when life gives you lemons...make cake!

I was very impressed when I stepped out the back garden this weekend and saw our little lemon tree. Such perfectly shaped, happy, vibrant yellow lemons, and rather generously loaded for the small wee thing. It called for some baking so lemon syrup cake became our weekend treat.

I doubled the recipe below and made two small cakes, but you could just double it and make one big one - especially if you have to share it.

Recipe: Lemon syrup yoghurt cake

125 grams softened butter

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

2 lemons, rind grated and juiced

2 eggs

3/4 cup natural yoghurt

1 1/3 cups self raising flour

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and line a 20cm cake tin.

2. Cream butter, 3/4 cup sugar and lemon rind until pale. 

3. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 

4. Sift in flour and stir gently until combined.

5. Place mixture in to the tin and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. 

6. Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice in to a pot and bring to the boil on a medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes until sugar has dissolved. 

7. Pour the lemon and sugar syrup over the warm cake - I started with half and left to settle for 5 minutes before adding the remaining syrup. 

8. Let it cool and then eat...although it does taste pretty awesome warm too:)

home...and eating blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting

After a lot of packing and travelling I am now home sweet home and it's time for some real baking. Super excited I again live in a home with an oven...oh the possibilities! 

One thing that I began to appreciate while away is New Zealands' cafe and restaurant culture. We really are spoilt for choice when it comes to quality food and beverages. On my first cafe outing since being home we went to six forty six in Whangamata. I loved how the menu was written on huge brown paper rolls that were fixed to the walls. It gave you the feeling it wouldn't be the same the next time you visited. They had a large variety of choices from a tasty Thai green curry (Mum's choice) to yummy blueberry pancakes with lemon maple syrup and cream (My choice). 

I enjoyed my pancakes and it got me thinking about blueberries and a cupcake recipe I had been wanting to try in cake form. So today I got to work and am happy with the results - Soft cake, juicy blueberries and sweet cream cheese icing...what's not to love!

Recipe: Blueberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

60 grams butter (At room temperature) 

3/4 cup sugar 

2 large eggs 

1/3 cup sour cream  

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I use the one with the seeds in because it looks pretty)

1 3/4 cups flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2/3 cup milk 

1 cup blueberries (I used frozen - just rinse and dry before putting in the mixture)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line 2 small round cake tins.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

4. Beat in the sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. 

5. Gradually add in the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

6. Stir in milk until batter is smooth. 

7. Mix in the blueberries.

8. Split the mixture between your 2 cake tins and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when pricked in to the centre. 

9. Remove from the oven, transfer cakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

230 grams cream cheese (At room temperature) 

60 grams unsalted butter (At room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Again with the seeds in)
3 cups icing sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.

2. Beat in the vanilla and icing sugar. If it is too soft, add more icing sugar until it reaches a spreadable consistency. Or, if it is too stiff, add a little milk until it reaches a spreadable consistency.

3. Once the cakes are cool, spread frosting on top of one of the cakes. Place the second cake on top of the frosting. Continue to frost the rest of the cake as desired and decorate with a few fresh berries.

disney...here we come!

We are heading to Disneyland Paris this weekend which calls for some appropriately child like treats to take along. Presenting...chocolate chip cookie and jelly bean rocky road!

Rocky road is truly the easiest thing to make and you can put just about anything in it. For example, while searching for the ingredients for my chocolate chip cookie and jelly bean concoction I came across coconut covered marshmallows. I stood there for a while deliberating and came to the conclusion...why not! So they went in too.

Chocolate Chip Cookie and Jelly Bean Rocky Road

600 grams Milk Chocolate

300 grams Coconut covered Marshmallows (Or plain with a little shredded coconut)

225 grams Chocolate Chip Cookies - roughly chopped

200 grams Jelly Beans (I used all the berry flavors out of a mixed bag)

100 grams Peanuts

1. Line small tray or medium sized cake tin with baking paper.

2. Melt chocolate in a large bowl, either on top of a pot of hot water or in the microwave. Just remember that chocolate burns easily so keep an eye on it.

3. Pour all of the other ingredients into the bowl with the chocolate and mix through, making sure everything is covered in the chocolate.

4. Pour the mixture in to the tin. You may need to spread it out a bit with the back of a spoon to make it roughly even in thickness.

5. Place in the fridge until set and then chop into chunks with a warm knife.

On another note...It is finally starting to feel like Spring is on its way. The water features are back to liquid form, flower buds are starting to emerge and you can get away with wearing three layers instead of the usual four. While this is a nice change, it is bitter sweet. By the time the real warm weather turns up we will be returning to a New Zealand Winter...

  

birthday bash...

Celebrating my beautiful little sisters 21st with the family...Finally got to do some real baking and had a go at flower arranging too!

Layered Chocolate Cake with raspberry frosting...

60g dark chocolate

1 cup hot water

1½ cups flour

1¼ cups cocoa

1½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt 

2 eggs

2¼ cups caster sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

¾ cup buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Line the bases of three round cake tins with baking paper and spray them with cooking spray.

2. Place the chocolate and hot water into a bowl and stir until the chocolate has melted and then set aside.

3. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl.

4. Place the eggs in an electric mixer and beat on a medium-high speed until they are pale and thick. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla essence and buttermilk and beat until combined.

5. Fold in the dry ingredients and the chocolate mixture.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared tins. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of each cake comes out clean.

7. To assemble, spread or pipe the buttercream between each layer and top the cake with decorations of your choice.

Swiss Buttercream frosting

1½ cups caster sugar 

4 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

300g butter, soft but not runny

2 Tablespoons 'Fresh As' freeze dried raspberry powder (I purchased some from Farro Fresh in Mt Wellington)

1. Place the sugar and egg whites into a small heatproof bowl and place it over a pan of simmering water. Stir continuously until the sugar has melted and the mixture 
is slightly thicker and foamy (about 5 minutes).

2. Remove the bowl from the heat. Pour the egg white mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on a medium-high speed until the mixture is cool, thick and glossy white. 

3. Add the vanilla essence.

4. Slowly add the butter, mixing well after each addition until it has been absorbed into the mixture. 

5. Add the raspberry powder and mix until combined. 
The frosting should have a similar consistency to whipped cream.

eating...white chocolate and oreo rocky road

It's not Christmas time without some decent sweet treats so this week I made a variation of my rocky road using white chocolate and oreos. It is super easy to make and great for parties or just to have in the cupboard for a mid afternoon pick me up...

Ingredients...

125 grams Salted Peanuts - lightly crushed

180 grams Marshmallows - could use minis or chop normal size in half

100 grams Cranberries

12 Original sized Oreos - lightly crushed...you want some nice chunks in there

400 grams White Chocolate 

1. Line small tray or medium sized cake tin with baking paper.

2. Melt chocolate in a large bowl, either on top of a pot of hot water or in the microwave. Just remember that chocolate burns easily so keep an eye on it.

3. Pour all of the other ingredients into the bowl with the chocolate and mix through, making sure everything is covered in the chocolate.

4. Pour the mixture in to the tin. You may need to spread it out a bit with the back of a spoon to make it roughly even in thickness.

5. Place in the fridge for about an hour until set and then chop into chunks with a warm knife...yum!

eating...salted peanut and caramel fudge

To my horror my Belgium kitchen does not include an oven, so in order to satisfy my baking cravings I have been exploring stove top sweets...mostly variations of fudge and rocky road. Although my caramel slice with no bake base also worked a treat. Anyway my new Belgium friend, who is actually from Bolivia, was having a bad week last week so much to her delight I popped round with some Salted Peanut and Caramel fudge. This has become a favorite of our little expat group so I thought you may like it too...

Ingredients...

3/4 cup chopped Salted Peanuts

200 grams Butter, roughly chopped

1 can Condensed Milk

3/4 cup Milk

2 Tablespoons Golden Syrup

4 cups Sugar

Directions...

1. Line small tray or medium sized cake tin with baking paper.

2. Sprinkle Peanuts on to the base of the tin.

3. In a pot bring the Butter, Condensed Milk, Milk, Golden Syrup and Sugar to the boil. Make sure you use a big enough pot for the mixture to expand. Stir consistently for about 20 minutes. The mixture will thicken and turn a nice caramel colour. When you can feel the top sides of the pot starting to set take the pot off the heat.

4. Beat the hot mixture for about 5 minutes with a whisk or egg beater. The fudge will continue to thicken as it cools.

5. Pour the fudge over the Peanuts and leave to set.

6. When the fudge is almost set cut into squares...and EAT!