By Joanne, February 2023

Every new arrival at Peaks and Pods finds home baking in their pod cake tin. It’s usually a lemon drizzle cake, based on a tried-and-tested recipe by baking-extraordinaire Mary Berry.

We’ve baked different cakes for vegan or gluten intolerant guests, and occasionally we mix things up with sticky ginger cakes or chocolate brownies, but usually it’s a lemon drizzle cake. They’ve been such a favourite with guests over the year and seem to work out well (almost!) every time.

Stats

I’ve worked out that I’ve baked cakes roughly about 750 times since we opened in the summer of 2017. That’s not the number of cakes – just the number of baking sessions on changeover days. I didn’t realise it would be so high! (That’s with taking time off when we were closed due to Covid restrictions.)

If I’ve baked, on average, four cakes per session, that’d be in the region of 3,000 cakes. Wow! My trusty Everhot range cooker has done a good job!

Disasters

Of course over the years there have been highs and lows! A few times my digital scales have been on the blink and I’ve added way too much flour, resulting in a volcanic eruption in the oven. They’ve been overcooked/burnt when I’ve been distracted, or just thought I’d give them ‘a few more minutes’ and then forgotten!

Cakes have cooked way too fast when the oven temperature has been raised the day before for Yorkshire puddings, and there have been many times, for some mysterious reason, that the cakes have sunk after I’ve taken them out of the oven. Lots of cakes have ended up in the bin, and there have been many emergency missions to Booths Supermarket in Settle for ingredients.

10 Top Tips

I’ve been round the block a few times when it comes to lemon drizzle cakes (see above!) and I have a few tips to share.

  1. I cook my cakes in 1lb loaf tins lined with silicone cake tin liners (mine are usually from Lakeland or Tala).
  2. I never grease the tins – the liners just go straight in.
  3. Buy good quality, individual lemons. I prefer lemons that aren’t too thick-skinned or full of pips. I usually always buy mine individually from Booths – loose, never in bags.
  4. Give your lemons a gentle roll on a chopping board before you juice them – it seems to release the juices. Ideally, use them at room temperature.
  5. Use a flour sieve to strain the juice for the cake topping if there are lots of pips.
  6. Use soft margarine straight from the fridge, not butter. I always use either Stork or Aldi’s ‘Perfect for Cakes’. This makes all the difference.
  7. Use the best eggs you can buy (and certainly free range). Deep yellow yolks make a lovely coloured cake. Eggs need to be stored at room temperature for best results.
  8. Wash and dry all your baking equipment straight away and don’t leave the mixture to dry on. (Learned from experience. It sets like glue!)
  9. I cook up to five cakes at a time. I turn up the oven by 5 degrees for a large batch and usually leave them an extra 5 or 10 minutes in the oven, compared to just two or three cakes.
  10. Don’t be tempted to peep in the oven before 20 minutes. I use my Alexa timer usually, but I can always smell when they’re ready.

Ingredients

This mixture makes two 1lb lemon loaf cakes (I just multiply to make three, four or five cakes).

Oven temperature – 180 degrees Celsius

Mixture for two 1lb cakes

6oz self raising flour
6oz caster sugar
4oz margarine
2 eggs
4 tablespoons (60ml) milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
Zest of one decent lemon

Syrup topping

Juice of one lemon
Granulated sugar (no exact amount as it depends on how much juice you have, but until it’s slightly runny/slightly thick?!)

Method

This is the best bit! It’s an all-in-one method, so just put all your cake mixture ingredients into a bowl and mix for two minutes.

I use a KitchenAid mixer with a flex edge beater, but any mixer will do, or electric hand beaters.

  • I always start with adding the flour, sugar and margarine first, and then add everything else.
  • While the cakes are cooking, squeeze your lemon and mix in a bowl or jug with approx 4-6 dessert spoons of granulated sugar.
  • Two cakes usually take 20-25 minutes to cook. You’re looking for a light golden colour all round.
  • Lift the cakes from their tins and leave to cool on a rack.
  • While they’re still hot, spoon on the syrup mixture, making sure you cover the whole cake.
  • Leave to cool.
  • The cakes will stay fresh for two or three days, if stored in an airtight tin.

Eat and enjoy with a cup of tea and your feet up!

Still going strong – 3,000 lemon cakes later!