I've been making Nigella Lawson's perfect every time lemon drizzle cake for years now. Nigella's recipes are so simple and she's a no-fuss baker who doesn't overcomplicate recipes, which is what we're all looking for, right?
This cake is certainly a firm favourite in the Treasure household - it's (and pardon the pun) easy peasy lemon squeezy to make and does just what the name suggests: turns out perfectly every single time.
You can easily knock one of these up in 10 minutes or so and it's my go-to recipe as I usually have the ingredients at hand.
We enjoyed this cake on Sunday afternoon and everyone was suitably impressed with the cake's moistness and zingy lemony taste.
If you're feeling extra fancy you could use a bundt tin instead of a loaf tin. I love adapting loaf recipes for a bundt because they really do give the extra wow factor.
Bundts aren't really any more difficult although sometimes the quantities and baking time need to be adjusted.
Here's a link to my recipe for my Lemon Drizzle Bundt with Sugared Raspberries and Redcurrants if you want to give it a try.
Ingredients Lemon Drizzle Cake
For the cake
- 125g unsalted butter
- 175g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 175g self-raising flour
- pinch of salt
- 4 tablespoons of whole milk
For the syrup
- juice of 1 ½ lemons
- 100g icing sugar
For the glaze
- juice of a lemon
- 150g icing sugar
- A tablespoon of dried lavender (completely optional but looks very pretty!)
You will need
- a 2lb loaf tin-buttered and lined
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas 4
- Cream butter and sugar and add lemon zest and eggs, beating together well.
- Gently fold in the flour and the salt.
- Add milk and mix thoroughly.
- Spoon batter into your prepared tin and bake for around 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Next, make your syrup by putting the lemon juice and icing sugar into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
- As soon as the cake is out of the oven, skewer all over and pour over the syrup.
- Be patient! Leave the cake to completely cool before removing from tin.
- For the glaze, combine the lemon juice and icing sugar and drizzle liberally over the cake.
Perfect every time lemon drizzle cake
A simple to make lemon drizzle cake that turns out perfectly every single time.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 125g unsalted butter
- 175g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 175g self-raising flour
- pinch of salt
- 4 tablespoons of whole milk
For the syrup
- juice of 1 ½ lemons
- 100g icing sugar
For the glaze
- juice of a lemon
- 150g icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas 4
- Cream butter and sugar and add lemon zest and eggs, beating together well.
- Gently fold in the flour and the salt.
- Add milk and mix thoroughly.
- Spoon batter into your prepared tin and bake for around 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Next, make your syrup by putting the lemon juice and icing sugar into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
- As soon as the cake is out of the oven, skewer all over and pour over the syrup.
- Be patient! Leave the cake to completely cool before removing from tin.
- For the glaze, combine the lemon juice and icing sugar and drizzle liberally over the cake.
Notes
You will need:-
a 2lb loaf tin-buttered and lined
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 334Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 17mgCarbohydrates: 55gSugar: 42gProtein: 3g
Kim Carberry
I love Lemon Drizzle cake....This is probably the only cake I can cook to perfection every time x
Amy
It does turn out well doesn't it. I always use a bit of extra syrup to be sure! x
Gill Jeffery
Make this all the time in Cyprus as people keep giving me bags of beautiful lemons. I don't bother with the glaze just use more syrup!! Fabulous recipe and very easy to make.
Amy Treasure
I would love to bake this with Cyrpus lemons! Lucky you, how yummy!
Lizzie Moodie
Yes, this one of my favourite recipes. It always turns out well and everyone loves its tangy taste. I also live in Cyprus and our lemon tree produces so many lemons that I have to give them away or use them for baking and making lemon curd. Oh yes, also slice and freeze them for my G and Ts.
Kate
I love this recipe! I have made it about 20 times and it never let's me down!!
Heather
What do you mean when you say the loaf tin must be buttered and lined???
Lined with what? Baking paper? Flour?
Amy Treasure
Yes, heather - baking paper. You can smear some butter over it but generally, most baking paper/parchment is non stick these days.
Sandra Fernandes
This recipe is amazing. I tripled the quantity and baked it in a larger tin. It was perfection!! It will always be my go to recipe. Thank you Amy!
sharon powell
Yum! It looks so easy too, I'm definitely going to be giving this a go x
Amy
You should Sharon it's ridiculously easy! X
Amy
Britmums-Me plus you=cake? It’s a vice lovely! Thanks huni xxxx
Katie / Pouting In Heels
Oh my goodness! *drools!* This looks and sounds delicious? Simple to make you say? Smashing, I reckon I COULD DO THIS! ;-) X
Coombe Mill
I want a piece right now!
Amy
It is rather delish! x
Madeline
Ooh that looks really good! I've actually never made a lemon drizzle cake, but this looks really simple, so I will be pinning it to make soon, I love lemony things! x #TheList
Amy Treasure
It is the easiest and quickest lemon drizzle I've ever made and turns out perfectly every single time! Give it a go :) x
Cheryl @ ReimerandRuby
I'm not really keen on lemon cakes although my husband is my exact opposite. However, this one looks yum and looks easy to make too. Thanks for sharing your recipe! #TheList
Amy Treasure
Pleasure, it is so nice and you could always reduce the lemon you put in by half because I use quite a lot! x
Jade Lloyd
Lemon drizzle cake was my pregnancy bake of choice..never looked quite as tidy as yours, tended to morph and rise in odd places...Mary Berry would have tutted...and I tended to burn the top until I started wise'ing up and putting tin foil over the top! I love the sound of your topping I just stick to lemon juice and caster sugar but want to try with icing sugar now! Yummy #Thelist
Adyuga
Hi Amy,
I saw you tweeting about blogging and I thought I'd check out your website. I really like it. Looks like Amy has come a long way!
Good job with the Yoast plugin SEO is so important these days.
Keep making great stuff!
Hannah
Sounds good. What size tin do you use?
Amy Treasure
Hi, thanks. I use a 2lb loaf tin.
Jemma King
This cake is a touch of your taste and very easy to eat and make.
Amy Treasure
It is an absolutely fail-safe recipe every single time!
Catherine
Lemon drizzle is one of my favourite cakes! And I love cake Can’t wait to try this recipe for the family.
Fab website by the way.
Love Catherine x
Amy Treasure
Thank you, Catherine! I hope you and your family love this cake as much as we do! x
Kul
Oh no I forgot to add the milk! It is rising though. - just hope it turns out and tastes as good as the last one I made
Thanks for sharing and it was so easy to make and bake....
Kul
Yes it turned out and pleased with the result... I did thin the icing to almost transparent the added sliced strawberry’s lengthways in the centre - then chopped some mint from the garden and sprinkled all over the top and some on the serving dish... so looks good for my guests coming over for dinner...
Amy Treasure
Ah I am so pleased! Will you snap a pic for me? I'm trying to sort out a reader upload area, where people can upload pics of the recipes. I'd love to see how it turned out!
Anonymous
The drizzle measurements don't work
It's transparent
One lemon is too much liquid for it to turn out white
also make sure you sieve you're icing sugar if you want a nice glaze
Amy Treasure
Maybe your lemon was very large? I would suggest just adding more icing sugar until you get the desired colour as it will vary depending on how big and juicy your lemon is! :)
Imogen Palmer
Is it meant to rise much as my seems a little flat every time?!
With regard to a previous comments wanting whiter icing: try using fondant icing sugar as it sets a little thicker and whiter.
Amy Treasure
Hi, Imogen, it won't rise much above the top of a loaf tin - I often find it is more risen in the centre but the edges never reach above the level of the tin. Hope that helps. Thank you for the fondant tip - great idea.
Jane Waterton
This cake has become a favourite of mine and my partner's family, all of whom wanted a cake some time ago. Now my partner wants me to bake him one so I've bought the ingredients to try one again this weekend. I'll probably make a couple, one to eat this weekend and one for him to take home next week. This is probably one of the easiest cakes I've ever made and it turns out well every time.
Amy Treasure
So glad you find this recipe as easy as I do! It is my go-to cake because I know it will be perfect every time. Good idea to make a couple - you can also double the recipe and do a big one in a round cake tin, cut it in half and put lemon buttercream in the middle!
Eve N
Hi Amy
This is the most delicious cake ever. I have outdone myself. I love it so much I'm not sharing.
Anne
I did the undo-able & sank it......! Still tasted amazing & will never open the oven door mid-bake again!!! Great cake :)
Amy Treasure
Oh noooo! So glad it still tasted amazing <3
Olivia
How long do you recommend it cooling before removing from tin and icing?
Thanks!
Amy Treasure
It should come out of the tin pretty easily after about 30 mins. Make sure to add the drizzle while it's still in the tin as soon as it comes out of the oven. Enjoy!
Ava
My cake keeps on sinking in the middle.What must I do? What suggestions do you have?
Amy Treasure
Hi Ava, the first thing I'd be checking is your oven temperature. If it's too hot the cake will rapidly rise but not bake in the middle and that causes it to sink. You can try a thermometer to check your oven isn't running too hot or reduce the temperature and bake for longer. Also, check your ingredients are in date - old flour and eggs on the turn can also be the culprit. Probably the most common reason for cakes sinking though is opening the oven door to check on them before they're baked. With this recipe, I would turn the temp down to 170ºC (150ºC fan) and don't open the oven door until it's had the full 45 minutes. Hope that helps!
Jane laws
Hi, I have made this cake a few times. Occasionally it sinks in the middle,
Although I don’t do anything different. Any suggestions why it sometimes sinks but other times doesn’t?
Many thanks, Jane
Amy Treasure
Hi Jane, it's a lovely cake isn't it? So assuming you've followed the recipe exactly the same every time you've made the cake and knowing it only occasionally sinks in the middle tells me it is likely your oven that is the culprit here. The main things to look out for are not to shut the oven door with too much force, not to have your oven too high or the cake will rise quicker than normal and try not to open the oven to check on the batter before the end of baking time as this can cause cakes to sink. Oh and don't leave the batter in the tin sitting on the kitchen side for too long before baking as this can also do some funny stuff to the raising agents in the cake. Hope that helps! Amy
Rebecca
Made this today for my other half. Looks awesome and so easy to make. Can't wait to taste it. Just a quick tip, I bought a pack of greaseproof 2lb loaf tin liners. So handy and easy to get out of the tin.
Amy Treasure
It really is perfect every time isn't it?! I need those loaf liners, thanks so much for the tip.
Linda Ellis
Great recipe, I didn’t have icing sugar so made the 2 syrups with caster sugar. Got a lovely rise too.
Amy Treasure
Sounds amazing, so glad you like the recipe!
Pp
I don't have unsalted butter....is salted butter okay if I leave out the pinch of salt....
Also will it still taste good if I omit the drizzle? But use the icing instead?
Amy Treasure
Hi, salted butter will be fine and yes leave out the pinch of salt. I don't think it will be quite as good without the drizzle because it won't be as moist but it will still taste lovely!
Tiffany
Hi, if I doubled this recipe for the same loaf tin how should I just the temp and time?
Amy Treasure
I would increase the baking time by 15 mins and then keep a close eye checking every 5 mins until a skewer comes out clean and the sponge springs back to the touch.
Terri
Can this cake be made in a round tin? If so what size tin?
Amy Treasure
Hi, a 23cm (9 inch) round tin will work.
Judith
A few questions: (1) if I use a 23cm round tin, is it still the same cooking time? (2) can I used a smaller tin and then slice it across to add a filling - if so, what size tin? (3) what's the earliest I can open the oven door to check it's baked?
Amy Treasure
Hi Judith, baking this in a round tin will almost certainly be quicker than in a loaf tin. I don't want you to open the oven door too early, so put the oven light on and keep an eye on the cake. When it starts looking golden and smells done you can open the door very slowly to check it with a skewer. I've never made this in a round tin but I'd be inclined to check it at about 35 minutes. You can try it in a smaller tin - 20cm but I wouldn't go any smaller than that. As for slicing it in half, you would need to leave the cake to cool without adding the syrup otherwise it will be too moist to cut. If you do decide to do that, it won't be the same cake as the syrup really needs to be poured over as soon as the cake comes out of the oven and is piping hot. I think your other option would be to double the recipe and bake the cake twice in your 23cm tin and then sandwich the two together. Let me know how you get on. Good luck!
Liza
Hello :)
Do you think I could add 1 tbsp of poppyseeds to the batter? I have been trying to find a lemon poppyseed drizzle cake recipe because I lost my old one and this looks the closest but I don't want to muck it up.
Grangie (Grandma Angie)
I have made Nigella's Lemon Drizzle before and it has been great.
NOT Happy this time, it hasn't really risen!! I am in Thailand and we don't have self raising flour. So I used 'All purpose flour', I thought that is the same as SF flour??
I am English.
Amy Treasure
No Grangie, all-purpose flour is NOT the same as self-raising flour. AP flour doesn't have a raising agent added to it so it's no wonder your cake didn't rise!
Debbie
I made this cake once many years ago when I had the cookbook. My daughter and I devoured it so fast...it was so (sorry for the word, but no other word to describe it) moist and lemony and melt in your mouth delicious...just a little more we kept saying, until it was all gone.
Amy Treasure
Of all the cakes I've ever made this one is in my top 3. It's just the best! Glad you enjoyed it too :)
Judith
Hello,
Really love the lemon drizzle! First time my cake was higher than the second, third, and fourth time. It takes away the drizzle effect unfortunately. Any tips, or should I use more batter or baking powder?