What better way to start a weekend than with cake, in fact there is never really a bad time to eat (or bake) cake. Here at season’s eatings we do try to stay on the healthier side of life, but when you hear the calling of cake it must be answered. So in this recipe we bake a lemon and lime drizzle cake.

Drizzle cakes are certainly not the most glamorous of cakes, but the homemade look of them is part of their charm. These simple bakes require no complex techniques and reward the baker with a moist, tender crumb infused with zesty fruit – ideal for that mid-afternoon slump. Here our recipe uses lemon and lime, but you could easily change this to lemon and orange, clementine or of citrus fruits of your choice.

Preparation time: 10 – 15 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

For the cake

• 175g unsalted butter, softened
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 225g self-raising flour
• 4 tbsp milk
• zest of 2 limes
• zest of 2 lemons

For the icing drizzle

• 200g icing sugar
• juice of 1 lime
• Zest of 1 lime and 1 lemon for decoration

Recipe:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a 22cm diameter baking dish with butter and line the bottom with greaseproof paper.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs one at a time.
3. Sift the flour into the batter and fold together. 
4. Then add the milk to help loosen the mixture slightly. Add the citrus zest and stir until combined well.
5. Transfer all the mixture to the baking dish, and bake in the oven for 50 minutes. Test that the cake is cooked all the way through, and if the sponge isn’t quite cooked on the inside and the crumb is looking quite brown on the outside turn the temperature down to 160ºC, cover the cake with greaseproof paper and bake for a further 10 – 15 minutes, or as required.
6. Once the cake is cooked, leave to cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove from the cake tin and leave to cool entirely.
7. Whilst the cake is cooling, beat together the icing sugar and juice of the lime until a smooth, thick icing is produced that will run down the sides of the cake – add a squeeze more lime (or lemon) juice if needed.
8. Pour over the icing until the top of the cake is covered, decorate with a scattering of zest from a lime and lemon, and serve.