Lemon Drizzle Slices

I am partial to a slice of lemon drizzle and that's why I decided to include it in the afternoon tea that I served at Cliveden House during my visit back there. This cake is decorated with a feather icing and it looks really impressive, but it's incredibly easy to make. I like to serve it in slices.

Lemon Drizzle Slices

Makes: 12 Bake: 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 70g softened unsalted butter

• 120g caster sugar

• 2 medium eggs

• 140g self-raising flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 lemon, finely zested

• 1 tbsp lemon curd

• 2 tbsp full-fat milk

For the drizzle topping:

• 30 granulated sugar

• juice of 1 lemon

For the feather icing:

• 250g icing sugar

• 3 tbsp water

• splash of yellow food colouring

Method

1.Preheat your oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Line a 20cm x 20cm square baking tin with parchment paper.

2. Using an electric whisk, beat the butter and caster sugar together until pale, light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix again. Add the flour, baking powder, lemon zest, lemon curd and milk and mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

3. Mix the granulated sugar and lemon juice together and pour over the hot cake. Leave to cool in the tin. You can then eat the cake just as it is, or for a fancy finish try making this feather icing.

4. Mix the icing sugar with just enough of the water to give a runny, but not watery, icing. Take a small amount of icing and place it in a separate bowl. Add a few drops of the food colouring to this icing until you have the desired colour. Spoon this not a disposable icing bag.

5. Remove the cake from the tin and peel off the parchment paper. Sit the cake on a wire rack over a baking tray. Spread the white icing over the cake. Using the icing bag, pipe lines of the coloured icing across the width of the cake. Using a cocktail stick, drag through the lines at right angles to create a feathered effect. Leave to set before cutting into 12 slices.

Taken from Paul Hollywood’s The Weekend Baker, published by Penguin/Michael Joseph

Photograph © Issy Crocker