No. 1 — Pink Himalayan Salt
Sublime Lemon Drizzle Cake
Sublime Lemon Drizzle Cake
A good lemon drizzle cake is one of life's greatest pleasures. It just so happens that ours is divine. The fact that this is also an extraordinarily simple concoction is just the cherry on top. The oh-so-subtle salinity offered by using Sublime No. 1 instead of your garden variety butter brings out the fresh, citrus flavours while leaving a delicate, creamy aftertaste.
This is one we recommend enjoying as part of our Mother's Day High Tea, for which you can also rustle up Traditional English Scones and our rather posh Sandwich Platter. The very peak of deliciousness to help nudge Spring along.
Serves 6 generously | Takes about an hour, plus cooling
Ingredients
For the cake
- 250g plain flour + 12.5g of baking powder or 250g self-raising flour
- 150g caster sugar
- 250g Sublime No. 1, softened and roughly cubed
- 4 large eggs
- 10g vanilla bean paste
- Zest of 4 lemons
For the lemon drizzle
- Juice of 4 lemons
- Caster sugar, to taste
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190˚C. You want it to be stable at that temperature for a while to ensure your cake bakes evenly. To that end, also ensure you're baking on the middle shelf
- Mix your softened Sublime No. 1 with the caster sugar until pale and smooth
- One by one, add eggs to the butter-sugar mix along with your vanilla bean paste. Vanilla bean paste is divine, so be sure to use it over essence or extract — lest the baking gods frown upon you from their patisserie in the sky
- Add the lemon zest and sift in the flour. Fold together to combine, making sure that you don't overwork the batter. If you do, you'll start to develop gluten structures, which makes for a tough and rubbery cake — and that wouldn't be very lemon drizzle of you
- Grease and flour a 2lb loaf tin, then pour in your cake batter
- Place in your pre-heated oven for around 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean
- In the meantime, add the lemon juice to a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer
- Add caster sugar to taste; the cake itself is already fairly sweet, so you might prefer a more sour drizzle. Give it a good 30 seconds on the hob to encourage a thicker, glossier finish, then remove from the heat
- When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and pierce the top with a fork. Pour over the lemon drizzle with reckless abandon
- Leave the cake to cool for at least an hour to allow it to naturally contract from the sides of the loaf tin
- Tip out onto a clean cutting surface, and slice thickly
- Serve with your favourite Earl Grey — with our without milk. We're not here to judge
