Blueberry & Lemon Cake.

By now you may have guessed that I love lemon. I never used to, it is a relatively new phenomenon so I guess you could say I'm making up for lost time. Whilst you're here, feel free to browse a couple of my other lemon recipes - Cheesecakes, Cupcakes and Drizzle Cake are just a few of my favourites. This one is even NICER as it's packed full with fresh blueberries which go all gooey when it's cooked. So, without further ado....

Blueberry & Lemon Drizzle Cake

Equipment Needed:

- Mixing Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
- Weighing Scales
- 2lb Loaf Tin
- Small Bowl

Ingredients:

- 125g Butter/Margarine
- 125g Caster Sugar
- 3 Medium free range eggs
- 175g Self-Raising/Rising Flour + 1tbsp extra
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 100g Blueberries

For the syrup:

- 50g Caster sugar
- 4tbsp Lemon juice

For the icing:

- 125g Icing/Confectioners sugar
- 1tsp Blueberry conserve/syrup - I used natural blueberry sauce bought from a health food store

Method:

1) Preheat your oven to GM3/170C. Grease/Line (I use loaf tin liners) your 2lb loaf tin. In a large bowl/mixer - whisk together the butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, flour and zest a bit at a time and mix for 3-4 minutes. Toss in the blueberries with the extra 1tbsp flour and FOLD in. Spoon into the tin and cook for around 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

2) Whilst baking, gently heat the sugar and lemon juice & bring to a boil. Leave to boil for about 2 minutes and set aside.

3) Spoon the syrup over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven and leave to cool for 30 minutes. Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.

4) If you are using conserve, press it through a sieve & scrape off the underside. Mix this with the icing and a little water or lemon juice until it is just runny. I used water, but will try lemon juice next time! Drizzle it over the cake and leave to set.

5) Eat, Drink and Be Merry.

I edited this with the 'Beautiful Mess' app - it's cute, check it out!

The cake is really soft, moist and fruity and is perfect for summer's day. I enjoyed a slice of mine in the garden with a glass of Pimm's and a book about The Wild West (that is supposed to be for children but I am loving it.) 

Hope you enjoy it!


Much Love xxx

Read More

When Life Hands You Lemons...Make No Bake Lemon Cheesecakes.

I've been wanting to experiment with cheesecake for quite a while, so I have been searching for an easy recipe to get me started. Up until recently, I never liked the taste of lemon but something has changed in a massive way! It's such a light and refreshing flavour, and it's a little taste of spring in spite of the snow that is still falling in our garden. (I'm not best pleased about it as you might be able to tell.) Anyway, I recently came across a blog post written by one of the contestants of a past series of The Great British Bake Off for 'Quick Lemon Cheesecake.' Read it here.

I slightly adapted it to suit what was in our fridge, and it tasted just as yummy as if I'd done it properly I'm sure! Now, I did completely guess all of my quantities so feel free to use a bit of artistic license with this to suit the taste you want! They really are so, so easy to make and were done in about 5 minutes (minus the cooling time.) They are so fresh and not too heavy, a perfect dinner party dessert.

Individual No-Bake Lemon Cheesecakes

Equipment

- Small pan
- Wooden Spoon
- Mixing Bowl
- 5 Small dessert bowls

Ingredients

For the base:

- 1/2 pack - 200g of Digestive Biscuits
- 50g Butter (I used margarine)

For the topping:

- 200g Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese
- Approx 50g Icing Sugar/Confectioners Sugar
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:

1) Crush the digestive biscuits in a bag using a small rolling pin until they are a fine crumb.

2) Melt the butter in a pan and add in the crushed biscuits.

3) Spoon the biscuit mixture into your individual bowls and press down using a teaspoon until firm. Leave to set in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

4) Whilst the bases are cooling, put the cream cheese into the mixing bowl and give it a quick mix with the wooden spoon.

5) Add in the icing sugar, the zest of the lemon and a bit of juice at a time until it is as sweet or as lemony as you would like.

6) Lick the spoon.

7) Then, take the bowls out of the fridge and spoon the mixture onto the top of the bases and put back in the fridge for a further 30 minutes to set (if you can wait that long.)

8) Decorate as you please! I chose blueberries. Yum.

Much Love xxx

Read More

Lemon & Poppyseed Cupcakes.

I've been testing out a few recipes recently from the books I have acquired since Christmas. Lots of them have been fruity and yummy. Anyhoodle, I bought a packet of poppyseeds AGES ago but hadn't found a purpose for them until today. This recipe is really quick and easy, with minimal mess. I do have a mixer but tend to make everything by hand if i'm baking to relax.

Lemon and Poppyseed Cupcakes.

Equipment Needed:

- Mixing Bowl
- Weighing Scales
- Wooden Spoon
- Small holed grater
- 12 Hole Muffin Tin
- Small Sieve

Ingredients:

- 115g (4oz) Softened Butter
- 115g (4oz) Caster Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 115g (4oz) Self-raising/rising Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder/Soda
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 4 Tbsps Sour Cream
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
- Icing/Confectioners Sugar for dusting

Method:

1) Preheat your oven to GM4/180oC/350oF and add your cupcake cases to the muffin tin.

2) Cream together butter & sugar in a mixing bowl until light & fluffy. Add in a little at a time, the flour and whisked eggs until smooth.

3) Add in the baking powder and lemon zest.

4) Fold in the lemon juice with the sour cream & poppy seeds and mix to a soft consistency.

5) Divide the mixture equally in the cases and bake for about 25 minutes, until risen and golden brown.

6) Using the sieve, dust lightly with the icing sugar to finish.

They are really fluffy and the sour cream gives them quite a creamy flavour (as it would.) Next time, I plan on using my fancy injector to put some lemon curd into the middle. It's also nice to eat a cupcake that isn't topped with a stick of butter.

They are quite patriotic. 

I'll be having one tomorrow with a cup of tea.

Much Love xxx

P.s. if you're not following me on Pintrest - find me here. I'm obsessed. 

Read More