Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake! – Back to Basics!
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details!*
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!
Find my other Recipes on my Recipes Page!
You can find me on:
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Youtube
J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
so gorgeous ! and I didn’t mess it up so it must be easy to follow ! thanks !
This lemon drizzle was the nicest I have ever tasted. I followed the instructions to the letter and it then owned out perfectly. Highly recommended 5*.
Can I use this recipe for a round tin? thank youuu x
You can – but have a look at my lemon celebration cake as it’s a round cake! x
I’ve used many of your recipes, so straight forward to follow! This was my first lemon drizzle and everyone loved it! Thankyou !
Ahh yay!
Tried this and my whole family absolutely loved it!! Jane is there any way I can make this vegan for my sister? Thank you!
Hey! Ah yay! So usually I find it best to make a vegan sponge batter rather than trying to substitute all the eggs but that’s just me – it may be worth trying my vegan Victoria sponge recipe (with added lemon) if you want!
Hi Jane, have you ever done this recipe in a mini loaf tray? Any idea on cooking times? Thank you!
I’m afraid I have not, sorry!!
Weigh the eggs in their shells that’s the grams of other ingredients!
Yep, always weigh in the shells..!
Sorry to be the millionth person to mention the eggs lol, but I’ve got four medium eggs and one large. Can that work? Shall I do 1 large and 2 medium, instead? I am going to try baking this today, so just wanted to make sure. Thanks 😊
As I use five eggs, I would maybe weigh three medium, and one large, in their shells, and then match the flour/sugar/butter to the weight! x
I found Jane’s recipe for Lemon Drizzle so informative.Right down to weighing the eggs .Brilliant. Thank you.
I loved this recipe it was delicious! I want to make a Gluten free one for my nan so I’ve got Gluten free self raising flour. I just wondered having never made a Gluten free cake before do I follow the same recipe or do I need to adjust anything? Thanks for the brilliant recipes by the way! I’ve made several cheesecakes all amazing
Hey! Yes you can definitely use gluten free flour – but often adding in xantham gum is best for GF cakes. Or you can add in some ground almonds for a nicer texture!
Is it normal for this to rise well above the tin? Its been in the ove 15 minutes and is an inch above my liner.
Hoping it’ll come out smoothly as it’s for an order tomorrow and I’ve just ran out of eggs 🤦♀️
As mentioned on the post some tins are differently sized even though they are all called the same size – so yours may be a tad small! x
I love this recipe and love lemon cake. It is my daughter’s 1st birthday next month and wanted to do a lemon cake with buttercream covering it, do you think this recipe will work?
I gave a lemon celebration cake which is a round cake if you are after that – but if you still want a loaf cake then yes it should be okay! x
Zoe – I just came on here to commemorate Jane on this recipe. This cake turned out marvellous and looks just like the photo, except the decoration, like you’ve mentioned 😀 So as I thought, I added too much lemon juice. I also had to make my own icing sugar by blending caster sugar, which is fine but I got the translucent appearance too. It really doesn’t make a difference to the cake (as it is just decoration) and my husband absolutely loves it. He was so excited when I told him I was baking this (for the first time ever) as a treat for him, he loves lemon cake.
I used 5 medium eggs which were the right balance in this cake. When I cut in to it (the “Dum, dum, dum moment) it was a “Voila” moment 😀 Perfect and looks just like your photo, Jane. I will make this again but not yet as this makes a hefty cake – but we’ll get through it 😉
One ask – it says 373 calories per serving – what is a serving, 1/8th? Crikey it’s a lot. Home baking always gives me a false sense of fat and calories, I always tell myself that home baking is healthier, that’s a big fooling yourself thing, I know! 😉
Thank you for this wonderful cake! <3
Super fab … So easy ….tastes yummy 😋
Hi jane, this recipe is absolutely amazing it turned out perfect! The only thing I struggled with is the decoration icing u mixed 50g of icing sugar with 3 teaspoons of lemon juice but it wasnt white and was quite see through, is there something I can do? Thank you
That means you’ve just added too much for your sugar – if you wanted it thicker you’ll have to add in more icing sugar! And next time use less x
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe – it was my first attempt at a Lemon Drizzle. You made it so easy to follow. It looks and tastes divine! 😍xx
Lovely recipe. Can’t wait for the family to try it