Lemon Drizzle Traybake Cake with Cream Cheese Icing is perfect. It’s super simple, fast and basically a lemon drizzle and a cheesecake all in one!
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This lemon traybake with icing is honestly one of my favourite cakes.
I know I say that a lot. I think I very much go through cake phases. Maybe whatever I’ve currently got in my cake stand is my favourite. Who knows?
Seriously though, Lemon Drizzle is always a win, orange too!
I use pretty much the same recipe across the board whether it’s my Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes, traybake or loaf cake. Just with slightly different quantities and bake times. If a recipe always tastes fab, why mess with it?
Personally, I think a Lemon Drizzle Traybake is so amazing because it’s pretty thin. It has all of the ease of a loaf cake, but because it’s thin the lemon drizzle syrup sinks all the way down giving you a moist, soft lemony sponge.
And it’s only as thick as a bite so every bite is smothered in lemon cream cheese.
It’s honestly like a lemon cheesecake and a lemon drizzle cake in one. Who wouldn’t love that?
What is a Traybake Cake?
A traybake cake is basically a cake baked in a baking tray with sides. I typically use roughly the same recipe as for a loaf cake, but with a much shorter bake time, because the sponge is much thinner.
A traybake cake like this Easy Lemon Drizzle Traybake is perfect to have in, as a small slice isn’t too filling or stodgy. They also make the perfect cake for picnics, to take to someone’s house or into the office for a birthday.
Traybakes are also ideal for kids’ birthdays, especially if they want a cake to take to school.
What Tin Should You Bake Lemon Drizzle Traybake in?
I use my brownie tin for my Lemon Traybake Recipe. It’s a little smaller than a standard baking tray but has higher sides. Perfect for brownies and traybake cakes. It’s also great for flapjacks.
The one I use (affiliate link) also has little lines, helping you to get 20 even squares.
You can use any baking tray though, as long as it isn’t totally flat. Just remember if yours is a different size you’ll either need to adjust the times or quantities.
How Do You Get a Traybake Cake Out of the Tin?
I line my tin with reusable baking paper (affiliate link) for ease.
After the cake has cooled in the tin, I simply lift the sides of the paper carefully before peeling the baking paper away.
It can be easier to remove onto a wire rack or chopping board, with the paper still attached, and then carefully place a board or plate on top, to tip it, so that the paper is facing up.
Then peel it away, before using your original rack or board to tip in the right way around again. It’s a bit of a faff, but better than slicing through your reusable paper.
Can You Use Lemon Extract for a Lemon Drizzle?
You can make a Lemon Traybake or Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting using lemon extract.
I always prefer to use fresh lemons if I can, but if you’ve got lemon extract or even bottled lemon juice, give it a try.
Lemon extract is very concentrated, so I’d start with 1/2tsp and taste before considering adding more.
How to Decorate a Lemon Traybake Cake
I love a Lemon Drizzle Traybake with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing. It’s perfect to me.
I bake a simple lemon sponge, drizzle with lemon syrup and then add cream cheese.
I keep things super easy by just spreading the icing on the top.
Another option is leaving your traybake naked, just with the lemon syrup. You could also mix lemon juice with icing sugar and drizzle this over, or carefully warm some lemon curd and use a spoon or piping bag to drizzle this over the top.
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Lemon Drizzle Traybake with Lemon Curd would be awesome. Actually, why not add lemon cream cheese or lemon buttercream, and still drizzle on some lemon curd, as I do on my cupcakes!
How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese
Cream cheese in England is a pain in the bottom.
In other countries, cream cheese is made with hard blocks of cream cheese.
We don’t have this. I don’t know why. The closest thing that we have is soft cheese, like Philadelphia. But, it’s soft, and the water content is higher. To the point that you can open it and literally see water separating on the top.
This means that our cream cheese is much more temperamental. And, even when I use the same recipe I always use, it doesn’t always work.
For the best results, I use a block of unsalted butter, left out so that it’s room temp, and Philadelphia.
But for cream cheese icing, we need to keep the liquid content as low as possible, so unsalted butter and branded cream cheese is best.
Mix the butter and icing sugar until soft. This can take a while.
Then slowly beat in the soft cheese, until there are no lumps before very gently stirring through the lemon juice. Don’t overmix though, if it gets too runny, you can’t get it back.
Does Lemon Juice Curdle Cream Cheese?
A Recipe for Lemon Cream Cheese Icing can curdle. Lemon Cream Cheese is easy to get wrong. I’m not selling this, am I?
I add 2 tbsp of lemon juice and just stir through super carefully. You might even want to add less juice, or a tiny bit of extract instead, to minimise the curdling risk of your lemon icing.
Can You Freeze Lemon Cream Cheese Icing?
Yes, you can freeze cream cheese.
Store in a sealed bag or tub in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw fully in the fridge before using, and gently stir to get the consistency back if it’s a little off.
Can You Top a Lemon Drizzle Traybake with Buttercream?
Earlier in this post, I said this Lemon Drizzle Traybake Recipe is like a lemon drizzle and a lemon cheesecake and who wouldn’t love that? Well, perhaps people who don’t like cheesecake or soft cheese.
In which case you might prefer to make a lemon buttercream. You can get my easy recipe for lemon buttercream here.
Can I Freeze Lemon Drizzle Cake?
Yes, you can freeze lemon drizzle cake, in any shape. Either wrap whole, or individual slices and store in the freezer for up to two months before defrosting slowly in the freezer.
Because of the funky shape, if you are freezing the whole traybake, I might pop it back in the baking tray once wrapped, and freeze it like that, so that it easily fits onto a shelf.
Storing Lemon Traybake with Lemon Cream Cheese
Cream cheese is naturally runnier than buttercream, and it will get sloppier, and could even go off if it gets warm.
If your kitchen is warm, I recommend storing in the fridge straight away.
If your kitchen is cooler, it should be ok on the side for a few hours (covered) but I’d refrigerate if you leave it any longer.
You can take it out of the fridge for a while before you eat it if you’d rather not eat cold cake, but I wouldn’t leave it for too long.
Lemon Drizzle Traybake with Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
For the Lemon Traybake:
- 150 g Butter or Margarine (at room temperature)
- 150 g Caster Sugar
- 3 Medium Eggs
- 175 g Self-Raising Flour
- 1 Lemon (Zest and Juice)
For the Lemon Syrup:
- 50 g Caster Sugar
- 1 Lemon (Juice Only)
For the Lemon Cream Cheese:
- 75 g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
- 100 g Icing Sugar
- 150 g Soft Cheese (Philadelphia is best)
- 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan-assisted) and line a deep baking tray with baking paper.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth (this takes about 2 minutes with an electric whisk).
- Whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
- Sift in the flour and whisk until smooth.
- Stir through the lemon juice and zest.
- Pour into the baking tin and spread into the corners.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, checking it’s cooked with a skewer in the middle.
- Leave in the tin and stab all over with a fork.
For the Lemon Syrup:
- In a small pan, gently heat the sugar and lemon juice, stirring for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
- While the cake is still warm use a spoon to drizzle over the syrup, aiming to cover the majority of the cake.
- Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely before removing it to a wire rack or chopping board and peeling away the paper.
For the Cream Cheese:
- Beat together the butter until soft.
- Sift in the icing sugar, and beat until the mixture is smooth, this can take a while.
- Add the soft cheese and beat until the larger lumps have gone.
- Stir through the lemon juice until even.
- Once the cake is cool, roughly spread the cream cheese on top with a palette knife or the back of a spoon.
Notes
- I use this tin (affiliate link) if yours is a different size, either adjust quantities, or the bake time.
- Don’t heat your syrup for too long, it should still be fairly watery, or it will set hard on top of your cake.
- Take care not to over mix your cream cheese icing.
- Butter is much better for buttercream than margarine. If you are using margarine, you’ll need a lot more icing sugar, and maybe a tbsp of cornflour to thicken the mixture without it becoming too sweet.
Nutrition
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
