Cake 3 - Lemon Drizzle Loaf

The loaf tin is coming out again for this one, but instead of chocolate we've gone to the other end of the spectrum and chosen a few lemons for a bit of zesty-ness.

This lemon cake is a favourite of my mum's so I hope I do it justice.

So before we begin, grease and line your loaf tin - my one is a 900g - and preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius or gas mark 3.

Ingredients -

• 150g of soft salted butter - plus extra for greasing
• 150g caster sugar
• Zest of 2 large unwaxed lemons
• 3 large eggs
• 150g self-raising flour
• 2 tablespoons full-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Icing sugar for dusting.

For the syrup - 100g icing sugar & 2 large unwaxed lemons (use the ones you zested.)

Method:

In a large bowl, cream the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest until soft and light. I use an electric whisk to save my wrists on the vigorous action. Whisk the eggs in a separate small bowl and sift your flour too. Gradually add the eggs and flour to the butter mixture until both are finished. Beat well together until mixture is thick.

Stir in enough milk, along with the vanilla extract, to make the mixture drop easily from your spoon. Spread the mixture evenly into your prepared tin and back in the middle of the oven for 60 minutes.

Check your cake at 50 minutes - depending on your oven and how even your heat is, it could be ready. Check with a clean skewer into the middle of the cake whether it is cooked or not.

Remove from the oven and leave to stand, still in it's tin, preferably on a wire rack to cool.

To make the syrup, gently heat together the icing sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan until a syrup forms. This could take a number of minutes, so be patient, you're not doing it wrong!

Use a fork to prick the top of the warm loaf all over. Gently pour the syrup all over the cake and leave to cool completely.

Turn out the lemon cake onto a serving plate and dust with a little icing sugar. This is not necessary, but helps balance out your lemon syrup.

Enjoy!