This is truly the zingiest, most delicious and moreish lemon drizzle cake you’ll ever make. It is wonderful!
I’ve been making this recipe for years, ever since it was emailed over to me by the lovely Jayne Crammond of Mum’s the Word, way back in 2012! Jane explained:
I chose this recipe because I spent ages trying to find a lemon cake that was…well, lemony enough! I like my lemon cake to be very zingy and moist so I ended up taking bits of different recipes and putting them together to make this one, which is probably the one and only time I’ve been vaguely inventive in the kitchen.
So does this lemon drizzle cake live up to its name? Actually, yes. It’s exceptionally’ gorgeous! Here’s what to do:
Ingredients
- 170g (6 oz) self-raising flour
- 170g (6 oz) caster sugar
- 170g (6 oz) butter (or margarine)
- 2 medium eggs
- 3 lemons
- 4 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan, 350F). Cream the sugar and butter (or margarine) together.
Add both eggs and whisk in.
Sift in the flour and whisk until smooth.
Add the zest of two lemons and the juice of one to the mixture and mix well.
Spoon the batter into a greased and lightly floured cake tin. I recommend using a 23cm (9in) springform tin as it makes it super easy to get your cake out of the tin cleanly.
Bake at for 25-30 minutes. The cake should be golden on the outside and the skewer should come out clean – keep an eye on it as you don’t want it to over-bake.
In a small pan, mix the juice of two of the lemons with the icing sugar.
Place over a medium heat and stir as it heats, continuing until you have a syrupy texture.
Poke holes all over the sponge with a skewer, almost down to the bottom, then take the syrup off the heat (careful, it’s hot!) and pour all over the cooling sponge.
Allow to cool, then cut into generous slices and enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
The result is a light, firm sponge that’s wonderfully lemony. Perfect.
If you’d like to print this recipe to try later, just hit PRINT on the recipe card below.
World's best lemon drizzle cake
Ingredients
- 170 g self-raising flour
- 170 g caster sugar
- 170 g butter or margarine
- 2 medium eggs
- 3 unwaxed lemons
- 4 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan, 350F). Cream the sugar and butter (or margarine) together.
- Add both eggs and whisk in.
- Sift in the flour and whisk until smooth.
- Add the zest of two lemons and the juice of one to the mixture and mix well.
- Spoon the batter into a greased and lightly floured cake tin. I recommend using a 23cm (9in) springform tin as it makes it super easy to get your cake out of the tin cleanly.
- Bake at for 25-30 minutes. The cake should be golden on the outside and the skewer should come out clean - keep an eye on it as you don't want it to over-bake.
- In a small pan, mix the juice of two of the lemons with the icing sugar.
- Place over a medium heat and stir as it heats, continuing until you have a syrupy texture.
- Poke holes all over the sponge with a skewer, almost down to the bottom.
- Take the syrup off the heat (careful, it's hot!) and pour all over the cooling sponge.
- Allow to cool, then cut into generous slices and enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
Nutrition
Yum! What do you think of this lemon drizzle cake?
Pin for later
Looking for more baking inspiration? Try this apple, cinnamon and honey cake recipe next.
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Lente says
The cake is great but the syrup is wayyy too sour for our taste. We love lemon but this is almost unbearable. Would cut the amount of lemon in half or even use only one lemon.
Emily Leary says
Hmm, sounds like something went wrong. Or perhaps it was a very strong lemon! The great thing about this recipe is that you can of course taste the syrup before you pour it on and add more sugar if you like, and also decide how much of it to pour on :)
lente says
I have never used 2 lemons for any drizzle or frosting. One lemon would already be quite sour. Maybe you could express the lemon in tablespoons so that the drizzle would be accurately made, the amount of lemon juice is different per lemon.
Next time I will use one lemon only.
Emily Leary says
Well there are lots of positive experiences with the recipe just as it is, so I’ll keep it that way, but as I say, taste it before you add it and it should work whatever your preference.
Sumera says
This was so quick and easy to do. I doubled it and split the mix into two loaf tins as my boys love lemon drizzle. So light and fluffy and lush
sophie vidler says
I only have a load tin so would this work in a standard loaf tin with same measurements? Thanks
Emily Leary says
It should but as the loaf tin will make the cake deeper, it might take a little longer to cook. Keep an eye on it and be sure to push a skewer into the centre to make sure it’s cooked through.
Chrissie Hutchins says
It certainly is the world’s best lemon drizzle. Would rate it 10 out of 5 if I could!
Eli says
Hi,
I’m looking forward to make this cake! Can I use gluten free self raising flour instead of self raising plain flour?
Many thanks,
Emily Leary says
I haven’t tried it myself but it should work, yes. You might want to add a little xanthan gum but it’s trial and error I’m afraid. I’ll test a GF version soon so that I can say for sure.
Laura Williams says
This was delicious! All the children devoured it. Only had soft brown sugar and it still worked perfectly. Have bookmarked this as my go to lemon drizzle cake
Anna says
Hi there, I’ve only got large sized eggs in the pantry. Would it be okay to use those or will it mess things up?
A Mummy Too says
I think it’ll be fine, although I haven’t tried it myself. It might taste a touch more eggy.
Coralie says
I just made this for my son as a treat (and as a change from the weekly banana cakes he hoovers up). He absolutely loved it and wants me to make this again and again. He really loved the tangy lemony drizzle.
Suffice to say this page is bookmarked for regular use and I’m now browsing your site to see what else to try out.
Thanks for a great recipe x
Khauleah says
Loved it! Got so many compliments using this recipie and will definetly be baking it again soon!
Kathy Gee says
Hi could you please tell me will this cake freeze well
Kathy
A Mummy Too says
Yes, wrap it well and put in a sealed container and it will freeze perfectly.
Ma Baker says
Followed recipe & method exactly, baked 25 mins it looked fab, skewered it but was still wet in the middle. Left it in another 7 mins, skewer was dry. Took it out, put on cooling rack and watched the middle drip out. What a waste of time & ingredients.
A Mummy Too says
I’m afraid something must have gone wrong in the way it was made. I’ve tested the recipe thoroughly and as you can see from the other comments, plenty of people have made the recipe with total success. Perhaps your oven is malfunctioning, or you used F instead of C. That said, I’ve never heard of a skewer coming out clean from a still liquid cake so it’s quite the mystery!
Julia says
I am so sad, this didn’t work at all for me :(
everything looked fine but after rising for about 25 min, other cake just collapsed in the oven… I didn’t open it and used the proper flour, any idea of what might have happened?
A Mummy Too says
Hi, sorry to hear that. Here are a few possibilities that apply to any cake.
1) Your oven may be running hotter than the dial suggests, meaning the cake rose too fast to support its own weight.
2) if you beat too much air into the cake, it can rise too fast and then collapse.
3) Opening the oven door during baking, so that temperature drops rapidly (I know you said you didn’t do this).
4) slamming the oven door during baking, so that the air is knocked out.
5) Using a too narrow tin so that the mix is too deep to cook all the way through.
Hope that helps.
Jessica says
I have been recommended this recipe by a good baker friend and can’t wait to make it. Would it work for a birthday cake do you think? I want a 4 tier lemon cake that I can ice with buttercream frosting, thanks
A Mummy Too says
Wonderful. I haven’t tried this use myself, but yes, it should work ok as long as you’re using supports / dowels as you usually would with a tier cake. I’d be cautious about using the drizzle, however, since this will of course soften the cake. Let me know how you get on.
Katie says
I have no idea what happened but my cake didn’t rise, it was more like a lemon drizzle pancake lol
A Mummy Too says
Oh dear! Couple of possibilities…either plain flour was used rather than self-raising or it’s possible the flour was old and had lost some of it’s raising agent. If it was the latter, I would have expected at least a little rise, so my money is on it being the wrong flour!
Julie says
Could I use normal flour and add baking powder separeaely? How much baking powder would it need? Any thoughts, please?
A Mummy Too says
Yes that would work fine. The general rule is 2 teaspoons of baking powder for each 150g of plain flour. So in this case 2 1/4 tsp of baking powder should do the trick. Sift the flour and baking powder together before using so that they’re evenly mixed.
Louis John Anson says
Hi Emily, would this be okay done in a standard loaf tin? If so would the quantities and cooking time be the same?
A Mummy Too says
Yes, should be fine, but it may alter the cooking time, so keep an eye on it and be sure to the do the skewer test to make sure it’s cooked all the way through. Since a loaf tin will be deeper, if it looks like it’s browning too much on top before the middle is cooked, pop a piece of foil over the top, but try not to open the oven until it at least *looks* done or it may well sink in the middle.
Elizabeth D'Agostino says
I was really pleased with how this came out, my lemons weren’t very juicy or sour but that was nothing to do with the recipe, they were just underwhelming lemons. I used a non dairy spread and the cake had a fab texture, this is going to become a favourite. Thanks for posting!
Emily says
It was really good recipe and was very tasty, except the centre of the cake completely collapsed, this was probably for to me doing something wrong I just wondered how to stop this from happening
A Mummy Too says
Glad it tasted good! Usually a cake deflates if the oven is opened too soon during cooking, so that might be the cause. Look for it to be golden across the whole top before opening the oven, and test with a skewer in the centre (it should come out clean) to make sure it’s cooked through
Cora Harrison says
Just finished making this. It was delicious. Thank you so much for sharing!
Gill Holmes says
Hello is this best made with butter or margarine? Ingredients say butter but instructions say margarine. Help!
Emily Leary says
Whoops – either is fine!
Margaret Ferguson says
Great – but what size of tin – 6 in. 0r 9 in. diameter
Emily Leary says
23cm (9in) springform tin. Although I’ve made it in a smaller tin and it has worked fine, just make sure it’s cooked through.
Chris says
Hi Emily Thanks for the recipe, I am going to use the recipe for my mums 93rd birthday as it’s her favourite cake. One question-I did not see any reference in your description, what size of tin do you use?
Regards,, Chris
Emily Leary says
Apologies, it’s in there now. 23cm (9in) springform tin but it’s quite forgiving of other sizes. I hope it turned out well for you.
Annabel says
I’m making this for thanksgiving. It may not look as great as yours but I really want to try this recipe.
Emily Leary says
I’m sure that yours will look great! Let me know how it goes – it’s such a lovely recipe!
Alexis says
Oh goodness, this cake looks amazing! I love the flavor of lemon in desserts and this one sounds delicious.
Emily Leary says
Thank you! Jayne’s recipe for lemon drizzle cake is awesome – it’s difficult to have just one slice!
Deborah Salko says
I can never handle looking at food posts . The presentation is always so appetizing! Looks delicious.
Emily Leary says
Thank you! I love Jayne’s recipe for lemon drizzle cake – it really is so delicious!
Elizabeth says
Lemon drizzle is very much one of my most favourite cakes. They’re so easy to make too! Love the sound of your recipe!
Emily Leary says
Lemon drizzle cake is definitely one of my favourites too and Jayne’s recipe is awesome! I hope you enjoy it if you give it a go!
Tiffany Yong says
This is a great lemon drizzle cake, because it’s handmade with love. It’s not just the recipe sometimes, but also the effort spent on this!
Emily Leary says
I absolutely agree! This lemon drizzle cake tastes so good and well worth every minute spent making it!
Rachael says
You just really cannot beat a good quality lemon drizzle cake, can you? Easily one of my favourite cakes.
Emily Leary says
I’m totally with you – and Jayne’s recipe is just so yummy! Let me know if you give it a go!
The London Mum says
Literally my favourite cake! I love lemon drizzle.
Emily Leary says
Yes, I think we nearly all love a good lemon drizzle cake and this recipe is so yummy. Enjoy!
Jenni says
I love lemon cake with a cup of tea and this looks delicious
Emily Leary says
Yes, this is a super recipe and just right with a nice cup of tea or coffee. I’m sure you’ll find it as delicious as I do!
Blair says
Lemon anything is my favourite. This looks so good definitely going to try it out.
Emily Leary says
I’m sure that you’ll love this recipe – it’s so delicious. I’ll be interested to hear how it goes!
Stuart Brazell says
I am totally going to attempt to make this for a some sunday fun!! Wish me luck!
Emily Leary says
I’m sure that your lemon drizzle cake will be delicious – this is such a fab recipe. Let me know how it goes!
Candace says
I’m loving the look of this lemon drizzle cake. Looks amazing
Emily Leary says
Thanks! This is a super recipe (from Jayne Crammond of Mum’s the Word) which I’m really happy to share. I’m sure you’ll love it :)
Frank says
This looks absolutely delicious. I’m always a fan of a good lemon drizzle cake!
Emily Leary says
What’s not to love about lemon drizzle cake and this is a fab recipe from Jayne Crammond of Mum’s the Word!
Michelle Murray says
I absolutely love Lemon Drizzle Cake. I bought one recently from M&S food and I said to hubby that i need to look for a recipe so thanks for sharing
Emily Leary says
This is a really super recipe and who doesn’t love lemon drizzle cake? I’m sure you’ll love it!
Kara says
I am not really a baker but I do make a very good lemon and lime drizzle cake, maybe we should have a bake off??
Emily Leary says
Now that would be fun!
Rhian westbury says
Lemon drizzle is my ultimate cake and something that I make quite often, this looks so tasty too x
Emily Leary says
It’s so easy and delicious!
Hannah Healy says
Yum! this looks so tasty. I love that you include step-by-step instructions.
Emily Leary says
Thanks so much!
Christa says
I love lemon flavored anything. This cake looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it.
Emily Leary says
Awesome. I hope you enjoy!
Alex Gladwin says
Oh my goodness Emily, this looks absolutely incredible. And now I’m craving lemon cake! x
Emily Leary says
Thanks so much Alex!!
Lyosha says
It looks delicious! I love lemon everything which is making this cake even better in my eyes! Bookmarked for trying.
Emily Leary says
Hurray! Let me know when you try it!
Tiffany says
Oh my goodness, yes!! It looks perfectly moist and delicious! I can’t wait to try this, I’m all about lemon!
Emily Leary says
Thank you! It is really tasty!
Danyal Kelly says
Looks amazing! Definitely put in the fall mood
Emily Leary says
Thank you!
Kristy Bullard says
Oh yes! Lemon + Cake = Perfection!!! I love lemon desserts. This looks and sounds amazing!
Emily Leary says
Yes!!
Megan says
WOW thank you so much for sharing, this looks amazing!!! I want to make this today :)
Emily Leary says
Yay. I hope you enjoy it.
Ashley says
I absolutely adore lemon flavored desserts, and this cake looks amazing. I will definitely be making it in the coming weeks (if not days!) Thank you for sharing!
Emily Leary says
Fantastic!
Micaela Levachyov says
Wow, this lemon drizzle cake looks amazing! Would it be possible to replace the butter and eggs to make a vegan version?
Emily Leary says
Yes, I think so. Try using dairy-free margarine and egg replacement powder (follow the pack instructions).
Monidipa Dutta says
I love lemon cake. Yummy. Though I use different recipe. I would love to try this out too.
Emily Leary says
Thank you!
Diana Tidswell says
Wow, this cake recipe looks really delicious and looks so easy to make. I will try to make this and I am sure my family would love it.
Emily Leary says
Yes it’s really easy and totally hits the spot.
Maartje van Sandwijk says
This looks really good! Any ideas on how to make a vegan version?
Emily Leary says
YTry using dairy-free margarine and egg replacement powder (follow the pack instructions).
Eric says
This looks delicious. My wife says she is going to make this tonight.
Emily Leary says
Fantastic! I hope you enjoy :)
Hayley Warren says
Lemon drizzle cake is my absolute favourite and it’s one that I like making too. I’ll have to try this recipe out.
Emily Leary says
Yay!
Corina Blum says
My kids love lemon drizzle cake and now I’m craving this one. It looks beautiful!
Emily Leary says
Thanks so much – it’s definitely a favourite in our house too.
Syd Blair says
Hi,
Looks yummy, but what size of tin did you use please?
Susan Mann says
mmm delish x
Amanda @gidders1 says
Oh I love lemon drizzle…I agree about the the need for it to be very lemony. There is a phrase where I live…sharp enough to make your tabs laugh?!
Emma @mummymummymum says
ooooh that looks delicious!
Emily Leary says
And indeed it was!
claire says
Yummy I love lemon drizzle cake :)
Emily Leary says
Thanks Claire – this one is really worth trying. Jayne has skills!
David Bennett says
No bite taken?
Maybe the slice that has been tasted is outside the frame?
I think this must be part of the art of food photography, to decide whether to show the cake part eaten or not?
I’d love to know your view on the subject.
Emily Leary says
I think it is indeed a sort of art, so it’s a personal thing rather than a case of right and wrong. I tend to take several shots, before slicing, after slicing, part way through eating and then go with the shot that feels right. In this case, this one.
David Bennett says
Interesting – I don’t think I would have thought to take several shots at several stages. I tend to think of a shot, take it and then eat whatever it was I was photographing (strawberries for example), and then regret no longer having the thing to photograph… ;-)
Emily Leary says
I’m still learning, but it’s got to a stage now where I have an idea of the shot I want before I even start cooking.
With this salad (https://www.amummytoo.co.uk/2012/11/cooking-with-gousto-spiced-pumpkin-and-halloumi-on-bulgar-wheat-recipe/) for example, I planned ahead that I would stack it up, use a large white plate and use some of the ingredients to give an idea of what’s in it. How successful it was is obviously debatable, but I think I’m moving in the right direction.
David Bennett says
I think your photos are always very appealing :-)
Rick Crammond says
It looks very nice, bring me a piece now please.
Emily Leary says
I’ll post it ;)