lemon & gin drizzle bundt cake

photo: lemon & gin drizzle bundt cake

i can’t tell you how much i was tempted to not write this post and just write off the bake together. but in the spirit of being open and honest about my baking journey, here’s a cake that didn’t quite go to plan…

i’ve been holding off from making a cake because i feel like there’s the added pressure that not only does it need to taste good, it has to look good as well. i’ve made some successful cakes in the past, and ones that i’ve been really happy with the presentation of, but i just feel so much more comfortable with breads and pastries where it’s perfectly fine for the finished bake to look a little ‘rustic’.

however, i was bought a bundt tin for christmas and i’ve been eager to christen it with a sweet bake. lemon drizzle is maybe my favourite cake, so naturally i scoured the internet for a lemon drizzle bundt cake and found a great recipe by jenn segal on her blog once upon a chef.

most importantly, this cake tasted amazing, and i cannot fault the recipe enough for making a really delicious cake with a great texture and zesty lemony flavour. however, i did face some issues with the cake sticking to the bundt pan (despite greasing and preparing the plan extensively before baking), meaning that the presentation of the cake left a lot to be desired - pretty much the entire top of the cake ripped off!

the bake

to make this cake i popped down to the general store and treated myself to the nicest looking lemons i could find. unfortunately, i wasn’t able to find any buttermilk, so looked up some substitutes online and ended up mixing some oatly barista with some lemon juice, which helps to curdle the milk slightly and give the buttermilk-style tang and texture. the recipe substitution i found for this suggested putting one tablespoon (15ml) of lemon juice in a cup measure and filling up the rest of the cup with milk.

one of the biggest pains is that i am currently without my stand mixer or a mixing bowl (thanks lockdown), so i had to cream the butter and sugar by hand in the biggest pyrex casserole dish we have. if i could make this recipe again, i would definitely do so with a hand or stand mixer as i think it would whip even more air into the creamed butter and sugar, making for a lighter finished cake. into the creamed butter and sugar go the eggs, followed by alternating adding small amounts of the dry ingredients and wet ingredients.

when it came time to filling the bundt tin, i greased and sugared the tin liberally, making sure that every inch of the pan was covered. the tin was slightly too small for the recipe, which meant that the cake rose above the ring in the middle of the bundt pan during baking. luckily the batter did not overflow, but if i made the recipe again i would reduce the recipe by 10-15%.

sadly, despite preparations the cake did stick to the tin, and i’m really not sure what will have caused it to stick. when i use the tin again, i will make sure to spend a bit more time carefully easing the cake away from the tin, making sure to reach the spatula down to the bottom of the pan. if anyone has any tips please leave a comment below!

photo: coffee & cake

although the cake was more rustic looking than i’d hoped for, it tastes delicious. the lemon comes through really strong, and i made the fun substitution of using tanqueray flor de sevilla gin to make the icing instead of lemon juice. the seville orange gin made a great bittersweet accompaniment to the lemon cake, perfect for citrus lovers and those who like a little boozy warmth to their afternoon cake!

you can find the original recipe here.