When it comes to baking, less is often more.

When you’re whipping up a tasty little something, you can add chocolate or cream or icing or cinnamon or caramel or more cream ’til the cows come home, and sure, it’ll be some sort of delicious sensory overload in the end (maybe) – but the true test of a good baker is making something with simple ingredients that ends up being perfection. Lemon drizzle cake is that thing.

The origins of this cake aren’t clear, although it is often referred to as a French tea time favourite (of course it is; the French have wonderful taste in desserts) and us Brits absolutely adore it too. The combination of the sweet sugar and the tart lemon within the fluffy, light sponge is the very definition of subtlety, and there’s nothing better to enjoy on a light afternoon with a good bit of gossip from a friend.

Although vegan baking is very different in process than non-vegan baking, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between this and your grandma’s traditional lemon drizzle cake. It’s all there; the slightly crusty sides, the crystal crunchy topping, the moist middle made even more moist by letting the drizzle seep into the whole shebang. And to top it all off, it’s a breeze to make.

You’ll need:
(Makes 1 cake)
2 1/3 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
juice and zest of 2 lemons
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil (or your preferred oil)
1 cup almond milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
pinch of salt

Drizzle:
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup caster sugar

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Lightly grease a loaf pan and/or line it with baking paper
In a bowl, pour the almond milk and the apple cider vinegar, and leave for 5 minutes
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the plain flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt
Stir the oil, juice and zest into the almond milk mixture
Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined
Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean, then remove from the oven
Poke holes in the top of the cake with a toothpick. Seriously, loads of holes
Drizzle the drizzle (ha!) on top and allow it to seep into the holes
Allow to cool completely, remove from the loaf pan, slice and serve with tea. HEAVEN

Beautiful in its simplicty, this cake is just the best. Serve it right in the pan to look a little fancy, and don’t forget to crack out the good tea.