During deadline season, baking is a great meditative activity to reduce stress because it takes up all your attention and makes you focus on one thing. Cooking is a great destresser because it serves as a creative outlet, ensuring you are putting time aside for activities other than studying! This fresh take on the lemon drizzle is incredibly easy and uses courgette, giving the cake a lovely added moisture and leaving pretty flecks of green in the sponge.
Ingredients:
For the mix:
150ml olive oil
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
zest of 2 lemons and juice of 1 lemon
1 courgette, roughly grated
250g self-raising flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the drizzle:
juice of 1 lemon
100g caster or granulated sugar
Method:
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Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease and line a large loaf tin with greaseproof paper. In a mixing bowl, beat together the oil, caster sugar and eggs with a wooden spoon until smooth.
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Stir in the lemon zest, juice and courgette. Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and fold in gently, ensuring there are no lumps of flour remaining in the mix. Tip into the tin and bake for 55 minutes – 1 hour (or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean).
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Remove from the oven and with a fork or skewer gently pierce all over the cake.
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Make the drizzle by stirring the lemon juice with the sugar (quantities of sugar can be adjusted depending on how thick you want the drizzle to be) in a mug. Pour this over the top of the cake whilst still hot and allow it to cool completely in the tin.
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If there is any spare, sprinkle over remaining zest, or cut a slice of lemon to decorate. Remove the cake from the tin and serve!