Sweet and Simple Bakes Monthly Bake ~ St Clement's Drizzle Cake

For our monthly bake at Sweet and Simple Bakes I chose a British favourite, St Clement’s Drizzle Cake. This delectable cake recipe is quick, easy and produces a very light and moist sponge that is bursting with all those wonderful citrusy flavours soaked through, finished with a crunchy sugary top. The perfect refreshing afternoon teatime cake! Please pop over to Sweet and Simple Bakes to view more yummy entries! If you would like to be part of our monthly bakes, we would be delighted to have you join in and bake with us – everyone is welcome! Visit our site for further details about joining.

St Clement’s Drizzle Cake

Ingredients
175g caster sugar
175g softened butter
Grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
4 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
175g self-raising flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 180oC/fan 160oC/gas 4.

Grease and line the base of 1 large (900g) or 2 small (450g) loaf tins.

Place the caster sugar, butter and zest of the lemon and orange in a bowl and beat together until pale and creamy. Add the milk, and then beat in the eggs, one at a time, with a spoon of flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Mix in the remaining flour. Spoon into the prepared tin/tins and level the surface flat.

Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes for a large cake or 30 minutes for the smaller cakes until they are golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.

While the cake is cooking, place the lemon and orange juice in a saucepan, bring to the boil and allow to reduce in quantity to about 3 tablespoons. Leave to cool, and then stir in the granulated sugar so it just starts to dissolve.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick several times with a skewer, then slowly pour the lemon and orange sugar all over the top, letting it soak into the cake. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out and cutting into slices to serve.