As an American, drizzle cakes weren’t part of my baking repertoire until I started watching the life-changing Great British Baking Show. They remind me a bit of pound cakes, but not exactly; their texture is a bit lighter, and they’re covered in a syrup while still warm to infuse the cake with moisture. As the cake cools, the syrup forms a delicious crunchy topping. The syrup should soak all the way to the bottom of the cake, but I’ve yet to discover exactly how this is possible. Is my cake too “close-textured,” as Mary and Paul would say? Perhaps. But regardless of that, this cake is absolutely delicious.
I adapted a recipe from Jo’s Kitchen Larder by adding poppy seeds to the batter and increasing the syrup liquid by half a blood orange. I also used the creaming method, rather than the all-in-one method, as the original recipe outlined. This is definitely a cake I’ll use as a go-to in the future.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons self-rising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar*
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- zest of 1 blood orange
- 100 ml whole milk**
- 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
For the drizzle
- 1/2 cup superfine sugar
- juice and zest from 1 1/2 blood oranges
*Superfine sugar, also known as caster sugar, can be made by pulsing granulated sugar in a food processor until it has a very fine, sandy texture.
**There is a 100 ml line on your average liquid measuring cup; it’s about 1/8 inch shy of the half-cup mark. As this recipe was written in grams and milliliters, I converted as much as I could into cups, but 100 ml doesn’t translate as well from metric to U.S. measurements.
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch loaf tin with parchment paper.
Sift self-rising flour and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add blood orange zest and eggs and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour, beating to combine completely. Stir in poppy seeds.
Spoon batter into loaf tin and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Check the cake around 30 minutes and cover with foil if necessary to prevent over-browning.
Just before the cake comes out of the oven, prepare the drizzle; combine superfine sugar, juice, and zest in a small bowl and stir well.
Remove the cake from the oven and immediately poke all over the top with a skewer. Spoon drizzle over the cake, allowing it to soak in completely. Cool cake completely before removing from the tin. Store well-wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Makes about 8 servings.
amy bakes in the 'burgh 