I’ve made plenty of lemon tray bakes & round cakes but never a loaf cake. As I’m a big lemon fan, it’s been on my ‘to bake’ list for a while. It had to happen.
I saw a recipe in a kids cookery book from the library and decided today was the day. I’m a big fan of kids cookery books – nice simple recipes with easy to follow instructions. Happy days. This recipe is from ‘Cooking with kids’ by Linda Collister. I cheated and baked this without my kids 😉 but it would work with the smallies in the kitchen too.
This recipe uses a 2lb loaf tin.
Ingredients:
- 175 g unsalted butter, very soft plus extra for the tin. (I used salted)
- 250 g caster sugar
- 2 unwaxed lemons. (I used regular lemons as the supermarket had no unwaxed ones)
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 115 ml milk, at room temperature
- 100 g castor sugar, to make drizzle topping
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven)
- Lightly rub the inside of the loaf tin with a little soft butter. Cut a long strip of parchment the width of the tin. Press the paper into the tin so it covers the base and the two sides.
- Put the soft butter and sugar in a large bowl.
- Rinse the lemons, then grate the yellow zest straight into the bowl using a lemon zester or fine grater. Set the lemons aside.
- Crack the eggs into the bowl.
- Set a sieve over the bowl, put the flour and baking powder in it, then sift into the bowl. Add the milk, then beat with a wooden spoon or electric mixer for 1 minute until smooth and well mixed, with no streaks of flour. (I used an electric mixer)
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread the surface to make it smooth.
- Put the tin in the centre of the pre-heated oven. Bake the loaf for 50-55 minutes. To test if it is cooked, carefully remove it from the oven, the push a cocktail stick or skewer into the centre of the loaf. If it is sticky with mixture, then cook for another 5 minutes.
- While the loaf is cooking, make the topping. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze out the juice with a lemon squeezer. Pour the juice into a small bowl. Add the sugar and stir for 1 minute to make a syrupy glaze. * see tips below for my verdict on the drizzle
- When the loaf is cooked, carefully remove it from the oven and stand the tin on a wire cooling rack. Prick the top of the loaf all over with a cocktail stick or skewer to make lots of small holes in the the loaf. Spoon the lemon syrup all over the top so it trickles into the holes in the loaf. Leave until completely cold before lifting the cake out of the tin. Peel off the lining paper and cut the loaf into thick slices.
- Store in an airtight container and east within 4 days.
Some @thecakemum observations/tips:
- I found that the recipe made an awful lot of lemon syrup. I used it all on the loaf but kinda knew it was too much. Maybe my lemons were extra juicy – but I had oodles of juice. Next time I make the loaf – I will reduce the quantity. I think the juice of 1 lemon and 80-85g of sugar would be ideal.
- When zesting the lemon, leave the white membrane/pith on the lemon, as this has a bitter taste. Only use the yellow part of the skin.
- Do cut thick slices as recommended in the recipe. I then cut them in half for the kids.
- The loaf was popular in our house with young and old and was still lovely a few days later.
Happy Baking
De (aka thecakemum)
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