CHELSEA'S LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

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Ingredients you will need

Plain Flour 3 cups/375g  (can also be substituted for a Gluten Free plain flour to make your cake GF friendly) 

Baking powder 1/2 teaspoon

Baking Soda 1/2 teaspoon 

Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Milk 3/4 cup

3 Lemons

Unsalted Butter 230g softened at room temp

Caster Sugar 1 cup (110g) + another 1/2 cup for the lemon syrup

4 Free Range Eggs

Icing Sugar 2 cups

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Method

• Preheat your oven to 160c fan forced

• Grease and line a large loaf tin or cake tin

• Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a small/med bowl and set aside (you don't need to sift anything at this point)

• Zest lemons, set zest aside

• Measure milk into a small jug, set aside

• Cream the butter and sugar together with a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment in a large bowl until pale and creamy. This will take 3-4 minutes. Do not skip or rush this step, take your time and make sure your end up with a light, pale, spreadable fluffy mix.

• Add your eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each addition. If your mixture curdles a little, don't be alarmed- it will come together once the dry ingredients are added.

• Add in your lemon zest and give it one last good mix on high for good measure! (you cannot over-mix it at this stage- the fluffier the better!

• Using a sieve, sift in your dry ingredients, pushing through any lumps or salt granules that may get caught.

• Add in your milk

• Mix the flour and milk in carefully and gently on LOW or you can do this by hand, though the mix does get quite thick and can be tricky to get all the lumps out by hand.

• Make sure you scrape down the sides of your bowl as you go to ensure all the flour and milk is combined in.

• Once batter is smooth, spoon into your prepared tin and roughly smooth off the top.

• Bake for 55mins or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when poked through the centre all the way to the bottom.

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Lemon Syrup & Drizzle Icing

While your cake is baking, prepare your syrup.

• Juice all 3 lemons that you zested earlier

• Take ONLY 1/2 cup of the lemon juice and combine with the caster sugar in a small saucepan. Cook on a low heat just until the sugar has dissolved.

• When your cake is cooked, remove from the oven and make several holes by piercing the cake with a skewer, creating holes that go all the way to the bottom of the cake at least a cm apart. 

• While the cake is still hot in the tin, gently pour the syrup over the cake. Making sure every area of the cake gets a little syrup.

• Allow to cool slightly for around 10-15 mins then turn the cake out onto a serving plate.

• While the cake is cooling a little make your drizzly icing- Add your icing sugar into a medium bowl and add the left over lemon juice little-by-little mixing after each addition until you've reached the consistency you like. You can either make a thin glaze or make it a little thicker by simple adding less lemon juice.

• Alternatively, you can skip the drizzly icing and just dust some icing sugar over the top instead.

• Decorate with edible flowers, fresh herbs or berries or just keep it plain and simple.

This cake keep up to a week when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. I HIGHLY recommend warming your slice up in the microwave for 15 seconds before eating as this cake tastes 100x better when warm.

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Options/substitutes

Choose your own adventure- You can swap out your lemons for another citrus fruit if you desire. You can make a lime and coconut version, use some oranges instead or even add in some chopped, fresh lemon thyme for a fragrant herby burst!..Or just stick to the classic recipe :)

Desiccated coconut- if you would like to put a spin on the classic and love coconut- why not make a lemon/coconut drizzle! simply bring some desiccated coconut to the party and pop 1/2 cup in with the dry ingredients. You can also use a little to sprinkle on top to decorate at the end.

Passionfruit Pulp- Another great flavour combo, You can use this to spike your drizzly icing at the end to create a delicious fruity combo.

Dairy Free- To make a dairy free option, simple swap the butter out for a plant based butter or df margarine and use a plant based milk instead.

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HAPPY BAKING!