Lemon drizzle daisy cake

This is my favourite lemon drizzle cake to make and a family friend's birthday was the perfect excuse for me to make - and eat - it!

I have a daisy cake tin from Lakeland which I used which meant I needed to increase the quantities of ingredients from the lemon drizzle cake which I usually use. The usual recipe can be found here - http://icingonthecakes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/essential-cake-recipes.html - however the new recipe is below :

10oz Self Raising flour

10oz Stork margarine 

10oz Caster sugar 

5 large eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

Zest of one lemon 

The method is exactly the same as posted on my previous blog (above). 

The only downside to using this cake tin is that it has to be greased! 

You can see in the picture above that I lightly greased my daisy tin and then dusted a little flour. Although it's a bit of a pain, it definitely makes it easier for you to remove the cake from the tin once it's cooked! 

In 2012, I got a Kitchen Aid mixer for my birthday and it has definitely increased the amount of cakes I make! If you're unsure, I would definitely recommend getting one. It makes the process of making cakes so much easier and mine is yet to fail me! The range of colours you can get them in is definitely another reason to consider one.

You should be able to see a change in colour in the cake mixture and this is how you can tell it's done. It'll go from a orangey/yellow colour to a much paler cream. 

Make sure you scrape all the cake mixture from the side of the bowl (I always use my favourite purple spoonula!) and then spoon into the cake tin. 

I always fill my tins 2/3 full which allow them to rise the top of the tin but not overflow onto the oven shelf. Before putting in the oven, give the tin a few sharp taps on the counter - I find that the decreases the chance of the cake becoming domed whilst it's rising. 

The cake is quite deep so takes about 25 - 30 minutes to cook on approx. 180 degrees Celsius. 

Whilst the cake is cooking you need to make the 'drizzle' part of the lemon drizzle cake:

Mix three tablespoons of caster sugar with the juice of a whole lemon and stir. I find that the cakes turn out best when the sugar has completely dissolved before being drizzled on the cake. 

Once the cake is out of the oven, allow to cool in the tin and then poke holes in what will be the bottom of the cake using a skewer. Drizzle the lemon and sugar all over the cake and then leave for about 10 minutes. 

Once the glaze has set, you can turn the cake out onto a cooling rack. Because the tin has been greased, the cake should easily come out but if it doesn't, loosen the edges with a knife. 

For the icing:

Place about 5 tablespoons of icing sugar into a bowl and mix with a little water until a thick paste (I made mine a bit too thick which made it difficult to spread on the petals) is formed. Divide the icing into two bowls and then using a yellow food colouring, dye one batch yellow (this will make the centre of the flower). 

Note: If you're looking into buying food colourings, the pastes are much better than the liquid. They don't affect the texture of the icing and give much stronger, vibrant colours. 

Once the cake has completely cooled, pour the yellow icing onto the centre of the cake and then spread the remaining white icing on every other petal on the cake. (I ice the higher petals). 

I've made this cake endless times and always get positive responses! It's a really simple but effective cake and goes perfectly with a cup of tea in the afternoon! 

This is my finished cake!