Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake! – Back to Basics!
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An easy lemon drizzle loaf cake – lemon sponge, lemon drizzle, lemon icing… what more could you want?! Another post in my back to basics series!
Lemon drizzle loaf cake
So, say hello to your new lemon addiction. I have always been a fan of lemon flavours, and this new post, another instalment in my back to basics series, is my lemon drizzle loaf cake. It’s easy, it’s delicious, and I love it.
In the past, I have uploaded my lemon lime drizzle cake – which is fairly similar. It’s an old post, with different quantities, and is obviously lemon and lime combined! As you all adore loaf cakes even more now though, I thought I would do an in-depth post into this beauty.
Tin
So… when you are starting with a loaf cake, you need the right tin. Loaf tins can vary greatly in size, even if they are described as being the same tin. For example, I have three different 2lb loaf tins, but they are all slightly different in how much water they can hold. Usually, this is okay as long as they are similar enough! For reference, this is the 2lb loaf tin that I use! If it helps, the exact measurements are – 24.4 x 14.4 x 6.9 cm. This may help you if your’s varies slightly!
Some loaf tins are still 2lb, but they are slightly wider and shallower, which means the bake time can vary – but baking a loaf cake is quite similar to baking a Bundt Cake. They can vary dependent on tin, just like a Bundt Cake, but usually they work out the same!
When I line the tin, I usually grease it slightly and then add parchment paper on top. I don’t then grease on top of the paper. I don’t feel the need, and if you use the correct type of baking parchment, then you definitely don’t need to do it!
Cake mix
Now when it comes to the cake mix, it really is just a basic cake mix. Even weight quantities of butter, sugar, eggs and flour – with lemon added in. Because it’s just the basic cake mix, you need to make sure the quantities are correct.
You can help this by weighing your eggs, in their shells, but generally I find 5 medium eggs = 250g of mix. It’s much easier this way. If you use large eggs, they can often be 60g, so I would only use 4 eggs, and only 240g each of the rest of the ingredients. I hope this makes sense.
When it comes to the lemon, you have two choices. Fresh lemon zest grated finely, or lemon extract! Either work well, and they both work the same! I swap between both each time, and they both work well. If you want to use the zest, you can then use the same lemons for the drizzles later.
Bake
When baking a loaf cake, it can vary a bit just like bundt cakes, as mentioned earlier! The usual timings is 55-65 minutes, because it’s quite a lot of mix, in a smaller sized tin (compared to a round tin!).
Sometimes, the baking can take longer though. My oven is a fan oven, so I put it on the fan setting at 160C – I set the timer for 55 minutes, and then check it. If when I open the door and touch the tin the cake wobbles, it’s definitely not done! However, if it’s not wobbling it’s worth checking.
Checking a cake is a fine balance though. When opening the oven door, you really don’t want to take too long. For every second an oven door is open, you will lose LOTS of heat. If your cake isn’t finished baking, it can sometimes also sink if taken out too early.
Lemon drizzle
For the lemon drizzle, you want to mix together the lemon juice and caster sugar – it makes a sort of cloudy drizzly paste – spoon this over the cake once it’s come out of the oven and it will soak in. Leave the cake to cool fully before moving from the tin!
The wonderful thing about this sort of cake is that it’s simple, but it’s so delicious. The lemon drizzle keeps the cake lovely and moist – and it won’t dry out. I use my stand mixer to mix the cake ingredients together, and it’s amazing. Although, this isn’t essential.
Decoration
Once cooled, you can optionally decorate it – I use the icing sugar, ‘watered’ down with some more lemon juice – and just drizzle it over with a small spoon! I then sprinkle on some lemon zest to make it look pretty, but both the icing drizzle and zest are optional. They just look nice!.
You can of course leave it completely plain, top it with a buttercream or even a fresh cream topping – that’s the charm of a bake like this, you can do whatever you want.
Top tips
A handy method to check if your cake is ready, is to (carefully!!) listen to the cake – if it’s making a bubbling/crackling sound, then it’s not actually finished baking either. You’ll want to continue baking till the skewer is clean, and also not making a sound.
I classically use caster sugar for the sponge and main drizzle, but this can be switched with golden caster sugar, light brown sugar, or even dark brown – but the changes can change the flavour!
I use medium eggs as I have said, and I use self-raising flour. If you can’t access self-raising, you will want to use plain flour with baking powder added in. You whisk in 2 level tsps of baking powder per 150g of flour, before using it in a recipe! It’s often easier to make a larger batch though, and then just store the flour for later use! Easy and delicious.
I hope you love this recipe, any questions leave them below! x
Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 250 g caster sugar
- 250 g self raising flour
- 5 medium eggs
- Zest of 2 lemons (2tsp lemon extract)
Drizzle
- 75 ml lemon juice
- 75 g caster sugar
Decoration
- 50 g icing sugar
- 1-2 tsps lemon juice
- Lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan - grease and line your 2lb loaf tin!
- Beat together your butter and sugar together until light and creamy!
- Add in your flour, eggs and lemon and beat again until combined. It'll be a smooth cake mixture!
- Add the mix into the cake tin and bake. This can take 55-65 minutes - but check from 50 minutes onwards.
- Towards the end of baking - in a bowl, mix together your 75ml lemon juice and 75g caster sugar together.
- Once the cake is baked, drizzle this over the cake, whilst still in the tin. Let the cake cool fully.
- Once the cake is cooled, remove from the tin.
- If you want to decorate, mix in lemon juice to your icing sugar until you reach the desired consistency.
- Drizzle this over the cake, and sprinkle on some lemon zest for decoration! Enjoy!
Notes
- I use this loaf tin!
- If it helps, I also use this baking parchment in my bakes!
- As mentioned in the post, if you are using large eggs - use four large eggs, and 240g flour, sugar, butter.
- If your cake sinks, it hasn't finished baking! Loaf tin baking times can vary so check on the cake from 50 minutes onwards.
- This cake will last for 4-5 days at room temp! I store it in a cake storage tin.
- You can easily water down the icing for the drizzle with water instead, but the lemon juice is more zingy!
- If you want to make a smaller cake you can - reduce it down by one medium egg, and use 200g of ingredients. Or even reduce by two eggs, and use 150g of ingredients. The fewer the ingredients the quicker the bake time!
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi Jane, the recipe is excellent, but I’m just as obsessed with the octagonal plates you serve the cakes on! Are they real plates or paper ones, and where are they from? I need them!!
They are real plates – from Debenhams about 2 years ago!
Who doesn’t love a lemon loaf! This is divine. I haven’t quite perfected the recipe like you and mine still dome slightly on top.
This is by far the best lemon drizzle cake I’ve ever made, or eaten. It’s so easy to make and is delicious every single time. My family are obsessed with it and always request I make it when I’m baking. I’m yet to work out how to make the top as flat as yours (mine always turns into a huge dome) but I don’t really mind. I tell everyone to check out your recipes and this is the first one I mention!
I’m no chef, nor am I a baker! I decided to start baking during lockdown part 1, I started off with a banana loaf and then found you and your recipes. The lemon drizzle loaf quickly became my fav thing to bake! My family are amazed how I’ve taken such a u-turn with being in the kitchen… this is a delicious recipe! You can’t beat a bit of lemon… ☺️ X
This was a big hit in our nursing office. Made gluten free again, as I do all you recipes. Really moist and great flavour 🙂
Hi do you use the same amount of gluten free flour as you would normal flour?
What an excellent Recipe Jane. Very clean instructions. It turned out beautifully.
Can’t wait to try out another one of recipes maybe your salted caramel Cheesecake.
Thank you again.
Hey!! Really enjoy your recipes. I’m slowly making my way through them all and so far they’ve all been absolutely delicious!!
Just wondered if you had any help in terms of ingredients measurements for a bigger baking loaf tin for this recipe??
The tin I have is 35cm long. It is 14cm wide at the widest point and 9cm high.
What measurements in terms of ingredients would you suggest please??
Thanks 😊
Hey! Ahh yay I am so glad! So according to this website – http://www.cakebaker1.co.uk/apps-for-bakers/baking-tin-size-conversion-calculator/ – you would need almost double the recipe at 1.9x the recipe! However, it’s not always completely accurate so many make it at least 2/3 more? x
Thanks for this recipe, Jane! What a delicious lemon drizzle cake! I’ve made it before, but this is so much better. Light, moist, sweet and tangy. Just delicious!
I made a second cake and substituted orange zest and orange juice instead of lemon. Haven’t tried it yet, but I’m looking forward to it. Can’t wait to try some more of your bakes!
One question please: your decorative frosting is so white – is this because you didn’t use as much juice with the icing sugar? Mine was still translucent.
Ah yay! So glad! Yes so sometimes it just depends on the lemon – and even sometimes I find the brand of icing sugar weirdly! Just means you had slightly more liquid x
Honestly amazing! Very zingy and delicious! Would make a million times over!
Hi Jane
Wish to try Lemon drizzle loaf cake.
But i want to know alternative for eggs. If i ve to use baking soda swaping eggs then wht shud b qty for 150gm plain flour?
Hey – it might be better to look for an egg free recipe as this is a basic cake recipe x
Bow down to Jane. I’ve tried 4 of your recipes and they’ve all been spot on. I would highly recommend this recipe in particular and I’m extremely proud of my cake 🙂
This is my ‘go to’ recipe now for Lemon Drizzle cake. I’ve done it as a loaf but my family prefer it as a traybake, cut into fingers or squares. It’s foolproof, a light sponge, beautifully moist with so much lemon flavour. Never fails to impress people!
how long did it take to cook as a traybake? and did you use the same measurements as in the recipe?
How long did thus take to cook Jo and at what temperature please.
Priya – that will depend on the size of your traybake tin. Check out other traybake recipes for your size tin and adjust accordingly.
Mandy – check out other traybake recipes and use those to judge. Everyone’s oven is different too. So maybe take 5 minutes off the time and just check with a skewer to see if it comes out clean.