Nigella Lawson inspired Lemon Drizzle cake

I love lemon drizzle cake- it tastes great and it's unbelievably simple to make quickly from store cupboard ingredients!

This cake is a great choice for summer days (like today)! So I couldn't skip it. I polished off three slices yesterday with a cup of tea. Then I did the professional thing and got my two 'Cake Testers' (work colleagues, eh hem, eh hem) to sample a slice and the verdict was "very nice, moist but light and not too sweet or lemon-flavoured"   

I think we can trust their verdict. They have also been fans of my banana cake and White Choc-chip cookies   :-)

For something uncomplicated, give this one a go: If you follow this recipe spot on, it will come out perfect for you too! Not much needed in the way of utensils either, just a loaf tin. 

P.S: It helps to have your butter at room temperature too.

Lemon-Syrup Loaf Cake, or Lemon Drizzle cake

125 g unsalted butter, softened
175 g caster sugar
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon
175 g self raising flour
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons milk
23 x 13 x 7 cm loaf tin buttered and lined

For the syrup
juice of 1 ½ lemons
100 g icing sugar

For the glaze
juice of ½ a lemon
150 g icing sugar

Preheat your oven to 180 C/ gas mark 4.
Butter and line your loaf tin well.

Cream together butter and sugar and add eggs and lemon zest, beating them in well.
Gently fold in the flour and the salt, mixing thoroughly and then add the milk.
Spoon the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 45 mins or until cake tester comes out clean.

For the syrup: Put the lemon juice and icing sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.

As soon as cake is out of oven, puncture all over with skewer and pour over the syrup.
Leave cake to cool completely before removing from the tin.

For the glaze: Combine lemon juice and icing sugar until smooth and white, add a little more icing sugar if needed. Make sure your cake is completely cool before drizzling with the glaze.

From: Nigella Lawson, How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Why did my cake crack?

Looking back on a few archived cake photos, I noticed a sponge that I'd made that had pretty noticeable cracks on its surface. It didn't bother me at the time, as I went on to feature its photo in a post, but now, it really bugs me. Why did my cake crack like that?

Three things really:

•  My oven temperature was set too high, and the surface expanded faster than the inside, or
•  Too much baking powder was added, or
•  My cake was placed too high in the oven.

I think I did the latter one, most likely. As when I make a sponge, I have to fight for space for two tins to be next to each other in my oven. So maybe one tin went on the top shelf with the other tin in the middle. That's why they always say to "bake cake in the middle of a pre-heated oven". Middle.

Victoria Sponges For One

Aren't these tempting? I do love a cake made 'for one'. Some out-of-the-ordinary ingredients were used in the process too – instead of mixing with butter, we use cream; and instead of baking in a round cake tin we use a tin can. Yes, that's right a tin can that you would find soup in.

Valentine's Red Velvet Cupcakes

I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day as much as I should. Probably due to the other half putting a bit of a dampener on it when we first started dating. Since then, I'm grateful if I receive a card, and to receive flowers? Well, that would be pushing the boat out a bit! His mantra is that everyday should be a Valentine's day ("that old chestnut") but I think that is more of a bloke's excuse to downplay its importance or something that him and his friends came up with one day :-)

But, I think there are millions of you that do celebrate it and make the time to show someone else how special they are. So here are some suitable Red Velvet Cupcakes that tie in nicely with the Valentine's day. The recipe is from the Hummingbird Bakery, and didn't take me too long to knock up. See what you make of it and I wish you a Happy Valentines!

Valentine's Day White Chocolate and Raspberry Bake

So you've decided to surprise your loved one with a cake made just for them? The last thing you want ahead of your Valentine's day of romance is a complicated recipe with 50 different posh ingredients for one cake, right? This one is unknowingly simple to put together. With its uncomplicated nature this Valentine's day cake can see you buying your frozen raspberries ahead of time and storing them in the freezer. and don't feel slighted that they're frozen – they work. Go get some in Sainsbury's. This cake is always 'baked with love' when I make it

Valentine's White Chocolate Raspberry Tray Bake
200g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
200g flour
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp Milk
100g White chocolate chunks
100g Frozen raspberries (defrosted and pat dry)

Preheat the oven to 160c/ Gas mark 4. Grease and line a 28 x 18 x 3cm tray with baking paper and set aside.

Cream together your sugar and softened butter until it is light and fluffy.

Gradually add the beaten egg a little at a time and beat well after each addition.
Gently mix in the flour until it is fully combined and then fold in the remaining ingredients being careful not to break up the fruit.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray and roughly level the surface with the back of a metal spoon.

Bake for 50 minutes in the oven until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool before slicing.

Top 5 Recipes of 2014

I'm wishing you all – especially the 44,000 of you that will click on Lemon Drizzle cake next year
– A Happy New Year! What makes the Lemon cake so special for you? Yes it's delicious and delivers results but I seem to get the most ever clicks on that recipe over everything else? You lot need to look at something else. Here: take a look at these: My year's best bites!

1) I found the holy grail of Brownies: These will be my signature Brownies – the slight crust on the outside and soft and chocolate-y on the inside!

2) I liked this recipe as it was simple to do but elegant at the same time. Great for entertaining without the fuss: Thin Pear Tart

3) Here's one I made (10 times) earlier. This recipe was on repeat for about a month. I did like mine with Hazlenuts: Perfect Flapjacks

4) And I found a plain sponge that 'just works': Nigella's Victoria Sponge

5) Last but not least, I need to hurry up and post these: Pecan Pie Bars. Coming soon, I promise!

5 tips for perfect banana cake

Look on the internet and you're sure to find plenty of recipes for banana cake. It's probably one of the easiest cakes to make with satisfying results. It's pretty much my go-to recipe and was the very first cake featured on this blog back in 2012! So I must have got better at making it since 2012, so here's what makes a perfect recipe for me:

1– Get that butter out of the fridge early enough. Your butter should be nice and soft at room temperature so that it creams well with your sugar. I tend to measure the required amount out first and cube it into smaller pieces so that it doesn't take all day to soften.

2– Speaking of sugar, leave the caster sugar alone. Use soft brown sugar instead. I find it produces more of a rich flavour that goes well with banana.

3– Blend the bananas! If you can blend your bananas instead of mashing with a fork the taste of the banana is spread uniform throughout the cake.

4– Make it pretty. Loaf cakes can look fashionably rustic or just down right dull. Decorate with some walnut pieces to really finish off.

115g unsalted butter, softened
140g soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
230g self-raising flour, sieved
4 ripe bananas
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
handful of walnuts to decorate

24x10x6 cm loaf tin


Pre-heat your oven to 170°C/ 340°F.

Cream together the softened butter and sugar. Whisk your eggs in a separate bowl and then add to the mixture. With a hand blender puree your bananas into a consistent pulp and then stir into the mixture until well combined.

Sieve the self-raising flour into a separate bowl, followed by the cinnamon and nutmeg. Add these dry ingredients to the mixture and combine well.

Spoon your mixture into a pre-greased 24x10x6 cm loaf tin. Once done, scatter your walnut pieces over the top of the mixture. Bake for 40 minutes at 170°C, then reduce the temperature to 150°C and bake for another 35 minutes.

Leave the banana cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve in thick slices.

Result: Yum.

Nigella's Victoria Sponge

It's my little one's Christening in a few weeks and I've been battling with the decision of whether to make the cake for the Christening or not. Part of me cannot be bothered with the added pressure that a cake for a celebration brings and the other side of me feels it will be an absolute sin to have a shop-bought sponge cake sitting on my table, to those who know I bake! What will the people say, when my apple-crumble fans or my cheesecake fans ask if I baked the cake and I say, 'no, Marks & Spencer did'. That's not going to help my street cred' now, is it. But on the other hand, I've got so much other stuff going on, do I really have the time? Not really.

You see, baking the cake is NOT the problem, it's the decoration! It's all that icing and fondant stuff! I've not done that stuff before! I see loads of people posting their cake decorating tutorials online, making it seem so simple, but I know I will find it a faff and just an extra step preventing you from eating the darn thing.

So you know what, I'm going to see how it goes. Take it a step at a time and if my practice runs go well, I will go ahead and make the Christening cake! Take baby steps! It's not like I'm a stranger to Victoria sponge – here's one I baked earlier.

Cheesecake Brownie Bites

 
When I began my baking journey, I would sometimes refer to Food Blogging for Dummies, written by Kelly Senyei. Being a Blogger herself, she also hosts a lovely blog, Just a Taste which I occasionally dip into for recipe inspiration and ideas. Here's one recipe that took my fancy and also went down a treat  :-)

(Being a US recipe, I used my iPhone app to convert the cup size measurements to English metric system on the day).

Mini Very Berry Victoria Sponge cake

After all this tart baking, I decided I needed some cake. But not just any cake, mind you. And I didn't fancy doing a big lahh-dee-dahh cake either. I didn't know exactly what I wanted, I just wanted some cake. Then it hit me. Like a bat out of hell, I saw what I was looking for! Thanks to SupergoldenBakes this recipe hit the spot! Not only was it individually sized and just enough for one person to eat a whole cake themselves without really eating a ‘whole cake', but I got to bake it with an ingredient I'd never used before in a cake ...and with a method unorthodox to my little baking mind!! Oh, it's too much, can't take the excitement!! Instead of mixing with butter, we use cream; and instead of baking in your round cake tin we use a tin can! No?! Say what!? All you need to know is…
it works. End of story.

P.S: This cake was so fab’, the other half loved it! Remember, I told you about him, he hardly eats my type of cakes and biscuits, but scoffed two of them! So that's quite a big deal for me. It must be Christmas.

Nigella Lawson's perfect every time Lemon Drizzle Cake

When life gives you lemons, make Lemon Drizzle Cake! Why? Because this was the first time I have ever made this cake and the recipe was perfect! Hence the title. The most glamorous job a lemon has performed in my kitchen was to star in honey and lemon tea for a cold. Now we're really branching out here with cakes! A welcome change from all these cookies I've been baking too!

This cake is a great choice for a spring day (like today)! So I couldn't skip it. I polished off three slices yesterday with a cup of tea. Then I did the professional thing and got my two 'Cake Testers' (work colleagues, eh hem, eh hem) to sample a slice and the verdict was "very nice, moist but light and not too sweet or lemon-flavoured"   
I think we can trust their verdict. They have also been fans of my banana cake and White Choc-chip cookies   :-)

For something uncomplicated, give this one a go: If you follow this recipe spot on, it will come out perfect for you too! Not much needed in the way of utensils either, just a loaf tin. 

P.S: It helps to have your butter at room temperature too.

Zebra cake

I’ve been so eager to write you this post! After three – yes three, attempts at various recipes for this cake, I finally find one that is the ‘bees-knees’! Or the zebra’s-knees! (Not funny, I know).

Anyway, why three attempts?! The shame!

Well, I’ll tell you. I kept trying the recipe in US format, with “cup” size measurements. So with me struggling to convert them to grams and ounces, lets just say I did a poor job … and the proof was in the pudding! (Ha. Excuse the pun).

When I first saw this cake, it was like cake-love at first sight! And to finally find a metric recipe to bring it perfectly to life: Oh, the joy!

So on a rainy October afternoon in London my version of this two-tone beauty was born. A short-lived life however, as with its moist texture and chocolaty undertones, this zebra cake is truly more than a just pretty face.

Banana Cake

If you have ever baked a few things in your life, you may already have your very own little safety net. Your ‘safe option’ – the one recipe you know will generally turn out right!

Well, mine has to be Banana Cake. It’s a firm staple of mine.

The smell of this cake baking in the oven is just scrumptious and you will understand how ‘moreish’ it becomes. You’ll be forgiven for having more than a couple slices!

And I can’t help but feel so resourceful making it! It generally tastes better with very-ripe bananas. And if you’re anything like my fiancé, (who wont eat a banana once it starts showing one or two brown spots on its skin), you’ll have loads of ‘reject’ bananas to put into that cake! Here's a few helpful pointers to start with, though.