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Lemon Drizzle Traybake (1)

Lemon Drizzle Traybake with a Crisp Sugar Crust

An all-in-one lemon drizzle traybake with zest through the sponge and a sharp lemon glaze brushed on while the cake is still warm. Granulated sugar in the glaze sets into a crisp, sandy crust while the juice soaks down into the crumb. Everything for the cake beats together in one bowl in two minutes.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
1 day
Servings: 18
Course: baking
Cuisine: British
Calories: 285
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Sponge

  • 225 g/8oz butter or baking spread at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the tin
  • 225 g/8oz caster sugar
  • 275 g/10oz self-raising flour
  • 1 level tsp baking powder level matters here, so scrape the spoon flat
  • 4 free-range eggs
  • 4 tbsp milk
  • 2 unwaxed lemons finely grated zest only, save the flesh, the glaze needs different lemons for their juice
For the Lemon Glaze
  • 175 g/6oz granulated sugar granulated rather than caster or icing, for the crunch
  • 2 lemons juice only

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven and prepare the tin. Set the oven to 180C, 160C Fan, or Gas 4. Grease a 30x23cm/12x9in traybake tin with butter and line the base with baking paper, which is what lets you lift the whole cake out later for glazing.
  2. Beat everything together. Measure all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat for 2 minutes with an electric mixer, or until well blended. The batter should look pale, smooth, and evenly mixed with no streaks of flour.
  3. Fill and level the tin. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top, working it right into the corners so the sponge bakes evenly across the tray.
  4. Bake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cake has shrunk a little from the sides of the tin and springs back when you touch the centre lightly with a fingertip.
  5. Mix the glaze while it bakes. Stir the granulated sugar into the juice of the 2 lemons until you have a runny consistency. The sugar won’t dissolve completely, and that undissolved grain is what sets into the crust.
  6. Rest, then lift out. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then lift it out with the lining paper still attached and set it on a wire rack placed over a tray to catch any drips.
  7. Glaze the warm cake and leave to set. Brush the glaze over the entire surface while the cake is still warm, so the juice soaks in and the sugar sets on top. Leave it undisturbed until the surface has set firm.
  8. Cut into squares. Peel away the lining paper and cut the traybake into 18 squares to serve.

Notes

A few practical points around timing, equipment, and the lemons.
You need four lemons in total, not two. The recipe calls for the zest of 2 unwaxed lemons in the sponge and the juice of 2 lemons in the glaze. Zesting first and juicing the same fruit would leave you short.
Tin size affects the timing. The 30x23cm/12x9in tin is what makes the sponge shallow enough to bake in 25 to 30 minutes and to cut into 18 even squares. A smaller or deeper tin changes both.
Baking spread works in place of butter here, and the recipe allows for either. Whichever you use, it needs to be at room temperature and soft enough to beat in straight away.
The lining paper stays attached through glazing and only comes off at the end. This is what stops the glazed cake sticking to the wire rack.