Mary Berry's Lemon Drizzle Cake

Since the return of one of my favourite TV programmes - The Great British Bake Off - I've had a craving to throw on my apron and dig out my cake tins. I thought I should make the most of what's left of summer by baking with one of my favourite summer flavours - lemon. And of course, to celebrate the return of GBBO I had to follow a Mary Berry recipe.

I've made this Lemon Drizzle traybake once before when I was away in university but as my oven was extremely temperamental it didn't turn out too well. I knew it would taste great though made in my kitchen at home. Its fairly quick, super easy and makes perfect Lemon Drizzle Cake.

You will need

For the cake:

225g of softened butter (leave at room temperature for at least an hour before starting)

225g of caster sugar

275g of self-raising flour

4 eggs

4 tablespoons of milk

2 level teaspoons of baking powder

Finely grated rind of 2 lemons

For the topping:

175g of granulated sugar

The juice of 2 lemons

Cake Tin:

1 square tray bake tin, greased and lined with baking paper (unless the tin is made of silicon, then no greasing or lining is required)

To begin set the oven to preheat at 160°C. Measure all the ingredients for the cake into a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until it is combined and smooth. It makes a fairly stiff batter so it is much easier to use an electric whisk than a wooden spoon. Pop the mixture into the tin, making sure the top is level and even, and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the cake is starting to shrink away from the sides and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave in the tin to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. I find the easiest way to turn it out and prevent the top from getting indents from the wire rack is to grab a large plate with a rim as flat as possible. Place the plate over the tin and flip, carefully encouraging the cake out of the tin. The cake should be upside down on the plate. Now put the wire rack on top of the cake and flip again. Ta-dah! The cake is now the right way up to cool.

While the cake is cooling make the topping. This is a crunchy topping rather than an icing, which I think goes very nicely. It adds a nice texture alongside the moist cake. In a bowl mix together the granulated sugar with the lemon juice to form a runny paste. Spoon the topping all over the cake while still warm, making sure its perfectly even. It will drip over the sides so place the wire rack over a tray to catch the topping. Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.

I cut it into 25 squares. Big enough for a sugar/cake/lemon craving and small enough to not feel guilty having two!

If you fancy looking at the recipe on Mary Berry's website click here.

Perfect for a rainy August afternoon, sat on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea.