Mini lemon and blueberry loaf cakes

What do you make for an afternoon tea in a Medieval manor house? As part of an action-packed hen weekend in Wales (which also included The Crystal Maze, a Medieval Banquet, crazy golf and a 1930s Paris-themed evening), Saturday afternoon was dedicated to a moment of calm in the form of a vintage afternoon tea, complete with tea dresses and scrumptious delicacies prepared by the hens.  Victoria sponge, Welsh cakes, scones, banana cupcakes, chocolate brownies, blondies and macaroons were all on the menu already so I needed to come up with something different for my contribution.

I’d already decided that sheep cupcakes were a definite (surely an essential for a hen do in Wales, with a very Welsh hen?!): these were going to take quite a bit of effort and so, for my second contribution, I decided to make some mini lemon and blueberry loaf cakes: they’re delicious, quick and easy to make and you can’t have an afternoon tea without lemon cake!

The recipe is almost identical to the mini lemon loaf cakes from the Lakeland website that I made in February, except this time, I used the juice of two lemons rather than also adding milk. This upped the intensity of the lemon in the cakes and had no impact on the texture of the cake. Blueberries are one of my favourite fruit and they go beautifully in these lemon cakes – think that I’ll have to make these for my mum!

As with the mini lemon loaf cakes, this recipe uses medium eggs – which I never buy! If, like me, you only have large eggs, just break the eggs into a bowl, whisk and weigh out 160g of the whisked egg to add to the cake mix, discarding any left over.

Mini lemon and blueberry loaf cakes

Ingredients

1. 200g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
2. 175g golden caster sugar
3. 3 unwaxed lemons
4. 3 medium eggs, beaten
5. 200g plain flour
6. 2 level tsps baking powder
7. Pinch of salt
8. 50g ground almonds
9. 100g blueberries
10. 150g icing sugar, sifted 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
2. Lightly grease the mini loaf tin (ideally, spray with cake release spray).
3. Cream together the butter and caster sugar until pale, light and fluffy.
4. Grate the zest from two of the lemons and add to the mixture.
5. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition.
6. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
7. Fold these dry ingredients into the cake mixture.
8. Fold in the ground almonds.
9. Add the juice from two lemons and mix until smooth.
10. Mix in the blueberries.
11. Divide the mixture between the tin holes and level with a teaspoon.
12. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and springy, turning the tin after about 18 minutes to ensure that the cakes bake evenly.  
13. Leave the cakes to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then ease out onto a wire rack and leave until completely cool.
14. Meanwhile, zest and squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon.
15. Mix the lemon juice into the icing sugar a little at a time, until the icing is smooth and runny and will coat the back of a spoon (it will need to be thicker – about the consistency of toothpaste – if you want to pipe the icing).
16. Drizzle the icing over the cakes and sprinkle with the remaining zest.

Raspberry and blueberry lime drizzle cake

During Easter week, EHH’s parents came over to help us tackle the garden. I needed something fairly simple that I could whip up in the morning before they arrived, as I was playing netball the night before. I had a flick through my recipe file and found this recipe for raspberry and blueberry lime drizzle cake from BBC Good Food. I first made this last summer and it was delicious, but slightly too sticky. Therefore, this time, I decided to reduce the amount of syrup. Having read the comments on the website, I also decided to coat the fruit in flour to prevent them from sinking. One more simple touch that I added was a sprinkling of golden castor sugar on top at the end – this adds a lovely sweet crunch, which contrasts well with the soft sticky cake.

It is a really simple cake to make. I used my Magi-cake strips to prevent the outside of the cake from over-cooking; they also help to ensure that the cake rises evenly: I would highly recommend them!  The only tricky part is the length of time to cook - this varies enormously depending on your oven. Keep an eye on the cake after about 25-30 minutes as the top may begin to get too brown - cover with foil if it does look like it needs it. Test with a skewer to check whether it is cooked. 

The end result is delicious and lasts well for about 3-4 days. It is great on its own with a cup of tea and also works well as dessert – with cream or custard. Definitely one of my favourite cakes!

Raspberry and blueberry lime drizzle cake

Ingredients

1. 225g softened butter, plus extra for greasing
2. 225g golden caster sugar
3. 4 medium eggs
4. 2 limes, grated zest and juice
5. 250g self-raising flour, sifted with a pinch of salt, plus extra flour
6. 25g ground almonds
7. 100g each blueberries and raspberries

For the syrup:

1. Juice of 2 limes
2. Grated zest of 1 lime
3. 80g golden caster sugar, plus a little extra for scattering

Method

1. Set oven to 180C.
2. Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8in square cake tin (not loose-based) with baking parchment.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes in an electric mixer).
4. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour towards the end to prevent curdling. Beat in the lime zest, then fold in the flour and almonds.
5. Fold in enough lime juice - about 3 tablespoons - to give you a good dropping consistency (the mixture should drop easily from the spoon when tapped).
6. Place the blueberries and raspberries in a bowl and scatter with the extra flour. Gently shake the bowl to ensure that all the fruit are evenly coated in flour. 



Ready to go in the oven!

7. Fold in three quarters of the blueberries and raspberries and turn into the prepared tin.
8. Smooth the surface, then scatter the remaining fruit on top - it will sink as the cake rises.
9. Bake for between 35 and 60 minutes (cover with foil if beginning to brown too much), or until firm to a gentle prod in the centre. A skewer pushed into the centre should be clean when removed.
10. While the cake is baking, make the syrup: put the lime juice, zest and sugar in a small saucepan. Put over a gentle heat and stir, without allowing to bubble. The sugar should dissolve a little.
11. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer then spoon the syrup over it.
12. Once cool, carefully remove the cake from the tin and discard the lining paper.
13. Scatter with golden castor sugar and cut into 12 pieces to serve.  

 

GBBO Flapjacks

So, second bake of the Great Baking Weekend for EHH’s birthday. Decided to make these flapjacks as they’re quick and easy, and I could make them on the Saturday. The recipe is taken from the GBBO Showstopper Book, under “Ruby Jacks” – but without the ginger. I’ve done them with the ginger and they taste fab – but decided to leave them plain this time as EHH isn’t hugely keen on ginger (although I love it!).

These flapjacks are great – right level of sweetness, crunchy and yet chewy – fab!

I’ve topped some of them with the white chocolate, cranberry and sour cherry topping suggested by the GBBO book (adding also dried blueberries as I had them in the cupboard). The others I finished with a drizzle of lemon icing leftover from the Sticky Ginger Cake made earlier.

Flapjack

Ingredients

1. 115g butter
2. 70g light brown muscovado sugar
3. 5 tblsp / 125g golden syrup
4. 180g porridge oats

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
2. Line a 20.5cm square tin with baking parchment
3. Put the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a pan.
4. Stir over a low heat until melted.
5. Place oats in a large bowl and pour over syrup mixture, mixing thoroughly to combine.
6. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly, pressing down with the back of a spoon to level the surface (it will be a fairly thin layer).  
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.
8. Set the tin on a wire rack.
9. Carefully score the mixture into 16 squares, using an oiled knife, then leave until cool.

White chocolate topping:

Ingredients

1. 100g good quality white chocolate
2. 150g mix of dried cranberries, sour cherries and blueberries

Method

1. Chop white chocolate into small pieces and place in a glass bowl.
2. Simmer a small amount of water gently in a saucepan and place the glass bowl over this (ensuring it does not touch the boiling water).
3. Stir the chocolate gently until melted.
4. Spread the chocolate on top of the cooled flapjack squares.
5. Decorate with the dried fruit and allow to set.

Lemon drizzle icing

Ingredients

1. 100g icing sugar, sifted
2. Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3. Lemon juice

Method

1. Mix together icing sugar and lemon zest, then gradually add lemon juice until you have a smooth, slightly runny icing, adding more juice, if needed.
2. Spoon into a disposable piping bag and drizzle in zig-zags across the cooled flapjacks.