SV650.org - SV650 & Gladius 650 Forum - Lemon, Rosemary and Almond drizzle cake.

Hi guys, have made a couple of these the last few days, managed to give most of it away rather than get myself even fatter, but I have it down now, so here's the recipe if anyone wants it. Will probably go in the book as well.

For the cake

225g self-raising flour
225g unsalted butter at room temperature
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
4 sprigs of rosemary
4 unwaxed large lemons (two will be zested for the cake, one juiced and the other three are juiced for the drizzle)
2 tbsp flaked almonds

For the Drizzle

100g caster sugar
juice of 3 lemons. (use the same lemons as for the cake)

Preheat the oven to 160degrees/Gas 4 and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each in well before adding the next. Don't worry if it curdles, it doesn't matter. When all of the eggs are incorporated, sift the flour in, put the flaked almonds in (leaving some aside to top the cake with). Remove the leaves from the sprigs of rosemary and chop finely, throw them in and then grate in the zest of 2 large lemons and the juice of one of them. Fold all the ingredients together now until fully incorprated and if you can, use a large metal spoon for this. The mixture should be thick and fragrant, not falling off the spoon when lifted.

Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and smooth the top with the spoon. Sprinkle on the flaked almonds that you kept aside.

Place onto a shelf in the centre of the oven and cook for 45-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre, comes out clean.

When it's cooked, leave to cool in the tin until it's warm enough to handle. Pr!ck the top with a fine skewer or fork all over and slowly squeeze over the juice of one lemon.
Now put the 100g of caster sugar and the juice of 2 lemons into a small bowl and mix. With a pastry brush, slowly brush the drizzle on rather than pour it on as I find more juice is soaked in this way. Pop some more zest over to make it look pretty if you want!

Leave to cool completely and it'll last a week in an airtight container.

If you want to go to a little extra effort, it's really nice to juice the three lemons into a small pan and heat very gently with the rosemary stalks. Allow this to cool before using some to pour over the cake, adding sugar to the rest for the drizzle. It boosts the rosemary flavour.