My Glazed Lemon Almond Loaf Cake has been one of my family’s favourite cakes of mine and I’m always being nagged to make it. These little loaves use the same recipe except the smaller tins make this cake look incredibly dainty and perfect for when you want a small slice of cake with a cup of tea.

If you’re having a lemon cake, then it’s got to taste of lemon and so I use both zest and the juice of the lemon in both the cake and the glaze for a powerful lemon punch. The almonds reduce the intensity by mellowing the flavour profiles however both flavours are pronounced.

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.

This quantity of cake batter is enough for two 1lb loaf tins. It may make extra than the 4 loaf cakes in which case you can fill some cupcake cases with this batter and bake them off too. They obviously take less time to bake.

For the cake

270g margarine

300g caster sugar

320g self raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

90g ground almonds

100ml lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

4 eggs

For the decoration

50g flaked almonds

Zest of 1 lemon

120g icing sugar

4-5 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease the inside of four 15 x 8 x 5.5cm loaf tins well.

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.

Divide the batter between the 4 loaf tins and level the surface of each loaf. Sprinkle the flaked almonds over each cake evenly and then bake the 4 loaves for around 30 – 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the deepest part of the cake comes out clean.

Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 15 minutes before running a knife around the edge of each loaf cake and turning out onto a cooling rack.

Into a bowl, zest the lemon and add the icing sugar. Add enough lemon juice to bring the consistency of the icing to a thick glaze consistency so that you can spread it without it running down the sides of the loaves.

Spoon some of the icing onto the top of each of the cakes and use a palette knife to push the icing around the top of the cake so it covers the surface of each loaf and begins to drip down the sides. Leave the icing to set fully before slicing into the loaves.