Nigella Lawson's perfect every time Lemon Drizzle Cake

When life gives you lemons, make Lemon Drizzle Cake! Why? Because this was the first time I have ever made this cake and the recipe was perfect! Hence the title. The most glamorous job a lemon has performed in my kitchen was to star in honey and lemon tea for a cold. Now we're really branching out here with cakes! A welcome change from all these cookies I've been baking too!

This cake is a great choice for a spring day (like today)! So I couldn't skip it. I polished off three slices yesterday with a cup of tea. Then I did the professional thing and got my two 'Cake Testers' (work colleagues, eh hem, eh hem) to sample a slice and the verdict was "very nice, moist but light and not too sweet or lemon-flavoured"   
I think we can trust their verdict. They have also been fans of my banana cake and White Choc-chip cookies   :-)

For something uncomplicated, give this one a go: If you follow this recipe spot on, it will come out perfect for you too! Not much needed in the way of utensils either, just a loaf tin. 

P.S: It helps to have your butter at room temperature too.

Nigella Lawson, How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Lemon-Syrup Loaf Cake
125 g unsalted butter, softened
175 g caster sugar
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon
175 g self raising flour
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons milk
23 x 13 x 7 cm loaf tin buttered and lined

For the syrup
juice of 1 ½ lemons
100 g icing sugar

For the glaze
juice of ½ a lemon
150 g icing sugar

Preheat your oven to 180 C/ gas mark 4.
Butter and line your loaf tin well.

Cream together butter and sugar and add eggs and lemon zest, beating them in well.
Gently fold in the flour and the salt, mixing thoroughly and then add the milk.
Spoon the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 45 mins or until cake tester comes out clean.

For the syrup: Put the lemon juice and icing sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.

As soon as cake is out of oven, puncture all over with skewer and pour over the syrup.
Leave cake to cool completely before removing from the tin.

For the glaze: Combine lemon juice and icing sugar until smooth and white, add a little more icing sugar if needed. Make sure your cake is completely cool before drizzling with the glaze.