Lemon Cake

This is my mum's very slight variation on a recipe found in an old cookbook of hers called The Edmonds Cookery Book. The recipe is called Orange Cake, we make it with lemons instead of oranges but that is the only real difference. Still, it is delicious. 

The cookery book was first published in 1908 (then called The Sure to Rise Cookery Book) and was actually used as a marketing tool to try and sell Edmonds Baking Powder. (Which explains why they suggest you use their baking powder throughout the cookbook. When my mum was a little girl she actually believed if you didn't use Edmonds Baking Powder your cakes wouldn't work. Which I think is quite cute.) It's a New Zealand cookery book, and still remains a bestseller over there apparently. This used to be my favourite cake as a child, I always used to insist my mum made it. I'm still very fond of it.

Recipe:

175g (6 oz.) Butter

175g (6 oz.) Sugar
Grated Rind of 1 Lemon (or 1 Orange like the original recipe)
3 Eggs
175g (6 oz.) Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder - perhaps you'd like to try Edmonds ;)

1. Cream butter and sugar, add lemon rind. 

2. Beat eggs until thick and add alternately with sifted flour and baking powder. 

3. Bake about 1 hour at 180°C (350°F) in a 178mm (7 inch) square tin (note from Lucy: clearly it doesn't have to be a square tin, why not make a round cake, like I did above!). Use lemon juice to make the icing. 

And that is all the instructions you get. Well, you can't say they faff around! For the icing, just put a small amount of butter along with some icing sugar and the juice from a lemon and mix until you have the right consistency and amount. I'm afraid I don't ever measure, I just play it be ear and see how I go. Decorate as you see fit. Sprinkles, little jelly oranges and lemons, dolly mixtures, anything goes!

Difficulty rating: 4/10. I've found this to be an easy enough cake to make. :) 

Success rating: 7/10. I always like how this cake has come out. No failures so far! 

This recipe is not my own, all credit goes to Edmonds Cookery Book. It's not currently available on amazon in the UK, but you'll be able to get hold of it in New Zealand. Happy Baking.

Next time: American Brownies, Delia Style!

Vanilla Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is without a doubt my favourite muffin recipe. It's a recipe I nabbed off Nigella Lawson when I was rummaging through my mum's cookbooks. It never fails to impress me how good these muffins come out, but more importantly how quick and easy they are to bake! Seriously, if you're stressing about complicated instructions in recipes that seem to suggest things far more complicated than what you'd find in a science lab then this is the recipe for you! It is a measure out ingredients, mix for 5 seconds, pop in the oven job.

And the results? Heavenly.

Onto the recipe!

Vanilla Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 12
Dry Ingredients:
250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda
175g caster sugar
150g choc chips, plus more for sprinkling (I personally prefer to use 150g of galaxy chocolate which I then cut up into small chunks..)
2 tablespoons best quality cocoa powder (I prefer to leave this step out as I like to opt for plainer muffins with chocolate chips but if you'd like a double whammy of chocolate then put this in too!)

Liquid Ingredients:
250 ml milk
90 ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6/400/200 Fill a muffin tray with paper cases.

2 Measure out dry ingredients. And then pour liquid ingredients into a jug. Mix together.

3 Spoon into cases. And then cook for 20 minutes.

TIPS:

Don't overmix! Nigella says that you shouldn't overmix the mixture, just mix until all the ingredients are incorporated and then stop! An overmixed batter will result in slightly less tasty muffins. Oh and they won't rise as nicely. ;)

There, how easy was that?! Thank you Nigella Lawson for bringing these muffins into my life! 

Difficully rating: 1 or 2/10 - did I mention they're super easy to make?!

Success rating: 9/10 - I've made these countless of times for friends and picnics, housewarmings you name it! And they never fail to disappoint me. Plus they gave me an opportunity to use my heart shaped silicone mould! Win win.

This recipe isn't mine, it is Nigella Lawson's and can be found in her cookbook Feast, which can be found here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feast-Food-that-Celebrates-Life/dp/0701180331/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345739833&sr=1-1

Next time:  Lemon Cake...

Chocolate Slab

I first saw this recipe on Lorraine Pascale's Cooking programme around Christmas last year. Lorraine's Last Minute Christmas. As soon as I saw the lovely marbled effect etched onto a wonderfully thick piece of chocolate I knew I had to make my own! 

I made this back in December, when I did as Lorraine suggested and wrapped broken up pieces of the giant slab up in cellophane, tied them with ribbon and gave them to people as Christmas presents. 

They were suitably impressed, and it's great idea if you're on a bit of a budget. I already have an 'order' for another batch for my sister's boyfriend's birthday in a couple of weeks. The great thing about this recipe is you can put people's favourite toppings onto the top and really personalise it. And they look just as good as if you'd bought them from Hotel Chocolat! 

 

Recipe:

300g dark choc

300g white choc

50g mixed dried fruit

50g mixed nuts  

1. Pop the different types of chocolate into seperate bowls over a pan of simmering water. Break the chocolate up into small pieces so the chocolate melts easier.  

2. Once the chocolate is melted pour your first layer of chocolate (so in the above picture I went for dark chocolate first) into a baking tray. To make it easier have a greased baking sheet inside the baking tray. Once the chocolate has filled the baking tray and still wet pour in the other type of chocolate into the middle of the first layer.  

3. Take a skewer and begin to make your marbled effect by mixing the two layers of chocolate together.

4. Pour your nuts/fruit onto the top while your mixture is still wet.  

5. Pop in the fridge until set. Once set you can begin the fun task (!) of trying to break up the pieces into equal proportions!  

TIPS: 

- Make sure you use the best quality chocolate you can find. The nicer the chocolate the nicer your slab will be.

- Chop the nuts up.

- I added small silver edible stars to make it a little prettier. I think it adds a nice touch.

- Push the toppings down slightly into the chocolate while the chocolate is still wet to make sure they set firmly in the chocolate.  

Difficulty rating: 2/10 - I found this extremely easy to make. It couldn't be simpler, you're just melting chocolate. Perfect.  

Success rating: 8/10 - I was very happy with how this came out!

This is what they'll look like when wrapped up in cellophane. Sorry about the quality of the photo, this was taken on my friend's phone.  

This recipe is not my own, all credit goes to Lorraine Pascale and her cooking programme Lorraine's Last Minute Christmas, first aired on BBC2 in December 2011.

Next time: Vanilla Chocolate Chip Muffins à la Nigella Lawson...