Lemon drizzle loaf

Sometimes, the simplest things are the best.

Don’t get me wrong, I love experimenting with flavour combinations, icing, cake decorations and way over the top creations, but sometimes simple can be just as delicious.

A perfect example is the classic lemon drizzle loaf.

When I decided I wanted to make one, I looked around a while for a recipe, but then realised that the beauty of a lemon drizzle is in it’s simplicity, and a fancy recipe really wasn’t necessary.

 

I went for a basic egg weight sponge, with plenty of zesty lemon, with lemon juice and sugar for the drizzle – couldn’t be easier!

The texture of the loaf was exactly what I wanted, and the drizzle a nice crisp contrast, which as the pony put it “tastes like pancakes” and the cake off beautifully.

I will definitely be making this again – simple, summery, delicious!

Lemon drizzle loaf

Cuts into about 10 slices

• 3 large eggs
• 190g caster sugar
• 190g butter
• 190g self raising flour
• zest of 2 lemons, juice of 1

For the drizzle

• juice of 1 lemon
• 100g caster sugar

Start by cracking the eggs into a jug and weighing them – the weight of the eggs dictates the weight of all the other ingredients. Mine came to 190g, which is why all the other ingredients are 190g.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then gradually add in the eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice. It’s ok if it looks like it might curdle, just sift in the flour and fold to combine and it will be fine. Pour the mix into a 2lb loaf tin, lined with baking paper, and bake at 180 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is cooking, mix together the lemon juice and sugar for the drizzle. As soon as the cake is out of the oven, poke all over with a skewer then pour the drizzle on top. Leave to cool completely, then turn out of the tin and cut into slices to serve.

Coconut and lemon cream sandwich cake

With the gorgeous weather we’ve had this past week, baking with winter flavours has been out – bright, light, summery baking was needed to see in the spring.

This coconut and lemon cream sandwich cake fits the bill perfectly with two of my favourite fresh flavours combined in a simple but tasty cake.

The only downside of this cake was that I went a little over the top with the filling – after a 20 minute drive to work it had all spilled out the sides and needed quite a bit of a tidy before it was fit to be seen!

Another reason I loved this cake was that I got to use my new cake plate and dome that I was given for my birthday for the first time  - finally I can present my baking in something slightly nicer than a tupperware tub!

Coconut and lemon cream sandwich cake (my own recipe)

Cuts into 8 big slices

• 225g butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 75g desiccated coconut
• 225g self raising flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 3-4 tbsp lemon curd (I made mine following the Pink Whisk’s recipe)
• 150ml double cream

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the lime zest and juice and coconut. Sift in the flour and baking powder and lightly fold into the mixture. Divide between two greased and lined 8″ round cake tins, and bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until risen and golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool, then spread the lemon curd on top of one half. Whip the cream until it holds its shape, then spread on top of the lemon curd. Top with the second sponge, then dust with icing sugar to serve.

100 posts, a new look, and a lemon ginger cheesecake

I only started this blog as a way of keeping track of what I’d baked, so I’ve kind of surprised myself by reaching 100 posts, in just under a year (and I can’t even begin to think about how much money I must have spent on ingredients to have baked 100 things…)

Rather than celebrating with a cake (I’ll save that for my first blogiversary next month), I decided to treat the hungy hinny to a bit of a revamp, with a new look which I hope makes it a bit simpler and easier to read.

I’m also planning to move from hungryhinny.wordpress.com to just hungryhinny.com – hopefully that won’t destroy the links to all the previous posts…

On to the tasty stuff, I made this cheesecake last weekend as a bit of a pre-birthday treat to myself – for once ignoring everything the pony likes and making something just for me.

Not that I got to eat very much of it, the combined efforts of the pony and my step dad’s gigantic appetites meant that in the end I only got one slice. Saving my waistline I suppose…

Cheesecake, lemon and ginger are three of my favourite things, and as I suspected they go very well together – I will definitely be making this again!

Ginger biscuit base, not-too-sweet lemony cheesecake and tangy lemon curd glaze – the pictures seriously do not do this cheesecake justice, I promise you!

Lemon and ginger cheesecake (loosely based on Angela Nilsen’s Ultimate New York Cheesecake):

Serves 12 normal people, or 2 very hungry men

• 200g gingernut biscuits
• 35g butter, melted
• 1tsp ground ginger
• 600g light cream cheese
• 200g caster sugar
• 3tbsp cornflour
• zest and juice of 3 lemons
• 3 eggs
• 150g creme fraiche
• 2tbsp lemon curd

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor with the ground ginger until they form fine crumbs, then gradually add in the melted butter until the mixture looks like wet sand (every time I make cheesecake the amount of butter I need changes, so you may need a little more or a little less). Press the biscuit mixture into a greased 9″ springform tin, and chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then gradually add in the caster sugar and cornflour. Add the lemon zest and juice, then the eggs, beating all the time and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Finally, stir in the creme fraiche and pour into the tin on top of the biscuit base.

Bake at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 110 and bake for a further hour, or until set but with a wobble.

My top tip for avoiding a cracked top is to have a baking tray with boiling water in the bottom of the oven to create steam, but have it one shelf below your cheesecake so there’s no danger of water leaking in and turning the base soggy.

Leave to cool in the oven with the heat turned off overnight. When cool, chill in the fridge until completely cold.

To make the lemon curd glaze, stir in a little boiling water to loosen, just enough to make the curd pourable. I used the Pink Whisk’s lemon curd recipe, which is foolproof! Remove the cheesecake from the tin and slide onto a serving plate, then pour the glaze on top and leave in the fridge until ready to serve.

Frankfurter Kranz

So as I mentioned in my previous post, the theme of this month’s Cornwall Clandestine Cake Club was ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’, and I decided to make a Frankfurter Kranz.

It took quite a lot of research to decide on a cake which was authentically German enough but also would look good – I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make a one-layer streusel cake look very attractive!

When I found this I went out and bought a bundt tin especially (which now I feel I have to make good use of, so be prepared for lots of bundt cakes in the future!) and started working out how I’d make the cake.

It’s not totally traditional, as I didn’t have any rum and couldn’t bring myself to use 6 egg yolks to make a German buttercream, but I think it’s close enough to count!

Frankfurter Kranz (adapting this recipe for the cake, with this recipe for buttercream)

For the sponge:

• 200g butter
• 300g caster sugar
• 6 eggs
• 220g plain flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• zest of 1 lemon and juice of half a lemon

Thoroughly grease a 10″ bundt cake – I’m yet to master the art of getting the cake out easily. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add in the eggs one at a time, adding in a little of the flour if it looks like it might curdle. Beat in the lemon zest and juice, then sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in until just combined. Spread the mixture into the tin and bake for about an hour at 180 degrees, or until golden and springy.

For the buttercream:

• 170g softened butter
• 420g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• juice of 1 lemon

Beat the butter for a minute to soften, then add in half of the sugar and the milk and beat again. When it’s well mixed, add the rest of the sugar, lemon and vanilla and keep beating for 3 or 4 minutes until really light and fluffy.

For the almond praline:

• 90g flaked almonds
• 200g sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp butter

Spread the butter evenly over a baking tray and set aside. Heat the sugar and water gently until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil. When it reaches 115 degrees C (soft ball stage) add in the almonds, and keep on the heat, stiring, until the syrup caramelizes. Quickly pour it onto the buttered tray, then once it has cooled either smash up with a rolling pin or blitz in a food blender until it’s in small pieces, but not crumbs.

To assemble the cake

• 3tbsp blackcurrant jam
• 8 coloured marzipan balls

Once the cake has cooled, slice into 3 layers. Spread the bottom and middle layers with the jam, then with some of the buttercream, and reassemble. Use a thin layer of buttercream to crumb-coat, then spread the rest over the cake evenly. Arrange the marzipan balls on top, then cover the rest of the cake in the almond praline.

This cake took me 2 days to make, but I’m sure if you don’t have the inconvenience of a job it could be done a lot quicker!

Lemon Bars

Lemon bars have been on my to-bake list for a while now, and what better occasion to make them for than a sunny (ha!) summer barbecue.

I had quite a few recipes bookmarked, but went for this one as they’re described as ‘perfect’…

As you can see from the pictures, these turned out nothing like the originals, in looks at least.

I cooked the shortbread for a lot longer as it wasn’t browning, and I couldn’t really work out if the filling was cooked or not, which I think led to it boiling a bit around the edges, and looking a bit messy.

Taste wise though, these were amazing – if you’re the kind of person who can happily eat lemon curd straight from the jar, then these are for you.

Tangy lemon, sweet sugar, and a bit of crunch to hold it all together – not perfect but pretty damn tasty!

Lemon bars (recipe courtesy of Baking Bites):

Crust:

• 1 and a half cups plain flour
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• zest of 3 lemons
• 1/2 cup butter

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor until it comes together as breadcrumbs. Press down into 9×9″ foil lined baking tin (I find using the bottom of a measuring cup works well for this). Bake at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Filling:

• 4 eggs
• 1 and a third cups caster sugar
• juice of 6 lemons

Whisk all the ingredients together, then pour onto the base as soon as it comes out of the oven. Put back in the oven and bake for a until set. The original recipe states 20 minutes, but I probably left it for closer to 30. Having never made lemon bars before I still don’t really know what’s correct! Dust liberally with icing sugar before serving.

A lemon cake fit for a Doctor

Earlier in the week, I received a super email surprise from the friendly pony – a request for a cake!

The pony’s colleague officially received a doctorate this week, so, OF COURSE, this meant a cake to celebrate.

We found out that her favourite cake was lemon drizzle, but the traditional loaf shaped drizzle cake just didn’t seem celebration-y enough for someone clever enough to be a doctor.

Instead, I decided on a plain lemon sponge, sandwiched with lemon curd (the same leftovers I mentioned in the Lemon Curd Cake post).

The only thing I couldn’t decide on was how to ice the cake. Drizzle would have probably been the best tasting, and obviously the most like an actual drizzle cake, but the friendly pony wanted a congratulatory message on top, which I didn’t think would have worked on a drizzle.

I considered making sugar paste or fondant icing, dying it bright yellow and having white icing, but as I couldn’t find a recipe that didn’t make enough to ice three wedding cakes, we settled on a lemon buttercream (a favourite of the pony who pretty much thinks the sicklier the better).

Once the cake was iced (using my new-found crumb coating technique and a brand new spatula!) we left it overnight, as I didn’t have any icing sugar left to make writing icing, and a trot to the shops wasn’t particularly appealing.

However, I couldn’t stop thinking that the cake didn’t quite look finished, so I leapt out of bed at 6.50 in the morning to start melting chocolate.

The finished cake, with dark chocolate writing, looked much better, and I was happy to send it away with the pony to work.

I didn’t try any of it myself, but I’ve been assured that it was enjoyed by everyone, although I think you probably do need to have a bit of a sweet tooth.

Congratulations Dr. Daniels!

Lemon Cake fit for a Doctor

Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• Zest of 2 lemons, juice of 1
• 225g self raising flour
• 1tsp baking powder

For the filling and icing:

• 3-4 tablespoons lemon curd
• 125g butter
• 250g icing sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 50g dark chocolate (although this left me with quite a bit spare)

To make the sponge, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs and lemon zest and juice. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture until combined. Divide between 2 7″ cake tins and bake for 20-30 minutes at 180 degrees, or until golden brown.

To make the icing, beat the butter until soft, then slowly sift in the icing sugar and keep beating until well mixed and smooth. Add the zest and juice of the lemon, beat again, and add more sugar or milk to get the right consistency.

When the sponges have cooled, spread the lemon curd on top of one and stack the other on top. Spread a thin layer of the buttercream all over to crumb coat, then chill. Finish by spreading the rest of the icing all over, and pipe the melted chocolate on to do the writing.

Lemon curd cake for a chocoholic

This week I had the pleasure of seeing four members of my family – my mum, dad and stepdad, who had all just returned from a holiday together (weird, I am aware) as well as my uncle, who had been house-sitting for my dad.

It was my step-dad’s birthday on Wednesday so, obviously, I decided that I couldn’t go and see him without taking a cake. I wanted to make something that everyone would like, but with my stepdad’s favourite being white chocolate, my mum not really loving chocolate, my dad not liking white chocolate and my uncle not liking anything too sweet, it was a bit of a challenge.

In the end I decided on a lemon cake, to use up some lemon curd I made the previous weekend. It hadn’t gone perfectly as I’d tried to halve a recipe that called for 3 eggs and 1 yolk, and although it tasted great it was a bit too runny to be used for much apart from baking.

I based the cake on a recipe by Poires au Chocolat, a brilliant blog I’ve come across recently. When I finally finish the design of this blog, I’ll link to all the fantastic blogs that I read (and which are far better than my own!).

I somehow managed to forget to actually buy any lemons when shopping for the ingredients, so all the lemon flavour comes from lemon curd. I made a cream cheese icing to try and counter the sweetness, but as with every cream cheese icing I’ve ever made it was too runny so it doesn’t look quite how I liked.

To appease my stepdad, I finished the cake with grated white chocolate, which also helped to cover the bad icing. Amazingly, everyone loved it! So if you too have a picky family to feed, I’d definitely recommend this recipe.

Lemon curd recipe (this is the original recipe which I know works, because my next door neighbour made it and it was amazing!)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
• zest and juice of 4 lemons
• caster sugar
• butter

Method:

Put the lemon zest and juice, sugar and butter in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water, and leave until the butter has melted, stirring occasionally. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl, then add to the lemon mix and whisk until combined. Keep over the heat, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened (about 30 mins). Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then pour into a jar and refrigerate.

Cake recipe, adapted from Poires au Chocolat’s Lemon Curd Cake

Cake Ingredients:

• 175g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 175g butter
• 150g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 4 tbsp lemon curd

Icing Ingredients:

• 100g butter
• 200g cream cheese
• 200g icing sugar
• 3-4 tbsp lemon curd
• 50g white chocolate

Method:

• Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then gradually add eggs. Beat in the lemon curd then fold in the flour and baking powder. Split between 2 7″ cake tins and bake at 170 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until springy.
• When the cakes are cooled, sandwich them together with more lemon curd (forgot to include this in the ingredients list).
• To make the icing, beat together the butter and sugar until there are no lumps, then beat in the cream cheese and lemon curd. Apparently, if you beat it too much it will go runny, which I think may have been my problem…
• Ice the top and sides of the cake, throw the grated chocolate at it, and if your icing has also gone a bit runny, put straight in the fridge or freezer to set!