Jamie Oliver has shared a plethora of delicious recipes throughout his career, with both savoury and sweet options to pick from, such as this lemon drizzle cake one called “My Nan’s Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake”, on his website and from the Cook With Jamie book. The notes read: “If anything’s worth taking a little tea break for, it’s a wedge of this classic lemon drizzle cake.”
At 284 calories per serving, it’s bound to go down a hit with the whole family. Topped with a delicious syrup and lemon icing, Jamie recommended purchasing thick-skinned organic leafy lemons instead of the waxed and sprayed everyday ones for a “fresh and zingy” hit.
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line the bottom and sides of a 20cm springform cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Using an electric whisk, beat the butter with the caster sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs one by one, beating each in well. Fold in the ground almonds, poppy seeds, lemon zest and juice as well as the sifted flour.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until lightly golden. You can check to see if the cake is cooked by poking a cocktail stick right into the sponge. Remove after five seconds and if it comes out clean the cake is cooked. If it’s slightly sticky, it needs a little longer, so put it back into the oven.
Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack whilst you make the lemon syrup by heating the sugar and lemon juice in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. While the cake is still warm, make lots of little holes in the top with a cocktail stick and pour the syrup over.
To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the lemon zest and juice, stirring until smooth. When the cake is almost cool, put it on a serving plate and pour the icing carefully over the top. If you pour it into the middle of the cake, then let gravity disperse the icing down the sides, you’ll get the classic drizzle effect.
