The secrets of a good drizzle cake
Lemon drizzle is the nation’s favourite cake apparently (40% named it as their favourite).
This is according to a survey last year by the prosaically named Protein Times, but we won’t quibble. In some ways it’s no surprise.
Lemon drizzle is definitely a crowd-pleaser; there’s just nothing to dislike about it. Dry-fruit deniers and icing detesters have no quarrel with a drizzle, and it’s traditional, too. We note that (new-fangled) Red Velvet cake achieved a meagre 15% in the same survey.
The other good thing about a drizzle (of any flavour) is its simplicity. It’s a good bake for a seasoned cake-maker to impress with as well as a fine place for a beginner baker to start. And with a few semi-pro tips you can achieve a very pleasing result.
So what’s the secret of a great drizzle cake?
If you want your drizzle to really penetrate the cake, use a small skewer to make holes evenly across the top of your cake before drizzling the drizzle. Alternatively you can leave the skewer in the drawer and have the drizzle as more of an ‘icing’ on top.
Always pour the drizzle over while the cake is still warm so that more of the flavour is absorbed.
And don’t remove it from the tin once drizzled until it has completely cooled and set.
Our favourite tip - replace any milk in the recipe with limoncello. It’s what they do in Campania, and they’re never wrong about anything food related.
In our February issue, on sale now, we have a rather lovely looking passion fruit drizzle (pictured above) on our Cake in the House page. The recipe is from The Tin & Traybake Cookbook by Sam Gates (Robinson).
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