Mary Berry’s lemon drizzle cake recipe is a firm favourite with the baking queen, and it’s easy to see why. This traybake is simple to make and tastes delicious
There’s nothing quite like a freshly baked lemon drizzle cake, with its zesty flavour perfectly complemented by the sweetness of the sponge. Mary Berry’s traybake recipe requires minimal ingredients and takes hardly any time in the oven.
Discussing the recipe, Mary remarked: “If you ask anybody what their real favourite cake is, it’s nearly always lemon drizzle. It’s certainly mine.”
The baking legend has dedicated years to perfecting her lemon drizzle cake recipe to guarantee flawless results, and she’s been creating this particular version for decades.
The recipe notes on BBC Food stated: “Mary’s lemon drizzle traybake cake has been a hit since the 1960s, and this is the recipe she is most asked for when stopped in the street,” reports the Express.
How to make Mary Berry’s lemon drizzle cake recipe
Ingredients
For the cake:
225g baking spread or butter, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
275g self-raising flour
Two level teaspoons of baking powder
Four free-range eggs
Four tablespoons of milk
Two unwaxed lemons, finely grated zest only
One heaped tablespoon of very finely chopped lemon verbena, optional
For the glaze:
175g granulated sugar
Two lemons, juice only
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan and grease a 12×9-inch traybake tin with butter and line the base with baking paper.
Measure all of the ingredients into a large bowl and beat for two minutes using an electric mixer, or until well blended.
Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cake has slightly pulled away from the tin edges and springs back when lightly prodded in the centre.
In the meantime, prepare the glaze. Combine the sugar with the lemon juice and stir until it reaches a runny consistency.
Allow the cake to cool for five minutes in the tin, then lift out, keeping the lining paper attached, and place on a wire rack over a tray.
Brush the glaze all over the warm cake’s surface and let it set. Remove the lining paper and slice to serve.
This cake will remain fresh in an airtight container for three to four days, but it also freezes brilliantly.
