Serves: 8
Much as I love Christmas cake and mince pies once the festivities are over I’m thinking ahead-of the new season to come, and hoping spring won’t be too late this year. The fresh, zingy flavours of elderflower and lemon transport us away from the damp chill of winter and we can start to dream about warm sun and the smell of cut grass. I love drizzle cakes and this simple yet delicious loaf is perfect for teatime all year round. The cake will keep for about 5 days in an airtight container.
Ingredients
- 175g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for 2 hours, plus extra for greasing
- 175g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- Grated zest of 2 lemons
- 3 tablespoons elderflower cordial
- 175g self-raising flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- For the drizzle
- 5 tablespoons elderflower cordial
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Method
- Grease and base-line (with non-stick baking parchment) a 1 litre loaf tin. Heat the oven to 170˚c, fan oven 150˚c, mark 3. Cream together the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a spoonful of the flour if the mixture looks like curdling. Beat in the lemon zest and elderflower cordial. Mix together the self-raising flour and baking powder and fold into the cake batter.
- Spoon the batter into the loaf tin and level the surface. Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leaving the cake in the tin.
- For the drizzle, mix together the elderflower cordial and lemon juice. With a skewer, pierce the cake and spoon over the liquid. Sprinkle over the granulated sugar and leave until completely cold. Lift out and slice.
