Easy Lemon Drizzle Slices – Afternoon Tea Traybake Recipe

Soft lemon drizzle slices finished with a vibrant pink lemon icing — a simple yet striking bake perfect for afternoon tea.

There’s something timeless about a lemon drizzle bake, and these slices offer a fresh take on a much-loved classic. Baking them as a square rather than a loaf, makes them easy to portion and ideal for sharing, whether that’s for a relaxed afternoon tea or a simple weekend treat.

The sponge is light and soft, infused with fresh lemon for that familiar balance of sweet and sharp. A gentle touch of turmeric enhances the natural yellow tone. Thereby giving the slices a warm, inviting colour without affecting the flavour. Once baked, the sponge is finished with a traditional lemon drizzle that soaks in and sets with that signature delicate crunch.

To finish, a smooth pink lemon icing is added for contrast. It brings a subtle citrus sweetness while creating a bold visual against the golden sponge. The result is a bake that feels both classic and modern, with just enough detail to make it stand out on the table.

Star Ingredient

Lemons are at the heart of this bake, used in three keyways to build flavour and texture. Fresh lemon zest and juice are folded into the sponge, giving it a bright, natural citrus base that carries through each bite.

Once out of the oven, the slices are drizzled with a simple lemon syrup. This step is essential for that traditional finish, adding moisture while creating the lightly crisp topping that defines a good lemon drizzle.

Finally, lemon juice is worked into the icing, balancing the sweetness with a gentle sharpness. It ties every element together, ensuring the flavour stays consistent from sponge to topping.

How to Purchase Ingredients to be Conscious to the Planet

Lemon drizzle slices require only a handful of ingredients as they are essentially a cake traybake recipe. The base recipe is a sponge recipe – butter, sugar, eggs and self raising flour. The other ingredients just add flavour or colour.

When it comes to the baking basics, I stock up at refill shops. All of the sugars this recipe requires are purchasable from refill shops. Picking up these sugars from supermarkets are possible all in paper bags. If you want, you could pick up just granulated sugar and make the others yourself at home. Simply blitz up granulated sugar in a food processor, you can create both caster and icing sugars.

Net bags are my favourite ways to keep my loose lemons together when shopping. Whether you shop at supermarkets or farm shops, go for loose fruit whenever it is available.

Turmeric is what give these easy lemon drizzle slices their extra pop of yellow colour. Ground turmeric tends to sit in with the spices if shopping at refill shops. Small glass jars are handy sizes. You can always repurpose empty herb or spice jars as your vessel to pop in your turmeric.

Equipment You Will Need

• 6 Inch Square Cake Tin
• Baking Parchment Paper
• Micro Zester
• Freestanding Mixer or Bowl with Handheld Mixer
• Spatula
• Measuring Spoons
• Mixing Bowls
• Teaspoon
• Cocktail Stick
• Pastry Brush
• Piping Bag

Tips and Tricks when Making Lemon Drizzle Slices

Colouring your Lemon Drizzle Slices

I wanted to play up the yellow of lemons within these lemon drizzle slices. That is why I add turmeric into the cake batter. However, you can of course still make these slices without the additional colour.

For the pink icing you have a few options. If you have got food colouring, I would suggest using this up first. If you want to go down the natural route you could use beetroot or dragon fruit powder. Beetroot powder will provide a paler pink colour in comparison to dragon fruit.

Lemon Drizzle Slices

Soft lemon drizzle slices finished with a vibrant pink lemony icing — a simple yet striking bake perfect for afternoon tea.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Keyword: Bridgerton Afternoon Tea, Cakes, Lemon, Slices

Servings: 12 Slices

Equipment

• 6 Inch Square Cake Tin
• Baking Parchment Paper
• Micro Zester
• Freestanding Mixer or Bowl with Handheld mixer
• Spatula
• Measuring Spoons
• Mixing Bowls
• Teaspoon
• Cocktail Stick
• Pastry Brush
• Piping Bag

Ingredients

Lemon Cake

• 150 g Caster Sugar
• 150 g Butter / Plant Butter / Margarine
• Zest of 2 Lemons
• 3 Eggs
• 150 g Self Raising Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Lemon Drizzle

• 50 g Granulated Sugar
• Juice of half a Lemon

Icing

• 50 g Icing Sugar
• 1-2 Drops of Pink Food Colouring
• 1 ¼ Teaspoons Lemon Juice

Instructions

• Line your cake tin with baking parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
• In a bowl add the caster sugar, butter and lemon zest.
• Cream together until pale and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
• Add in the self raising flour, turmeric and a tablespoon of lemon juice, then fold through until fully incorporated.
• Pour in the cake tin, and level out ensuring the cake batter goes always to the edges.
• Bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes until the cake is spongey and a skewer comes out clean.
• While the cake is baking, mix the granulated sugar and lemon juice together to make a syrup.
• When you take the baked cake out of the oven, use a cocktail stick to prick holes all over the top.
• Brush over the lemon syrup all over the top so it absorbs in while the cake is hot.
• Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
• Once cool, remove the cake from the tin and remove the parchment paper.
• Cut the cake in half along the short side.
• Cut each half into 6 pieces.
• Mixing the icing sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl.
• Add in a few drops of pink food colouring and mix in it.
• Pop the icing into a piping bag and pipe swirls across the top of each slice.
• Store in a cake tin or airtight container.

This recipe is part of my Bridgerton bakes series. These lemon drizzle slices were created with Penelope in mind, inspired by her early Featherington colour palette. Each bake in the collection reflects a different character through flavour, texture and tone. You can explore the full round-up of Bridgerton-inspired recipes, from delicate sweet bakes to savoury afternoon tea additions, in my recipe round up post.

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