September Sweet & Simple Bakes: St. Clement's Drizzle Cake

September's recipe for Sweet and Simple Bakes was St. Clement's Drizzle Cake. The cake is flavored from both fresh lemon and fresh orange zest as well as their juice in the glaze. This was a new type of recipe for me, but I was excited for it because I can remember a similar lemon-poppy seed cake that my grandmother used to make for us when we were younger that was delicious!

I did run into a little bit of a snag while making the cake. I was right in the middle of beating the eggs into the batter when I realized that if I didn't start making supper, that it would be LATE before we got to eat. I finished the batter and sat it aside in the refrigerator for a couple hours. When I finally got the cake in the oven, it started to brown FAST! At 30 minutes when I checked it, the top was pretty brown and the middle still looked like jello! Thankfully, I was able to save it by covering the pan with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes of bake time. I don't know if it was the time or the refrigeration that threw the baking off so far, but I can recommend baking the cake immediately after finishing the

 batter!

The flavor of the cake was very good! It stayed quite moist even with my bake time adventure. In fact, I didn't get very good pictures of the slices because my husband dug in before I was able to get out there with the camera =-) The citrus glaze really does add a nice sweetness to the top, but I think I would use a larger "poking" device next time so that it penetrates further into the cake. Enjoy!

(Printable Version)

St. Clement's Drizzle Cake - Sweet and Simple Bakes

1 c. (175 g) granulated sugar

6 oz (175 g) softened butter

grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon

grated zest and juice of 1 large orange

4 Tbsp. milk

2 eggs

1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place 1 c. sugar, butter, and zest of the lemon and orange in a bowl and beat together until pale and creamy. Add the milk. Beat in the eggs, one at at time with a spoon of flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Mix in the remaining flour. Spoon into the prepared pan and level the surface with a spatula. Bake in the oven for about 45 mintues or until they are golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.

While the cake is baking, place the lemon and orange juice in a saucepan, bring to boil and allow to reduce in quantity to about 3 tablespoons. Leave to cool, and then stir in the remaining granulated sugar until it just starts to dissolve.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick several times with a skewer. Slowly pour the lemon and orange sugar over the entire top, letting it soak into the cake. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out and cutting into slices to serve.