Lighter lemon drizzle cake
See this recipe step by step

Lighter lemon drizzle cake

Angela Nilsen gives one of our site's most popular cakes the ultimate healthy makeover by reducing fat

Difficulty and servings

Easy

CUTS INTO 12 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Freezable

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly oil a 20cm round x 5cm deep cake tin and line the base with baking parchment. For the cake, put the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and polenta in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the lemon zest and sugar, then make a dip in the centre. Beat the eggs in a bowl, then stir in the yogurt. Tip this mixture along with the oil into the dip (see step-by-step number 1), then briefly and gently stir with a large metal spoon so everything is just combined, without overmixing.
  2. Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the top (step 2). Bake for 40 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cover loosely with foil for the final 5-10 mins if it starts to brown too quickly.
  3. While the cake cooks, make the lemon syrup. Tip the caster sugar into a small saucepan with the lemon juice and 75ml water. Heat over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Raise the heat, boil for 4 mins until slightly reduced and syrupy, then remove from the heat.
  4. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool briefly in the tin. While it is still warm, turn it out of the tin, peel off the lining paper and sit the cake on a wire rack set over a baking tray or similar. Use a skewer to make lots of small holes all over the top of the cake (step 3). Slowly spoon over half the lemon syrup (step 4) and let it soak in. Spoon over the rest in the same way, brushing the edges and sides of the cake too with the last of the syrup.
Try

TOPPING TIP

This recipe gives a smooth, syrupy lemon topping that soaks into the cake. If you like a crunchy topping, use 1 tbsp less caster sugar for the lemon syrup, then - after it has been spooned over the cake - sprinkle over 1 tbsp granulated sugar.

PER SERVING

243 kcalories, protein 4.7g, carbohydrate 35.4g, fat 10.2 g, saturated fat 1.4g, fibre 0.9g, sugar 21.5g, salt 0.34 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2012.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-35

  • Binder photo Mariag

    10 June 2012

    Mariag commented on this recipe

    Can anyone pls tell me what type of polenta should be used for this recipe. Thanx

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  • Binder photo Gill3119

    10 June 2012

    Gill3119 commented on this recipe

    I loved the ease of this recipe....I decided to make individual cakes...approx 30 were made - the cooking time was just under half, and the kids loved me for their new lunch box favorite!!!

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  • Binder photo Janet

    11 June 2012

    Janet rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    Just made this cake after wanting to for ages and at last able to find polenta. It was very disappointing as the rapeseed oil was overpowering in taste and smell .I should have known when I was measuring it out but thought the recipe had been tested so went ahead . The texture was good but can't believe the strong smell wasn't noticed in the testing . Will have to throw the cake away .

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  • Binder photo Low Fat

    12 June 2012

    Low Fat commented on this recipe

    I've made this a couple of times and I've found that by adding the water to the the lemon syrup, it makes too much liquid, even though it does reduce a little in the pan. Now I just make the syrup by adding the 85g caster sugar to the lemon juice in a bowl as per the full fat receipe on this site and spooning it over the cake. It's no less fattening, I've just omitted the water.

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  • Binder photo Kat

    13 June 2012

    Kat rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely amazing! I made it gluten free and lacto free and I must say that it is one of the best cakes I had!!! It has a light fluffy texture, moist and just delicious. Thank you very much. You inspired me a lot;)

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  • Binder photo Blue

    20 June 2012

    Blue commented on this recipe

    Just another comment, after this cake had been kept for a few days, it went mouldy! Not sure if it should have been kept in the fridge? Ended up throwing half of it away.

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  • Binder photo Jodieblue

    07 July 2012

    Jodieblue rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this exactly as stated in the recipe, with 0% fat yoghurt - absolutely delicious!

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  • Binder photo Mud Maid

    31 July 2012

    Mud Maid commented on this recipe

    This was excellent - disappeared over one evening. My son adores lemon drizzle cake and will eat the whole cake if I don't pay attention. Thus, I can't really make it often if it has 225 g of butter and 225 g of sugar. This is lovely and moist; reminds me of a wonderful (high fat) recipe I used to do with corn meal and lots of butter and lemon and also 2-3 cups of berries. The texture was the same, but there was TONS of fat. Might try this with added berries or chopped stone fruit. My family liked it almost as much as the high-fat version

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  • Binder photo Tinx

    08 September 2012

    Tinx rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    On a reluctant diet so decided to try this and I'm really happy! Lovely, moist with a great texture. I added the juice of half a lemon to the batter mix and it was delicious. If only all diet/lighter food tasted this good.........

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  • Binder photo EL

    30 September 2012

    EL commented on this recipe

    when i read the ingredients i thought adding polenta was very unusual however the cake was one of the nicest ones i've made, it had a grainy lemony taste -delicious!

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  • Binder photo Sue J Fox

    03 December 2012

    Sue J Fox rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I used gluten free self- raising flour instead and made sure that the lemon syrup was quite thick, it is absolutely delicious. I shall be adding this recipie to my Gluten Free cake list.

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  • Binder photo Danielle9862

    29 January 2013

    Danielle9862 commented on this recipe

    I've recently baked this recipe and taken it to my local 'Clandestine Cake Club'. This months theme was 'Low fat delights' as we all like to attempt that 'new start' in January. This cake was a hit as it was one of few cakes that tasted like a normal cake rather than a low fat cake. I will be keeping the recipe as one of my favourites!

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  • Binder photo Gardener27

    09 February 2013

    Gardener27 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This recipe is amazing. My birthday is in early February and I wanted a low fat cake to celebrate. I wasn't sure what to expect but it turned out very well. Everyone was impressed. I even used 0% yogurt and it turned out just fine. Well done Angela.

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  • Binder photo Alice24

    10 March 2013

    Alice24 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic cake :) I did it as a tray bake and slightly reduced the cooking time to 25 minutes, but it came out wonderfully. Really moist and lemony. Will definitely do again!

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  • Binder photo suzi

    28 April 2013

    suzi rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    My guests all agreed this was a really tasty cake. I replaced the oil for coconut oil. It had a mild coconutty taste but was still really lemony. I agree that the syrup didn't look that syrupy but if was still nice. I don't think I used enough. Next time I will use up all the syrup and keep pouring. Would like to try out less sugar next time though.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

CUTS INTO 12 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Freezable

Ingredients

  • 75ml rapeseed oil , plus extra for the tin
  • 175g self-raising flour
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 50g polenta
  • finely grated zest 2 lemons
  • 140g golden caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 225g natural yogurt

FOR THE LEMON SYRUP

  • 85g caster sugar
  • juice 2 lemon (about 5 tbsp)
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PER SERVING

243 kcalories, protein 4.7g, carbohydrate 35.4g, fat 10.2 g, saturated fat 1.4g, fibre 0.9g, sugar 21.5g, salt 0.34 g

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