This lemon drizzle cake is an easy, vegan version of the much-loved classic.
It is sweet and very lemony and, despite being on the soft and sticky side, easy to slice. (The pictured cake was cut as soon as it was cool enough to do so.)
Ground almonds are something of a miracle ingredient in vegan baking, bringing a soft, rich, moist texture to cakes like this, even in relatively small quantities.
The quantity of lemon syrup looks excessive when you start to spoon it onto the cake, but all of it soaks in. If you can bring yourself to leave it alone for several hours, it becomes a lovely loaf that’s like a madeira cake combined with home-made lemon curd.
There aren’t too many health claims to make about this cake, but it is vegan and it’s full of lemon juice!
Lemon drizzle cake…
Ingredients
- 100 g coconut oil
- zest of 2 medium lemons
- 160 g caster sugar
- 60 g ground almonds
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 100 ml soya or other non-dairy milk
for the syrup
- 80-100 ml lemon juice (juice of 2-3 medium lemons)
- 80-100 g caster sugar
Method
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F and line or lightly oil a standard 2 lb loaf tin.
- Melt the coconut oil in a large bowl and stir in the 160g caster sugar.
- Warm up the milk (so that it doesn’t solidify the coconut oil) and add to the oil and sugar mixture along with the lemon zest. Whisk to combine well.
- Add the ground almonds and sift in the flour. Stir until well combined.
- Transfer to the tin and, using the back of a spoon, create a very slight dip in the middle to allow the loaf to rise with a flat top instead of a peak.
- Bake for around 45 minutes until well risen and browned, and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- While the loaf is baking, comine the juice of the lemons with an equivalent amount of sugar – ie, use 80g sugar for 80ml juice or 100g sugar for 100ml juice (or anything in between). Lemons are unpredictable, but you will need about 80ml juice at least for a really moist, sticky cake. Stir, leave for a while, and then stir again to ensure all the sugar is dissolved.
- While the cake is still hot and in the tin, prick the surface all over with a skewer and spoon on about a third of the syrup. Allow it to sink in and then add more. Once this has been absorbed, add the remaining syrup. It is likely to pool around the edges a bit and look as if there is far too much syrup to be absorbed, but it will all disappear into the cake in time!
- Allow to cool completely before slicing.
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