Lemon Drizzle Cake (with a twist...)

I've never made a Lemon Drizzle Cake before...

... and when toying with a Victoria Sponge recipe for a Sunday afternoon treat, I came across a Jamie Oliver Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe which also used up a few ingredients that I had in the cupboard. Decision made...

I've cooked a few Jamie Oliver dishes but I'm not sure I have ever baked any of his cakes before. Just like his savoury dishes, this cake was simple and really taste (really really tasty). The good thing about Lemon Drizzle Cake is that you don't have to worry about a dry sponge, the syrup does the work for you. I urge you to give this recipe a go.

Ingredients

For the cake:
115 g unsalted butter, softened
115 g caster sugar
4 large free-range eggs
180 g ground almonds
30 g poppy seeds
zest and juice of 2 lemons
125 g self-raising flour, sifted

For the lemon syrup:

100g caster sugar
90g lemon juice
(The twist) Splash of gin number 1

For the lemon icing:

225g icing sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
(Another twist) Splash of gin number 2



As usual, I'm not going to give you a step by step guide, Jamie does that better then me in the link above. I'm just going to show you a few pictures and tell you about "the twist!"

This recipe really isn't complicated at all. Once you have creamed the sugar and butter together and slowly added the four eggs, it's just a case of adding all of the dry (cake) indigents and folding them together. Add cake mix to your lined cake tin and bake. Mine baked at 180 degrees for around 40 minutes. Leave your cake to cool slightly and then make the syrup.  

 For the syrup you just have to melt the sugar over a low heat with the lemon juice... and now time for "The Twist!"

Goes together like a horse and carriage...

Now it's not rocket science but what do you (I) think of when you think of lemon? Gin and tonic surely?? No, just me! Well, I thought it would be a good idea to add a splash of gin to the lemon juice just before you melt the lemon juice and the sugar together. You know what, it worked!!!

Once your cake has cooled slightly (but still warm) you have to prick small holes in the cake and then pour your syrup (with "The Twist") all over your cake.

Next up your icing... again, add a little splash of gin to your lemon juice and once your cake is cool, pour the runny lemon and gin icing all over your cake. Use a knife to help spread the icing and let it "drizzle" over the sides of the cake.

So there you have it, a alternative, more grown up, version of Jamie Oliver's Nan's Lemon Drizzle Cake. Maybe she'd prefer this version! 

This cake is great with a cuppa but even better with a G & T, but then, aren't most things?

Enjoy,

Amy x