As much as I love an impressive, multi-layered, over the top cake; for general every day cake eating you can’t beat a simple lemon drizzle loaf cake. It is fairly plain, but gloriously so, damp and sticky yet light, with a sharp lemon tang and a slightly crunchy crust. I added a bit of a ginger kick to mine – not too much, the lemon should be the predominant flavour, but enough to take it beyond the standard lemon drizzle and add a subtle warmth and depth of flavour.
I like my lemon cakes to be intensely lemony, so I used both zest and lemon juice in the batter, topped it with extra sugared zest and then gave it a generous drenching of lemon syrup; there may seem to be an awful lot of syrup, but it soaks it all up, leaving it beautifully moist and strongly flavoured. This is a simple cake to make, but incredibly satisfying, best enjoyed with a cup of tea. Because it is so moist it keeps incredibly well, and actually even tastes better after it has had a couple of days to mature. One word of warning, leave the cake in the tin until it is completely cold, all of that syrup makes it rather delicate while it is warm and it may crumble.
Lemon And Ginger Drizzle Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 125 g (1/2 cup) butter
- 175 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) caster sugar
- zest and juice of 1 large lemon
- 2 large eggs
- 175 g (1 + 1/2 cups) self-raising flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- pinch salt
- 2 balls of stem ginger finely chopped
Topping
- zest of 1 lemon
- 15 g (1 rounded tbsp) granulated sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp stem ginger syrup
- 100 g (1 cup) icing (powdered) sugar
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease an approx. 22x11cm loaf tin and line with greaseproof paper.
-
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, beat in the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition, then beat in the lemon zest. Sift in the flour, salt and ground ginger and fold in gently, then fold in the lemon juice and chopped stem ginger. Scrape the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake for about 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
-
While the cake is cooking prepare the topping. Rub the lemon zest and granulated sugar together in a small bowl and set aside. Put the lemon juice, stem ginger syrup and icing sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
-
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes all over the top with a skewer, sprinkle over the sugar and zest mixture, then pour over the syrup, try and make sure that the whole cake gets an even dousing. Leave the cake in it's tin until it is completely cold - it is delicate while warm and may crumble.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from How To Be A Domestic Goddess By Nigella Lawson
I am sharing this with Fabulous Foodie Fridays, Fiesta Friday, Foodie Fridiy, Foodie Friends Friday, Friday Favourites and Friday Features.
Lauren @ Create Bake Make
August 7, 2015 at 5:51 amYou are so right, sometimes the simple classic cakes are the best! I love a good strong lemon cake too and this looks delicious 🙂 Thank you for linking up with us for Fabulous Foodie Fridays, have a great weekend!
Carrie - Time to be an Adult
August 7, 2015 at 7:47 amLooks yummy and I’ve got serious crockery envy too!
hannahhossack
August 8, 2015 at 8:08 amThank you! It’s a combination of my grandmother’s wedding china and some charity shop finds 🙂
patisseriemakesperfect
August 7, 2015 at 9:07 amA classic with a twist. I love lemon drizzle cake, but I’ve never thought of adding ginger. I love the tea setting for this cake, it’s perfect.
hannahhossack
August 8, 2015 at 8:10 amMy partner drinks a lot of lemon and ginger tea, so I just wanted to make a cake with the flavours of his favourite tea! I’ve been rummaging through my parents cupboards and nicking my grandmother’s china for props 😛 x
scorpiotiger
March 11, 2017 at 1:17 pmCame across this recipe when looking for a ‘lemon & ginger’ cake recipe for an office day (I normally work from home and generally take a cake in when we have infrequent office days). One’s planned for 21 March 2017 & when I asked what people wanted, they came up with the idea of lemon & ginger…
They’d always liked my Lemon Drizzle Cake & a Sticky Dark Ginger Cake had gone down well in the past (I always double the ground ginger from my original recipe & add chopped crystallised ginger to the batter) but didn’t have a recipe for Lemon & Ginger so started hunting…
I’ve now found a few – most seem to be a variation on Lemon Drizzle, but found an interesting one with sour cream in the mix – might be worth a try some time…
I’m going to sort of adapt my normal Lemon Drizzle recipe to accommodate the ginger and see how it comes out 🙂
Loving the china for the staging of the photos for this one Hannah 🙂
I had a beautiful 18th century bone china trio that looks rather like the central cup & saucer in your main image, but sadly it got damaged & the saucer is now in 2 pieces (argghhhh!!!)
Somehow, old bone china seems to show cakes off to their best 🙂
Julie is Hostess At Heart
August 7, 2015 at 1:25 pmWhat a beautiful cake! I love the idea of pairing ginger and lemon, and this cake looks so moist and tender!
hannahhossack
August 8, 2015 at 8:12 amThanks Julie, it is beautifully moist – I poured quite a lot of syrup over it!
Girl and the Kitchen
August 7, 2015 at 2:37 pmI love your little tea time set up! So fabulous! And yes sometimes a simple lemon cake is all one needs 🙂
hannahhossack
August 8, 2015 at 8:14 amThank you 🙂 I wish I was the kind of person who regularly made pots of tea and drank from an elegant china teacup but unfortunately they only ever come out to be used as props…
immaculatebites
August 7, 2015 at 3:22 pmLove everything about this cake, especially the tight crumb texture- so appealing. I can just picture myself having a slice with with a cup of tea.
hannahhossack
August 8, 2015 at 8:15 amThank you 🙂
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
August 7, 2015 at 5:58 pmYou’re so right, a simple straight forward, unadulterated bake often is better than a fussy OTT cake. I love lemon cake, but never tried it with ginger, I shall have to give this a whirl.
Angela x
hannahhossack
August 8, 2015 at 8:15 amYes and you can eat more of it as it isn’t piled up with sweet icing! 😛 x
Justine @ Born and Bred in Brooklyn
August 8, 2015 at 12:42 amLooks delicious! I’m also a sucker for lots of lemon 🙂
hannahhossack
August 8, 2015 at 8:16 amThank you 🙂
lucyparissi
August 8, 2015 at 11:25 amThis looks like a hug in cake form. Although I partial to the amazing layered cakes you make so effortlessly this looks like such a lovely homely treat. Perfect with a cup of tea and a friendly chat.
hannahhossack
August 11, 2015 at 1:13 pmThanks Lucy 🙂 While I really enjoy making huge layer cakes, I think it is the simple cakes that I most enjoy eating. x
milkandbun
August 8, 2015 at 5:20 pmBeautiful presentation!
hannahhossack
August 11, 2015 at 1:13 pmThank you!
dishofdailylife
August 9, 2015 at 3:43 amWhat a yummy treat! I love any kind of dessert with lemon. Your recipes always leave me wanting dessert!
hannahhossack
August 11, 2015 at 1:14 pmHa ha! Thanks Michelle 🙂
Laura
August 9, 2015 at 6:56 amAnything lemon is ok with me! This looks delicious!
hannahhossack
August 11, 2015 at 1:14 pmThank you 🙂
Lili
August 9, 2015 at 11:14 amLooks delicious! Love lemon and ginger combinations… yum! 🙂
hannahhossack
August 11, 2015 at 1:14 pmThanks Lili 🙂
Johanne Lamarche
August 10, 2015 at 3:21 amOne of my favorite flavor combinations. Love the drizzle on top!
hannahhossack
August 11, 2015 at 1:22 pmThanks Johanne 🙂
Arlene
August 11, 2015 at 1:23 amCan you substitute the ginger syrup with ordinary syrup?
hannahhossack
August 11, 2015 at 7:35 amYou can just omit it, or replace with extra lemon juice
Lucy Bishop
August 11, 2015 at 10:55 amOooh Lemon & Ginger is such a winning combo! Lush. Your food photography is insane, love it! 🙂 Do you photograph in natural night, or with a professional light? Really stunning images. I’m popping over from #TastyTuesdays linky x
hannahhossack
August 11, 2015 at 1:29 pmThanks Lucy 🙂 I only ever use natural light, I have a large window in the kitchen which I photograph in front of, occasionally using a thin white sheet to diffuse the light if it is a bright day x
Beckie
August 11, 2015 at 6:54 pmOooh, I like the idea of adding in ginger to a lemon drizzle – I wouldn’t have thought of that. Thanks for linking to #cookblogshare r.
hannahhossack
August 14, 2015 at 1:21 pmIt works really well, I love the lemon and ginger combination 🙂
carolinescookingblog
August 12, 2015 at 1:43 amI agree, lemon drizzle cake is one of the best and I love the idea of ginger in there as well. Two flavors that have a great zing. Delicious!
hannahhossack
August 14, 2015 at 1:24 pmThanks Caroline 🙂
NotCarolyn (@CarlynKB)
August 14, 2015 at 1:15 amHi – I have never seen a recipe with ginger mixed in, I love lemon and can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing.
With a smile, Carlyn 🙂
hannahhossack
August 14, 2015 at 1:26 pmThanks Carlyn, I hope you enjoy it!
Honest mum
August 20, 2015 at 10:47 pmLemon drizzle is one of my classic favourites and adding ginger is genius, the perfect flavour combination. Drooly picture. Haha-drooly, is that even a word?! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
Andrew
February 25, 2019 at 12:17 pmWell – it’s cooling in its 20 cm x 20 cm tin – cooked for 35 mins as I didn’t have the correct sized tin! Looks good so fingers crossed it’s worked. I have only taken up baking in the past couple of months and so far everything has been ginger or lemon so I’m increasing my repertoire with lemon AND ginger!