Mojito Drizzle Cake

This is part of a new series I've started here on Philips Journal. Based on the greatest show on television, The Great British Bake Off which just returned to our screens after a too long break. This week the bakers made drizzle cake, and seeing as baking isn't my greatest passion, I decided to challenge myself every week to make my own version of the signature bakes. This week was drizzle cakes, so here is my version.

This is based on the flavours of a mojito, I've added peppermint extract and lime zest to the sponge, and used lime juice for the drizzle.

Start by making your sponge, cream the softened butter and caster sugar together until smooth, add the eggs one at a time and stir gently. Add a teaspoon of peppermint extract and the zest of a lime and mix. Sift in the flour a little at a time and fold until smooth, spoon into a greased loaf tin and bake at 220C for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is cooking squeeze the juice of 2 limes into a saucepan, add 3 tablespoons of sugar and swirl the pan to make a syrup, a few minutes before the cake is ready heat gently until the mixture is hot, but not boiling. Remove the cake from the oven and prick all over with a skewer. Drizzle over all the syrup and leave in the tin to cool.

ingredients

225g unsalted butter
225g self raising flour
300g caster sugar
4 eggs
2 limes
1 tsp peppermint extract