Saturday 28 April 2012

Really Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake

I have posted a rather more elaborate Lemon Drizzle Cake previously - two rounds of syrup-drenched cake sandwiched with lemon curd and mascarpone.  Gorgeous though this is, and eminently suitable as a celebration cake, sometimes you want something simpler to have with friends and a cuppa.  So this cake fits the bill.  You need two large, organic, unwaxed lemons, 150g each of softened unsalted butter, caster sugar and self-raising flour + 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 2 eggs + 1 tablespoon milk.  You also need some granulated sugar and icing sugar for the decoration.  Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin, set the oven to 170C.  Chuck the flour and baking powder, measured sugar, eggs and milk and butter into a bowl.  Grate in the zest from both lemons, and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined and the mix is slightly paler in colour - no more than about a minute or so.  Tip into the loaf tin, level with a spoon and bake for about 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean - cover lightly with a little foil if it browns too much towards the end.  Leave in the tin for a few minutes or so whilst you prepare the initial glaze: squeeze the juice from 1 and a half lemons and mix with 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.  Remove the cake from the tin whilst still warm and put on a plate.  Spoon over the gritty lemon and sugar to let it sink in.  Now you can eat it like this (as per the photo), or you can gild the lily and add a lemon glace icing when it is fully cold.  Squeeze the remaining lemon half into a small bowl and add 2 heaped tablespoons of icing sugar and mix to a thickish icing - add more sugar as necessary to get the correct consistency.  Now, drizzle the icing over the top and let some run down the sides.  Allow to set and then consume in thick slices with green tea - delicious!  You can freeze this, in slices wrapped in cling film or parchment if there is any left.

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