MAXINE GORDON bakes a midsummer treat.

LEMONS are the essence of summer; think of a glass of homemade lemonade, a G&T and slice or a scone with lemon curd.

No afternoon tea is complete without a piece of lemon drizzle cake, perfectly moist and bursting with a citrus tang, with a satisfyingly sharp crunch of sugary coating on top.

I usually make lemon drizzle in a loaf tin and cut it into slabs, but I wanted to make more of a cake, so baked two separate sponges and jammed them together with buttercream.

This cake would be perfect for a mid-summer picnic. It’s large enough to feed 12 – so ideal for sharing.

The triple lemon hit comes from the lemon sponge, the lemon butter icing in the middle, and the sugary lemon coating on top.

Enjoy!

Lemon drizzle sponge

- Serves 12

Ingredients

For the sponge:
8oz (250g) butter/marg
8oz (250g) caster sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
8oz (250g) self-raising flour
1tsp of baking powder
Juice and zest of one lemon.

For the butter cream:
5oz (150g) butter or marg
8oz (250g) sifted icing sugar
Juice and zest of half a lemon (or to taste).

For the lemon drizzle coating:
Juice of one lemon
4oz (100g) of granulated sugar.

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C; grease and flour (or line with baking parchment) two 20cm/8in cakes tins.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until soft and creamy.

3. Sieve in half the flour, and fold.

4. Fold in half the eggs.

5. Sieve in remaining flour and baking powder, and fold.

6. Fold in rest of eggs.

7. Mix in lemon juice and zest.

8. Split between two cake tins and bake in oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden on top and springy to touch (or a skewer when inserted comes out clean).

9. While still warm and in their tins, pour the mix of granulated sugar and lemon juice over the top on one of the sponges (pick the best looking one, as this will be the top of the cake).

10. Once cool, remove cakes from tins.

11. Cream butter with icing sugar and lemon juice and zest and spread on inside of one cake, then sandwich both together, making sure the sugar-coated sponge is on top.