Spring Lemon and lime drizzle cake - gluten free

Despite it still being fairly cool, there is definitely signs of spring in our Lancashire garden, the snowdrops are blooming well and there are even a few early daffodils poking through the soil. We have even heard the deep throaty calls of a few early frogs coming from our garden pond. So last weekend in celebration of spring and also for our last cake club I made a beautiful lemon and lime drizzle cake with zingy citrus flavours.

This gluten free cake has a beautiful crumb structure and is complemented with fresh sharp tasting icing drizzled on top.

To get the best results you need to firstly pay a visit to your local market or greengrocer (if you still have one - lucky you) to stock up on fresh juicy lemons and limes. Ideally unwaxed if you can get them, not to worry if you can't as a quick scrub under a running tap removes most of the wax used to help preserve the fruit.

To achieve the beautiful texture and crumb structure I used a mixture of very finely ground cornmeal (polenta), cornflour and white rice flour with a little xanthum gum.

What you need

• 175g White rice flour
• 105g Finely ground cornmeal (its golden yellow, I got mine from Holland and Barrett)
• 70g Cornflour
• 1 tsp xanthum gum
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 225g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs - free range
• 200ml sunflower oil or vegetable oil
• 400ml skimmed milk
• 3 lemons - zested and juiced
• 4 limes - zested and juiced
• Oil spray for oiling tins
• 2 tbsp of granulated sugar
• About 100g of icing sugar

You will also need an approximately 20cm round loose bottom or springform cake tin, base lined and oils sprayed on the sides.

What you do

• Preheat the oven to 180c
• Whisk the eggs and caster sugar until light and fluffy and tripled in volume 
• Sift in the flours, baking powder and xanthum gum, whisk this in along with the milk, oil and the zest of one of the lemons
• Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and place in the oven
• Bake for approx 60 minutes until firm and tests cooked with a skewer.
• Once ready, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack in the tin.
• To make your drizzle, melt the granulated sugar and the juice of 2 lemons in a small pan until all dissolved.
• Prick the cake all over and gentle pour on the warm syrup whilst the cake remains in the tin
• Once fully cool remove the cake from the tin

To make the icing take the juice from the limes and mix with the icing sugar until you have a smooth drizzleable paste, pour over the icing and once starting to set decorate with lime and lemon zest.

Serve once the icing has set, the cake stores well in an airtight tin.

We are linking up to a new linky with this post, Belleau Kitchen's - Simply Eggcellent challenge where you link up recipes containing lovely free range eggs.

                                             

Also to Family Foodies - whose theme this month is  Lets Get Baking . Hosted by Eat your Veg and Bangers and Mash.

                                               
Bake of the Week over at Casa Costello - a weekly baking linky

                                                           

Lemon crunch cake

Who doesn't love a lemon cake (well I know someone who doesn't but you get the point), zingy yet comforting at the same time, perfect with a cup of tea whether its drizzling or sunny its a cake standard and one that everyone should have in their arsenal.

I have seen recipes for gluten free lemon cakes which contain mashed potatoes and at some point I will give them a go but this one is more conventional were some of the flour is substituted with ground almonds and the other flours are gluten free. The resultant cake is moist and very moreish, improved by the lemon drizzle topped off by a crunch lemon sugar topping.

Sorghum flour which is in this recipe is a fine  beige white flour from a millet like grain, obtainable on line and in any good health food store. Its a nutritious flour and adds a good flavour to the bake.

What you need

• 175g melted butter
• zest of 2 lemons
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 25g tapioca flour
• 40g sorghum flour
• 150g granulated sugar
• 60g ground almonds
• 25g cornflour
• 25g fine polenta
• 1 tsp lemon oil

To make the sugar topping

• 50g sugar
• 1 tbsp sugar for sprinkling
• juice of 1 lemon

What you do

• Firstly lets pre-heat the oven to 170c
• You will need a 2lb loaf tin, oiled and based lined or use a tin liner
• Mix all the cake ingredients together in a large bowl, being careful that you melted butter is not too hot, otherwise you will scramble your eggs.
• Once you have a smooth mixture pour into you prepared tin, smooth the top and place in the oven
• Bake for 45-55 minutes, until golden, well risen and tests cooked if you insert a skewer
• Remove from oven and cool in the tin.
• Whilst the cake is cooling , melt the 50g of sugar and lemon juice in a pan. Once all the sugar has dissolved, pour over the still slightly warm cake and sprinkle immediately afterwards with a further tablespoon of sugar to create a delicious crunchy sugary topping once cooled.
• Keeps well loosely wrapped and stored in a cool place.

I'm linking up to Hijacked by Twins who is babysitting the Bake of The Week for Helen over at Casa Costello

                                                             

I'm going to be hosting this challenge in just over a weeks time after Hay in a Day has hosted the challenge

Quick hollandaise sauce

Hollandaise sauce is a great recipe to have in your arsenal, this versatile sauce is often thought to be difficult to make but if you have a food processor to whisk it up in you shouldn't have any issues with your sauce splitting or your sauce failing to thicken.

The origins of Hollandaise is a debated hotly and is claimed by both Holland and France, well whatever I say. All I know that this is a great accompaniment to fish (particularly salmon and as pictured), asparagus (as pictured), eggs benedict and the basis of other great sauces such as bearnasie.

The sauce in the photograph is a foaming hollandaise, where the whisked egg whites are folded back into the sauce, this is a surefire way of ensuring you sauce doesn't split, especially if you need to re heat it.

Oh and just in case you were wondering that lovely local asparagus too and some garlic and rosemary potatoes.

What you need

• 2 eggs - seperated
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 dessert spoon of white wine vinegar
• Rough 3 oz of butter
• Salt and pepper

What you do

• Place the egg yolks in the bowl of your food processor (my magimix has a dinky little bowl which fits inside the large bowl, that is the perfect size)
• In a small bowl, I microwave the lemon juice and vinegar for 30 seconds, until warm. Add this to the egg, whizz in for a few seconds
• In the same bowl melt the butter, and slowly with the processor whizzing drizzle in the butter, until you have a thicken emulsion. Don't hurry this step take your time, all of a sudden you will have a lovely glossy sauce.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• If you want to make foaming hollandiase, whisk up in a bowl the egg white until at the soft peak stage and fold into your golden sauce.
• Serve warm or cold with fish, asparagus or over egg benedict.

Blood orange, lemon and almond cake

On a recent visit to my local greengrocers I was pleased to see that blood oranges were in season, juicy sweet and full of orangey flavour they make a great addition to the fruit bowl. Combined with a classic lemon this is a gorgeous zesty bake, the blood orange adds a beautiful orange hue to the cake, this recipe is based on Nigella Lawson's clementine cake which in turn is based on Claudia Roden's orange and almond cake, I am pretty sure Fiona Cairns has a version too.

This recipe is reliable and naturally gluten free, its a plain Jane of cake that packs a glorious flavour punch, juicy, zesty and ever so slightly adult. I couldn't resist decorating it with the little viola's coming into flower in the garden, those little cute faces calling out to me.

The cake require no real skill and I now have a short cut route of cooking the orange and lemon, rather than boiling in water for a couple of hours,you can avoid the steamy kitchen by microwaving in a covered bowl for about 8 -10 minutes until soft. Easy !

Its great to be able to use the lovely unsung blood orange in a recipe and a great celebration of spring. You can substitute any citrus fruit, lemons, clementines, all work fine, just keep the quantity roughly the same.

What you need

• 1 orange and 1 lemon, ideally organic and unwaxed (if you can't get blood orange ordinary works fine)
• 6 eggs - large free range 
• 220g caster sugar
• 250g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of sea salt
• Springform cake tin - approx 8" diameter, oil sprayed
• Icing sugar to dust
• Violas

What you do

• Firstly you need to cook the orange and lemon, you can either boil in water for approx 2 hours until soft, or alternatively microwave for about 8-10 minutes
• Allow the soft whole fruit to cool and cut open to remove any pips.
• Preheat the oven to 170c fan / gas mark 5
• Now pulp in the food processor until a fine puree
• Now add the other ingredients, pulse again until you have a smoothish mixture
• Pour into your prepared tin and smooth the top
• Bake for approx 50 minutes until a cocktail stick comes out clean and the cake is a gorgeous golden colour, cover with foil if it appears to be darkening too quickly
• Allow to cool full in the tin
• Dust with icing sugar and serve

Serve on a platter or cake stand strewn with viola's, spring has sprung !

I am entering this post in for the blog challenge Simple and in Season created by Renbehan and hosted this month by Utterly Scrummy Food 

                                               

                                           
                                               

Luscious Lemon Glitter ball cake for Strictly come baking !

After much cha cha chaing (do you see what I did there) around what recipe I was to make for this months "Strictly" theme I plumped for a glitter ball cake. Based on a run of the mill victoria sponge recipe flavoured with lemon oil, filled with lemon curd, cream and meringue, then decorated with silver sprayed fondant and glitter ball cake pops.

Apologies for the poor photography my camera developed a problem on the night

This is my first venture into cake pops, I made mine using a lemon flavoured yogurt cake, crumbed and mixed with vanilla buttercream. The cake pop balls are shaped by hand into balls which then have a stick pushed through them which has been dipped into white chocolate so that it sets inside the cake pop. These are then left to set and firm up in the fridge.

Once your cake pops are firm and cold you are ready to finish them off , I dipped them in melted white chocolate and decorated with silver balls but you could use any sprinkles you like.

The victoria sponge is an all in recipe and is very easy and produces reliable results, I just added lemon oil for a more intense lemon flavour. The inspiration for the lemon curd, cream and crumbled meringue filling comes from Fiona Cairns. 

What you need for the main cake

• 175g Self raising flour
• 175g butter - soft
• 175g  caster sugar
• 1tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs- beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla paste

2 x 20cm round cake tins , lightly oil sprayed and base lined

Pre-heat the oven to 170c 

What you need to do 

• Whizz up all the ingredients in your food mixer
• Scoop in to 2 prepared pans and bake for approximately 20 minutes until lightly golden and cooked through when tested with a skewer
• Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin and cooling fully on a wire rack
• Once cool fill with your choice of fillings, I used a generous layer of lemon curd, freshly whipped cream and crumbled meringue.
• I then covered with white fondant and sprayed it with a sliver shimmer spray. 

Courgette and almond loaf with crunchy lemon topping

In an attempt to keep up with the courgette glut I am back to baking cakes with them, this blog already has about 6 recipes on it for courgette cakes, but I feel there is room for a few more. This one is going almondy with a cheeky crunchy lemon topping which really does make a difference to the finished cake.

Not the most pretty of cake I have made but it more than makes up for it in flavour and it keeps beautifully wrapped in foil.

What you need

• 200g ground almonds
• 240g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarb
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 350g caster sugar
• 225ml olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp vanilla paste
• 300g grated courgette

For the topping

• Juice of one lemon
• 4tbsp granulated sugar
• 125g icing sugar

What you do 

• Preheat oven to 180c
• Line two 2lb loaf tins with baking parchment
• Whisk up the olive oil and the caster sugar, until lightened and slightly fluffy
• Add the eggs one by one to the oil and sugar mixture
• Now add all the other ingredients except the courgettes, mix well and then fold in the courgettes
• Pour into the loaf tins , level and bake in the oven for approximately for about 45 -50 minutes, until tested cooked with a skewer.
• Allow to cool initially in the tins
• Whilst the cakes are cooling, mix the lemon juice, granulated and icing sugar in a bowl and brush on the top of the cakes whilst still cooling, don't worry this will set to a crunchy glaze.

Based on a recipe from the Telegraph in 2012, the stunning photography is once again by Mr Lancashire Food.

Lemon balm loaf cake

Lemon balm is one of those herbs that once you have it you always will, it will happily self seed if it likes you garden and can become a bit of a pest. It has limited uses such as in a tea or a nice refreshing bath, so I thought I would have a go at using some in a cake recipe. Lemon balm or melissa for the unintiated has a lemon sherbet flavour with a herby back end on the tongue, so should be a perfect marriage for a traditional lemon drizzle cake.

Melissa is a very old fashioned herb and would have been a typical inclusion in the traditional cottage garden which is the style of gardening I favour, it has none discript white flowers, followed by loads of tiny dark seeds, which should be cut off unless you want to commercial harvest the plant.

I have tried cooking with the herb before but I don't have particularly fond memories of the result, but I think I used the older leaves which tend to go woody and be less flavourful. 

So firstly choose your favourite lemon drizzle cake and then add to the normal lemon zest in the sponge mix an additional 2tbsp of finely chopped lemon balm leaves. You normally make a lemon syrup to make the drizzle so I also added chopped lemon balm to my syrup too. The result is a moist lemony herby cake, very pleasant and a very good keeper if wrapped in foil and stored in a cool place. 

Yogurt Lemon Drizzle for World Baking day

Well its World Baking Day , the idea being that you bake something, take a photo of it somewhere unusual and then tweet it using the #caking ! Well you all know me, anything for a bit of fun and also anything that involves baking is right up my street.


So this weekends bake of Lemon Drizzle Cake is my contribution, a deliciously light but moist cake with a good lemon flavour which features yogurt as an unusual twist on the norm.

Lemon Drizzle in the Greenhouse with tomato

Ingredients

• 175g softened butter or quality vegetable margarine
• 175g caster sugar
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons - unwaxed
• 120g natural yogurt
• 2 large eggs - free range
• 175g self raising flour
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1/2 tbsp elderflower cordial

Method

• Cream your butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy
• Oil spray a loose bottomed case tin and base line
• Preheat your oven to 180C
• Add the lemon zest and yogurt and eggs to the sugar / butter mixture
• Mix well
• Add the Flour and mix again, then spoon into your tin
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen and golden and cooked when tested with a cocktail stick
• Now allow to cool slighty and then remove from tin
• Meanwhile simmer the lemon juice and granulated sugar in a small pan until the sugar has dissolved and the volume reduced to a syrup
• Using a cocktail stick prick all over the top of your cake and then pour on the syrup
• Now cool fully
• Once fully cooled, mix the icing sugar and elderflower cordial to make a runny paste, drizzle all over the top of your cake.

Hake with parmesan and parsley crust

I love fish and had recently picked a fabulous piece of Hake at my favourite fish stall on Chorley Market, this recipe is for a quick and easy topping which ensures that you fish stays nice and moist. Its also great as in most cases you will have the required ingredients in the cupboard and fridge.

Hubby declared this yum so next time you are cooking fish give it a go.

Ingredients

• Fresh breadcrumbs, I used stale sourdough blitzed in the foodprocessor
• Fresh lemon zest
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Grind of pepper
• Parsley - fresh or dried
• Little olive oil
• Vegetable oil spray
• Fish fillet - I used hake but you could use cod, salmon, etc just make sure its sustainable

Method

• Blitz your bread crumbs in food processor or blender
• Grate in you parmesan, lemon zest
• Add parsley , pepper and blitz a little more
• Add enough oil to just moisten
• Lightly oil spray your tray
• Place your fish fillets on the tray and press the crumb topping on to them
• Lightly spritz with oil spray
• Bake in 180c oven for approx 15 mins, but vary this depending on the thickness of your fillets.

Delicious, easy recipe

Eves Pudding

Don't know about anyone else but after the festive season I always seem to have some fruit in the fruit bowl which is getting a little long in the tooth, I hate to waste food and try wherever possible to use them in some recipe or another. Eves Pudding is a great recipe to have in the arsenal and is delightfully comforting, it smells wonderful when baking and the lemony zesty aroma is a great pick me up. The Eve in the name refers to the fact that apples are used in the recipe.

Ingredients

• 450g or so Apples - peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks (ideally bakers but whatever you have)
• 75g Demerara sugar
• Lemon zest - 1 whole lemon
• 75g Margarine
• 75g Caster sugar
• Egg - free range
• 150g self raising flour
• Milk - about 1tbsp

Method

• Preheat your oven to 180c
• Grease your baking dish
• Place your apples in the dish and sprinkle with the demerara sugar and lemon zest
• Mix your sponge in the normal manner, use the milk to achieve a dropping consistency
• Spoon over your apples and smooth to cover
• Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes until the apples are soft and the sponge is golden

Serve hot, warm or cold, either on its own or with cream, custard or ice cream. Delicious