Tang-talising The Senses

After the richness of the little Baileys chocolate muffins below, I thought I would bake a citrus lemon loaf cake this time around to share with you. Adding a streusel topping to this loaf cake would make a change from a normal lemon sponge. It worked out beautifully in taste and texture with the lemon flavour not overtly over powering.

However, if you prefer a sharper zing of lemon, I would then suggest adding a little lemon juice to the sponge or lemon extract to increase the lemon flavour with the lemon zest. This cake is delightful sliced and served with a hot cup of tea mid afternoon when those sugar levels seem to drop a little, and little pangs of hunger set in.

Lemon Streusel Loaf Cake

Ingredients

For The Lemon Sponge
125g (5 oz) softened butter
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
165g (5½ oz) caster sugar
2 large eggs
110g (4½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
75g (3 oz) self-raising flour
60ml (2 fl oz plus 2 tsp) milk
Lemon Streusel Mixture
40g (1½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
40g (1½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
30g (1 ¼ oz) butter, chopped into squares
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 heaped tbsp flaked almonds

You will need 13cm x 23cm (5in x 9in) loaf tin, greased and lined with baking parchment, extending the paper 2cm (¾ in) over the sides.

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan oven 140°C/325°F/Gas mark 3.

Firstly, make the lemon streusel, place the sugar and flour into a small bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs and then stir in the lemon zest and flaked almonds.

For the lemon sponge, in a mixing bowl beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time beating in after each addition until fully combined. Sift the two flours together and then fold into the mixture alternately with the milk in two batches. Place the mixture into the loaf tin, smoothing the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the lemon streusel mixture evenly over the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the loaf to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool with crumble side upper most. Serve cut into slices.

Lastly relax, serve yourself a slice of this cake with a lovely cup of tea and sit back in admiration of what you have baked.