 3½in x 3in loaf tin. 2. I used fresh lemons for the juice you could use lemon in a bottle. 3. On reflection I would use another lemon rind in the cake

Author: Nola Baldwin

Cuisine: British Retro

Recipe type: Cakes & Bakes

Serves: 12

Prep time:  30 mins

Cook time:  45 mins

Total time:  1 hour 15 min

Ingredients

• 225g/8oz plain flour
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 150 ml/5 fl oz soured cream
• 150 ml/5 fl oz sunflower oil
• 4 eggs
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• grated rind of 1 large lemon
• 2tsp baking powder
• SYRUP - 2 TBSP Icing Sugar, 3 TBSP Sugar, 120 ml Water - Boil together till syrupy

Instructions      

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Grease a 26cm x 9cm x 8cm/10in x 3½in x 3in loaf tin – I used mini ones 
3. Sift the flour and baking powder together into a bowl and stir in the caster sugar.
4. Beat the eggs, soured cream, lemon rind and juice and oil together in a separate bowl. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well until evenly combined.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes until risen and golden brown.   
6. Meanwhile, to make the syrup, combine the icing sugar and lemon juice in s small saucepan. Stir over low heat until just starting to bubble and turn syrupy. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick the surface with a fine skewer, then brush the syrup over the top.
7. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin before turning out and serving.

Notes: I drizzled the chocolate on the top in a swirl before baking