Lemon drizzle cake

This cake is at home in rustic tearooms as well as hip coffee bars. The secret that makes this simple cake so beautiful is the sharp lemon syrup that soaks into the velvety soft cake. The best way to bake it is as a tray cake – it loses its effect as a round cake. This is my husband Bruno’s favourite cake.

For 8–12 people

For the cake

225 g (8 oz) butter, at room temperature

225 g (8 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

4 eggs

250 g (9 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

4 tbsp buttermilk (or regular milk mixed with a little lemon juice)

zest of 2 lemons, grated

2 tbsp baking powder

butter, for greasing

flour, for dusting

For the lemon drizzle topping

juice of 2 lemons

175 g (6 oz) white sugar

For a loaf tin (500 g/1 lb 2 oz)

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepare the tin (see here).

Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and make sure that each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next one. Add a teaspoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from separating. Add the buttermilk and lemon zest and mix well.

Carefully fold the remaining flour and the baking powder into the batter so that the volume is retained.

Spoon the batter into the tin. Bake for 45–50 minutes in the middle of the oven.

For the topping, mix the lemon juice with the sugar.

Use a toothpick to pierce some small holes in the warm cake. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a rimmed plate.

Spoon the topping over the cake and continue to spoon over the topping that drips over the side. Allow the cake to cool further.

Mix 1 teaspoon poppyseeds into the batter to turn the Lemon drizzle cake into a Lemon and poppyseed cake, another British classic.