Lemon Drizzle Cake
A tender, buttery British cake with a bright lemon flavor and a sweet, crunchy glaze on top. Baked in one pan and ready in under 30 minutes.
- Total time
- 28 min
- Servings
- 8
- Calories
- 305
- Protein
- 3g
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 whole lemon (zested and juiced)
- ¾ cup icing sugar
Instructions
- 1
Set the oven to 350°F and wait until the indicator light or beep tells you it has finished heating, about 10 minutes.
- 2
Line an 8-inch round or square cake pan with parchment paper, letting the paper overhang the edges by 2 inches on all sides.
- 3
Zest the lemon by rubbing it firmly against the small holes of a box grater or microplane until you have about 1 teaspoon of fine yellow zest, then cut the lemon in half and squeeze out the juice into a small bowl.
- 4
Add the softened butter and caster sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon for 2–3 minutes until the mixture is pale, fluffy, and looks like soft scrambled eggs.
- 5
Crack the eggs into a small bowl, beat them lightly with a fork until uniform, then add them to the butter mixture in two parts, beating well after each addition until no streaks of egg remain.
- 6
Pour the self-raising flour and lemon zest onto the butter mixture and fold gently with a rubber spatula, lifting batter from the bottom of the bowl up and over the dry ingredients until no flour streaks remain, about 1 minute.
- 7
Pour the finished batter into the prepared cake pan, smooth the top with a spatula so it's level, then slide the pan into the preheated oven.
- 8
Bake for 18–22 minutes until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- 9
While the cake bakes, pour the lemon juice into a small bowl and add the icing sugar gradually, stirring with a spoon until you have a thick, spreadable paste with no lumps.
- 10
Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then lift it out using the parchment paper overhang and set it on a cooling rack.
- 11
While the cake is still warm, spoon or spread the lemon glaze evenly over the top surface in a thin layer, letting some drip down the sides.
- 12
Let the cake cool to room temperature on the rack, about 15 minutes, so the glaze firms up into a crumbly, crunchy layer, then slice and serve.
Tools you’ll need
- 8-inch round or square cake pan
- parchment paper
- box grater or microplane
- small mixing bowl
- large mixing bowl
- electric mixer or wooden spoon
- fork
- rubber spatula
- toothpick
- cooling rack
Cook smarter
Get matched recipes for what’s in your fridge
CookSnap is a free iOS app that finds real recipes from the ingredients you already have. No more grocery-list aspirations.
