Lemon drizzle cake

Here is a recipe and review on making a lemon drizzle cake. Lemon drizzle cake is a very British classic cake. This recipe uses not only lemon drizzle but lemon curd, buttercream and fondant icing. A great cake for that special occasion. be it a wedding or a birthday. This recipe is only one-tier cake.

While the above it’s a picture of the party spread. I have made the chocolate brownie, cupcakes (lemon & chocolate flavours), plus lots of other snacks like Chinese potstickers, rice balls and done healthy snacks as well.

This recipe is adapted from the BBC recipes website. I made this cake for my wedding as well and I had good reviews then. I have since rewritten the recipe as I go along.

Recipe for a lemon drizzle cake

Butter sponge cake

225 grams unsalted butter softened

225 grams caster sugar

4 medium-size eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

3 lemons zest only

225 grams self-raising flour

Lemon drizzle

90 grms caster sugar

Juice only from 2 lemons

Lemon Curd

30 grms unsalted softened butter

3 medium size eggs

90 grms caster sugar

2 teaspoon cornflour

Juice from 2 lemons

Zest from 2 lemons

Buttercream

125 grms unsalted softened butter

250 grms icing sugar

lemon flavour essence

Marshmallow fondant icing

300 grms white marshmallows

500 grms icing sugar

Food colouring for decoration

5 tablespoons of vegetable oil

3 tablespoons corn flour

Bake the cake base.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tin of 20 cm diameter X 9cm height with some baking parchment.

Add the softened butter and caster sugar together cream them together till it becomes pale and creamy. Use an electric mixer if you can it just makes life so much easier.

Then add the eggs white and yolks all in and mix it again using an electric mixer. At this stage add also the lemon zest. Once well-mixed adds/ fold in the self-raising flour.

bake the cake

Then pour the cake mixture onto the lines cake baking tin. Bake in oven fan assisted at 180 degrees for 50 minutes. To test the cake is cook by poking a skewer in the middle of the cake a few times. If it comes clean means the cake is well baked thru. If it’s not it needs for time in the oven but be careful on not to burn the cake crust ( top layer of the cake).

Prepare lemon drizzle

While the cake is baking in the oven make the lemon drizzle. This is done by melting lemon juice with caster sugar on the hob till the sugar dissolves. Brush the lemon syrup over the warm while it’s warm.

Making the lemon curd

In small pan add all the lemon curd ingredients together. Using a wooden spoon or electric mixer beat the mixture all time when it’s on the hob. Cook the mixture on low to medium heat. Do not allow the mixture to simmer. Constantly stirring the mixture so as to prevent curdling. Cook on the hob till it starts to thicken then turn off the heat. Let it cook down the mixture will thicken further as it cools down. Let the lemon curd set first before spreading it on the cake.

Make the buttercream

Then make the buttercream by creaming the softened butter, lemon essence and icing sugar together.

When the cake is cool. Slice the cake across 2 times. The end result is that you will have 3 slices of cake. I use a bread knife to do this as it helps to prevent the cake from breaking into crumbs. At this stage, you can either even out the cake but cutting out the uneven edges or surfaces. Or fill the gaps with lemon curd and buttercream.

Spread lemon curd on the sliced cake and lay the sliced cake on top of one another. Leave the top layer bare. I put the top crust facing down so as to let the buttercream to soak better on the cake latter also it helps to even out the cake as well. Once done Let it set further by putting the cake in the fridge for at least 20 mins or until it’s set.

Then spread the buttercream all over the cake. It will help to even out the cake. Try to make a smooth even surface as much as possible. Using a cake spreader and cake turntable will help in the process but not essential. Once it’s done chill the cake in fridge to let the buttercream to set.

Marshmallow fondant

In the meanwhile make the marshmallow fondant. Put all of the marshmallows in a bowl and microwave it in short burst (30 secs in 800 watts) mix it as you go along. Do it two times. Don’t worry about the lumps it will dissolve as it gets it’s stirred. Add the icing sugar plus food colouring and mix well. Separate some fondant aside for different colours.

Cover your hands with some vegetable oil so as to prevent the marshmallow fondant from sticking onto your hands. Prepare the rolling pin and worktop with some cornflour. All these will help to prevent the mixture from stick on surfaces that you don’t want them to stick.

Roll of evenly in a big enough circle to cover the cake top and side. Make it nice and even by using a cake decorating spatula. There are many ways that one can decorate a cake. So have a practice and be creative on what you can do.