Mary Berry's Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake
An easy, incredibly soft lemon drizzle loaf cake inspired by Mary Berry's original recipe — with a few simple changes that make it even better. No lemon verbena needed, baked in a loaf tin, and topped with a gorgeous set white glaze.
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 4 eggs
- 225 grams caster sugar
- 225 grams soft butter
- 275 grams self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 tablespoons milk
- Zest of 2 lemons
- Juice of 1 to 2 lemons (Deepali's addition — highly recommended for stronger lemon flavour)
FOR THE SET WHITE GLAZE (Deepali's version)
- 200 g icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice (adjust to get a thick spreadable consistency)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160 degrees C (fan) or 180 degrees C (conventional). Grease a 1 kg loaf tin and line with non-stick baking paper.
- Place the eggs, caster sugar, soft butter or baking spread, self-raising flour, baking powder, milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice into a large bowl.
- Beat everything together with an electric hand mixer for about 1 minute until smooth, pale, and well combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and level the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and the top is a gorgeous golden brown.
- Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the set glaze, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add lemon juice one tablespoon at a time, mixing until you get a thick but spreadable consistency. It should be white and opaque.
- Spread the set glaze evenly over the top of the completely cooled loaf cake, letting it drip slightly down the sides.
- Allow the glaze to set for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Recipe Notes
- Lemon verbena: Mary Berry's original recipe uses lemon verbena. I skipped it entirely as it is not easily available here and the cake is absolutely delicious without it.
- Tin shapes: You can bake this in any tin — round 20cm, square, tray bake 23x30cm, or two 1-pound loaf tins. All work perfectly.
- Lemon flavour: I strongly recommend adding the juice of 1 to 2 lemons into the batter. It makes the lemon flavour so much more pronounced and delicious.
- Set glaze vs drizzle: Mary Berry uses a transparent sugar and lemon juice drizzle. I changed this to a set white icing glaze which gives a beautiful appearance and a wonderful sweet-tangy taste with every bite.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.