Lemon Drizzle Cake

Confession time - I've never been a fan of Drizzle Cake.  For a start, why name something after rather boring English weather?   Second, it always seemed to me to be a pretty poor excuse for a cake - a solid, dense chunk of sponge inadequately leavened by an invisible crust of icing.  Why bother?   So, when my dear friend Donna asked me to make three for her, I did so with a heavy heart.  The results were far better than I expected, as the cakes turned out light and moist (still not a great word) with a lovely crunchy lemon topping.   Total climbdown - I'll be making more soon!   Not tried gluten or dairy free, but I'm fairly sure you could substitute either ingredients to suit you.

This is a terrible photo as it was taken on the train (be grateful, it took ages to even be in focus!) on my way to a TA evening.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Lemon Drizzle Cake

3 large fresh eggs

6oz/150g sieved self-raising flour

6oz/150g caster sugar

6oz/150g butter or spread at room temperature

¾ tsp baking powder

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Crunchy Topping:

2oz/50g granulated sugar

Juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 180 deg C, and line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment.

In a food processor or Kenwood, blend the cake ingredients together and then beat until pale and fluffy.   Shove into the oven and cook for 25-35 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven) until risen and golden brown.  To test, the cake should have come away from the edges slightly, and if you put a (heated) knife or skewer into the middle, it will come out clean.

Mix together the sugar and lemon juice and, as soon as the cake has come out of the oven, stab it with a cocktail stick to make some deep holes and pour the mixture all over it slowly.    Leave in the tin until cool.