Lemon Drizzle Cake

Tomorrow is my birthday. Here I am, setting the intention that it’s going to be a good one. All good days, weeks, months and years start out with good cake, so let’s kick off #Thisis38 with this fab lemon drizzle cake.

I’d never really heard of a lemon drizzle cake until TGBBS, and it seemed to be a staple each and every season and after giving it a taste of my own, I decided it was a good way to ring in my new year.  It actually is quite similar to the very first birthday cake I made for myself on the blog almost 7 years ago, so, very fitting.

Before I talk about this cake, indulge me for a second while I talk about this year.

Every August when I sit back and look at the year, it’s hard to see how the collection of 365 days might have made an impact.  Does that happen to you?  

I kicked off the year with an epic trip with Mom, exploring Scotland and Ireland, and realizing that there is indeed so much more to experience in both places!  Scotland, take me back!

I went on my first two press trips (Providence and New Hampshire), making me realize that hey, I am actually a legit travel writer (and both confirmed how much I heart New England)!

Ham and I spontaneously bought tickets to London for what was my first #WeekendEuropeanJaunt in ten years.  And it reminded me that they must be repeated with much more frequency.

 I traveled a lot with my family, and enjoyed every single trip, and we even checked a few things off our bucket list.  

I managed to see many of my best friends- a monumental feat considering how spread out we all are and I’m hoping that the ones I missed, I’ll see sometime soon.  I’ve also managed to find my tribe here in Ann Arbor, which I have to give myself a high-five for since it’s really hard to make friends in your thirties! I faced my fears and entered two tennis tournaments as a singles player, and this winter I hope to make the leap to play singles the majority of the time.

And the more time that passes between the now and when I left Chicago, the more I have been able to step back and realize so many of the things that I used to find so important really don’t matter. It’s not all about the ‘gram. More often than not, I just want to enjoy my food, enjoy my life, letting the wide world seeing some of it. But not all of it.

And with summer coming to a close, I’m looking forward to what the next year has in store.  A few big trips hopefully are in the works for next year and then…who knows! I’ve learned sometimes it’s very much okay to be surprised. 

As for my favorite blog foods? I’m going to go with my top 5:  pork posole salad, earl grey blueberry cake muffins, cauliflower tinga tacos, Vietnamese mango chicken salad and roasted tomato grilled cheese sammies.

Okay, enough of that, and let’s talk about this lemon drizzle cake!  Thank you for your patience while I rambled on for a bit there.

This cake is easy enough. It’s much like many of my favorite Victoria Sponge cakes to make.  Weigh the eggs, and match that weight in butter, sugar and self-rising flour. This takes it an extra step by adding some lemon zest and a deliciously lemon glaze that forms a lovely crust when the cake cools.  I’ve added in the volume measurements, but do yourself a favor and get yourself a kitchen scale. You won’t regret the purchase.

The British way is to make this with caster sugar, but I just zipped regular granulated sugar around in the food processor for the same effect.

There’s no frosting for this one, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t add a dollop of whipped cream to serve alongside. It is my birthday after all and I do adore fresh whipped cream.

One funny note: I read a recipe for this that added an extra bit of leavening with some baking powder. While totally not necessary given the self-rising flour, I figured I’d do the same. Big mistake! The extra leavening made the whole thing collapse in the middle! Look for maybe some lemon cake ice cream pops in the future.