Lemon drizzle cake, a delightfully tangy dessert, is easy to buy pre-made as a British supermarket staple. Yet, there’s something particularly satisfying about making this delicious treat at home.
Unlike other traditional bakes this zesty cake is easy to whip without turning on the oven.
According to BBC Good Food it’s well-suited to being baked in an air fryer instead. The culinary experts at BBC Good Food remarked: “Ever tried your air-fryer for baking? While it’s not ideal for perfectly even cakes, it’s great for a fuss-free loaf cake, like this lemon drizzle.”
They’ve rated the recipe as “easy”, making it an excellent choice for those who are less confident in the kitchen.
And with just 10 minutes of preparation time required, you won’t be tethered to the kitchen all day.
Air fryer lemon cake recipe
Ingredients
250g butter (room temperature)
250g caster sugar
Four eggs
250g self-raising flour
Three lemons (zest and juice)
100g icing sugar
Method
To start, you’ll need a loaf tin that fits inside your air fryer basket or on racks if you have a digital oven-style fryer. Next, measure some baking parchment to fit inside the tin and scrunch it up a little before using it to line the loaf tin (this will help it stay in place).
Now take a large mixing bowl and add the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, a pinch of salt, and two-thirds of the lemon zest. Stir to combine until the mixture is soft and fluffy, or use an electric whisk to do the job for you.
The mixture should be pale in colour when done with no lumps in sight. For added texture, you could stir in a small handful of poppy seeds at this point.
Now preheat the air fryer to 160C. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake the lemon load for between one hour and one hour 10 minutes.
To check if the cake is done, insert a skewer into the middle – it should come out clean. If the cake starts to darken too much, BBC Good Food suggests covering it with foil to prevent the top from gaining too much colour.
Allow the cooked cake to cool in the tin for five minutes but don’t let it cool completely before making the icing. For the drizzle, mix the icing sugar, the remaining lemon zest and just enough juice to create a smooth, pourable icing.
Carefully remove the warm cake from the tin and place it on a wire rack over a tray. Using a skewer, poke deep holes all over the top of the cake.
Slowly drizzle the icing over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Let the icing set before serving.
