This is the perfect lemon drizzle loaf recipe ever. Fact.
Its moist, tangy and definitely leaves you wanting more. Its also one of the easiest recipes to make – have I persuaded you yet??
The key to this is buying the best, freshest lemons that you can to get a brilliantly tangy flavour in every bite. Other than that, the recipe starts with a simple creaming method, addition of eggs and then you literally fold everything else in before pouring it into the loaf tin. For the initial batter you can be in and out of the kitchen within 15 minutes!
The lemon syrup is poured over the cake whilst it is still warm, giving delicious pockets of flavour throughout the loaf. After that, the final step is to make the thick lemon icing to pour over the top. You want to keep this quite thick so it oozes down the sides of the loaf but doesn’t completely run off! You want to eat as much of the icing as possible after all!
This really is such a classic recipe and a definite crowd pleaser!
On with the recipe:
The Perfect Lemon Drizzle Loaf
Ingredients
Sponge
- 115 g unsalted butter
- 115 g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 125 g self-raising flour
- 180 g ground almonds
- 30 g poppy seeds
- 2 lemons zest & juice
Lemon Syrup
- 100 g caster sugar
- 90 ml lemon juice
Lemon Icing
- 225 g Icing Sugar
- 1 lemon zest & juice
Instructions
- For the sponge: Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4 and grease & flour a 2lb loaf tin.
- Beat the butter with the caster sugar until light and creamy, then add the eggs one by one beating each in well. Fold in the flour, ground almonds, poppy seeds and the lemon zest & juice. Then, spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes or until lightly golden. Loosen the cake in the tin by dragging a knife around all corners, and leave to cool in the tin for around 20-25 minutes.
- For the syrup: Heat the sugar and lemon juice in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. Then, whilst the cake is still warm make holes in the top of the cake with a skewer and pour your syrup over. Do this in stages so as not to overload the cake. Leave the cake to soak for 5-10 minutes and then remove and allow to completely cool on a wire rack.
- For the icing: Stir the icing sugar, lemon zest and juice together in a bowl until smooth. Then pour the icing over the completely cold cake, coaxing it to slowly drip down the sides.
