I have a lot of ground almonds to use up in the house and I’m not really a macaron maker and there are only so many frangipane-related things that you can make. So I decided to invent my own recipe for a Glazed Lemon and Almond Loaf Cake.

The addition of the ground almonds makes this loaf cake incredibly soft and light. And I know that the softness caused me a problem. I was planning to post this recipe earlier this week but as I was moving the first loaf to go take a picture, it slipped off the chopping board and fell icing side down and crumbled everywhere! EEK! And so I remade the cake yesterday and it went down so well that I made another loaf as well as 5 mini loaves today. Let me just say, my hand whisk did struggle with a 6 egg cake batter so it took a while to make it!

The glaze is a simple lemon icing however I like the effect of it dripping down the side. To get the right consistency so it can drip down the sides without touching the bottom, you have to create a thick icing and bring it to the correct consistency by adding extra liquid very carefully. The final icing should be thick but spreadable.

Also an interesting question, I use squeezy lemon juice from a bottle because it is much easier than squeezing lemons and it is also cheaper; do you use it and if you don’t, why not?

Here are some other food bloggers’ similar recipes:

Whale and Quail’s Caraway Seed Cake

The Dinner Bell’s Lemon, Lime and Gin Loaf

My Kitchen Adventures’ Banana Loaf Cake

Becki Explorer’s White Chocolate and Lemon Drizzle Cake

Feasting is Fun’s Double Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

Andrew in the Kitchen’s Banana and Dark Chocolate Chunk Loaf

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This recipe is enough for a 1lb loaf tin.

For the cake

135g margarine

150g caster sugar

160g self raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

45g ground almonds

50ml lemon juice

2 eggs

For the decoration

A large handful of flaked almonds

Zest of 1 lemon

75g icing sugar

2-3 tsp lemon juice

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Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a 1lb loaf tin with a loaf tin liner.

Place all the ingredients for the sponge into a large bowl, making sure that the lemon juice and baking powder do not come into direct contact. Beat with an electric whisk for 1 minute until everything is combined. Any lumps will be the ground almonds. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and fold briefly.

Transfer to the loaf tin and level out. Cover the surface generously with flaked almonds and bake for 45 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean and the top is browned, turning halfway through. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes while you prepare the icing.

For the icing, zest the lemon and add the icing sugar. Add enough lemon juice to bring the consistency of the icing to a thick glaze (see above).

Spread the icing evenly over the cake while it is cooling, allowing it to drip over the edge.