Lemon Drizzle Cake (National Trust)

 

 

One of the things I always enjoyed doing when I lived in the U.K. on weekends or long weekends was to visit the National Trust Properties around where I was living at any given time, or even if we were away on Holiday in the U.K.

They were an organization which owned a large number of historical properties, gardens and woodlands all over the U.K.  You could get a yearly membership which would allow you to visit them whenever you wanted to, or you could pay each time you decided to visit a property.

Through our membership we were able to visit castles and lovely homes, such as the homes of Winston Churchill and Beatrix Potter.  I think my favorite place to visit was Erddig in Wales. I cannot tell you the number of times we visited it, we went so many times! Love, LOVED it!

 

I think I loved Errdig so much because it was a fine example of the lives and ways of rich gentry folk and their employees.  Everything was there, from the quarters that the servants slept in, ate in and played in, and the living quarters of the owners of the Estate.  

That particular family had taken great care to keep a fabulous record of their employees and treated them very fairly.  It was simply fascinating.

There were also some incredibly stunning garden attached which I loved walking through no matter the time of year. They always delighted.  A lot of the properties had working farms attached as well.

And of course, there was usually a tea room attached with a gift shop. Somewhere you could buy  souvenirs of your visit, but also a place where you could sit and take a spot of refreshment. The food was always fantastic, especially the cakes, perfect with a hot cuppa or a cold drink.

This Lemon Drizzle Cake was adapted from The National Trust  Book of Baking, and is a prime example of the types of cakes you might have found in the tea room.  

It is a lovely cake, moist and delicious with lovely lemon flavors.  A beautiful lemon and sugar syrup is spooned over the cake soon after it comes out of the oven. The heat from the cake allows it to absorb this sweet syrup.  More granulated sugar is sprinkled over top, giving you a fresh lemon cake with full on lemon flavors and a bit of texture. This was quite simply a really lovely cake!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE (NATIONAL TRUST)

Just simple ordinary baking ingredients.  Other than the lemons, if you keep an up-to-date baking cupboard you probably have everything you need to make this delicious cake in your kitchen right now! You will need a 7 X 10 inch pan. I used a shallow casserole dish of that size.

For the Cake:

• 7 TBS (100g) butter
• 1 1/2 cups +1 TBS (200g) self raising flour (see notes)
• 1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar (finely granulated sugar for baking)
• 2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
• 7 TBS (100ml) whole milk
• the finely grated zest of one lemon

For the drizzle:

• the juice of 3 lemons
• the finely grated zest of one lemon
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar plus 2 additional dessert-spoons

You can easily make your own self-rising flour. I do all the time. Simply whisk together for one cup, 1 cup (140g) plain all purpose flour and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.  I usually make mine up 4 cupful's at a time. I never have any problem using it up. There are a lot of recipes on here that use self raising flour.

I used salted butter. 

Caster sugar is a fine granulated sugar which is used for baking in the U.K. It has beautiful melting properties and is able to melt into the butter and liquid of cake and other baking recipes without leaving any grit behind.  Have you ever had a cake come out speckled on top?  This is the sugar which hasn't melted into the batter.

You can make your own as well by blitzing regular granulated sugar in a food processor to make it finer.

 

I suspect that you can use any kind of milk. I use whole because that is what I keep in my house. I would not use skim or no fat milk.

Use only real butter, not margarine. The butter is what gives this cake its lovely texture.

  

As you can see it uses lots of lemons!  That is the key to its lush lemon flavor!

A dessert spoon is a largish spoon which is used in the U.K. to eat desserts with.  A slightly heaped tablespoon would be about the equivalent measure.

 

HOW TO MAKE LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE (NATIONAL TRUST)

This is a bit of an unusual recipe in that you beat the cake batter together with an immersion blender.  I had never done that before. If you don't have one, then just use an electric hand mixer to beat everything together. I doubt it will make much difference!

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter your baking tin and line it with baking paper. (7 inch by 10 inch/18 X 25cm)

Melt the butter gently in a small saucepan without browning. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar and lemon zest together in a bowl. Add the eggs and milk, then pour in the butter. Use a stick blender to mix everything together until well combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, leveling the top and spreading it into the corners.

 

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until risen and the top springs back when lightly touched. A toothpick inserted in the center should also come out clean.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes. While it is cooling, whisk together the lemon juice, zest and the 1/2 cup/100g of sugar for the topping.

Poke holes using a skewer or a toothpick all over the top of the cake. Spoon the lemon and sugar mixture over top of the still warm cake a little bit at a time, making sure the first lot has been absorbed before adding more.

Finally, sprinkle with the 2 dessert spoon of granulated sugar. Cool completely before slicing.

 

I hope you won't let my not so great photography on this gloomy day put you off from baking this delicious lemon cake. It was everything I expected a cake from the National Trust to be and then some!

It was moist and delicious with beautiful lemon flavors and that lemony crust on top was fabulous.  It went down a real treat with a cup of lemon and ginger tea and a splodge of whipped cream on top!

Are you as huge a fan of lemon bakes as I am? If so, then you will really love the following lemon recipes!  Sweet!

BUTTERMILK LEMON PUDDINGS - One of my favorite lemon desserts has always been Buttermilk Lemon Puddings.  These are delicious lemon puddings which upon baking, just like magic, separate into two distinct layers  . . .  one a lush lemon custard and the other a fabulously tart lemon cake. This is a dessert I used to make fairly often when entertaining at the Manor down south.  I think lemon is a common love of ladies. 

LUSH LEMON POUND CAKE - This is a fabulously delicious old fashioned lemon pound cake. If you are a fan of lemon and of cake, prepare yourself to fall in love! This easy pound cake recipe uses simple ingredients that most of us always  have in our kitchens and packs a triple lemon wallop!  With plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract, it scores a hat-trick of lush lemon flavors every single time you bake it!

Yield: Makes 8 pieces (or 12 dainty squares)

Author: Marie Rayner

Lemon Drizzle Cake (National Trust)

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinInactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 45 Min

A shallow lemon drizzle cake with plenty of lemon syrup on top. Delicious!

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 7 TBS (100g) butter
• 1 1/2 cups +1 TBS (200g) self raising flour (see notes)
• 1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar (finely granulated sugar for baking)
• 2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
• 7 TBS (100ml) whole milk
• the finely grated zest of one lemon

For the drizzle:

• the juice of 3 lemons
• the finely grated zest of one lemon
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar plus 2 additional dessert-spoons

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter your baking tin and line it with baking paper. (7 inch by 10 inch/18 X 25cm)
2. Melt the butter gently in a small saucepan without browning. Set aside.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar and lemon zest together in a bowl. Add the eggs and milk, then pour in the butter. Use a stick blender to mix everything together until well combined.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, leveling the top and spreading it into the corners.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until risen and the top springs back when lightly touched. A toothpick inserted in the center should also come out clean.
6. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. While it is cooling, whisk together the lemon juice, zest and the 1/2 cup/100g of sugar for the topping.
7. Poke holes using a skewer or a toothpick all over the top of the cake. Spoon the lemon and sugar mixture over top of the still warm cake a little bit at a time, making sure the first lot has been absorbed before adding more.
8. Finally, sprinkle with the 2 dessert spoon of granulated sugar. Cool completely before slicing.

Notes

You can very easily make your own self rising flour. Measure 1 cup (140g) into a bowl. Whisk in 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt. Multiply this by however many cups you want. I usually make up 4 cups at a time and store it in my cupboard. It always gets used up.

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