I promised the guys at work that before I left I would bake them a cake.  I also promised my cousin Ellis that we would bake, because he wants to learn how to cook.  (Given how much he eats, learning how to cook for himself is the next step!)  He did a pretty good job…

I also had two new recipes that I wanted to try.  First up is Sarah Rundle’s Lemon Drizzle cake.  I’ve eaten this a couple of times and it’s amazing, so when Sarah give me the recipe I had to have a go.

The picture is before icing and it’s pretty good as is…Sarah has given me permission to ‘spread the love and the hips’ by posting the recipe, so here it is:

4oz unsalted butter
6oz golden caster sugar
6oz self-raising flour OR 6oz plain flour & 2 level teaspoons baking power
zest of two lemons
juice of 1½ – 2 lemons
two large eggs, beaten
a few tablespoons of milk
1½ -2 oz crystallised ginger chopped into pieces about 1cm / ½” wide
a lot of icing sugar – at least half a box

• Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4  / 180oC / 350oF
• Line a 2lb loaf tin
• Warm the butter slightly till soft, then beat in the caster sugar.
• Add half the lemon zest.
• Sift in the flour (and baking power if using plain flour).  Mix.
• Make a well in the mixture and add the two beaten eggs, mix in.
• Add the chopped ginger.
• Add a little milk, mix – if the consistency is stiff, add a little more.  The more milk, the runnier the cake, the longer it will take to bake, but the fluffier the cake end up.
• Put mix in cake case in tin, bake at Gas Mark 4 for 45-55 mins.  Start testing with a skewer at 45 mins – when the skewer comes out clean, it’s done.
• While cake is baking, squeeze the lemons for their juice.    Add several tablespoons of icing sugar to the juice – not too much, it should still be runny, not a thick paste.
• Put cake (still in tin) on wire rack.  Stab it all over with the skewer (very therapeutic), and pour on a little of the sweetened lemon juice.  Let it sink in, then pour on some more.
• Reserve a little of the sweetened lemon juice; add lots of icing sugar to this and beat until it becomes a thick paste.
• Cover the top of the cake with the paste icing, and decorate with the rest of the lemon zest.
• Leave the cake in the tin until the sugar is set. (ish)