Monday Recipe: Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes

Lemon drizzle is one of my favourite cakes, it’s tasty and easy to make. And it works pretty well as a cupcake. However speed is of the essence here, the lemon syrup must be added while the cakes are still hot! The usual rules apply, these quantities are designed for use in a Cupcake Maker, but the recipe can also be baked in the oven. This amount will make approximately 6 fairy sized cakes, but can easily be scaled up to make more.

I suggest leaving these on a plate to cool as the syrup can get everywhere!

Cake Ingredients:
1 large egg
50g/1oz Self-rising flour, sifted
50g/2oz Caster sugar
50g/2oz Softened butter or margarine
Zest of ½ a lemon

Syrup Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lemon
approx 2 tbsp’s of caster sugar

Method:
Cream together the butter and sugar then beat in the egg.  Then fold in the flour and lemon zest.
Divide between 6 cake cases and then bake in the cupcake maker for approximately 10 minutes or in the oven at Gas 4/180 C for about 15 minutes. The cakes are ready when a skewer inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean!

While the cakes are cooking place the lemon juice and caster sugar into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved taste and if desired add more sugar to taste, keep the syrup warm until the cakes are done. When the cakes are cooked, poke a couple of holes into the surface of the cake with a cocktail stick and immediately spoon over the lemon syrup.  
Leave on a wire rack (or plate!) to cool.

I find the best topping for these cakes is a plain water icing, just mix some icing sugar and water together until you are happy with the consistency and spoon over the cakes.