Sunday 30 June 2013

This month i'm loving - summery drinks

Far from the wintry New Zealand, in summery, sunny England. I've been loving summery drinks to help me through the hot days!



I made some elderflower cordial, which is very refreshing. Made with the late elderflower this year, topped up with ice cold water or fizzy water. Perfect on a summers picnic with plenty of sunshine (see later post for recipe).



Or perhaps pink lemonade....
                                               Perfect for the kids while the adults are enjoying champagne. Best served ice cold, with strawberries to the side, sunshine and a good dose of Wimbledon!

Try serving in plastic champagne glasses for the kids(so they can feel more grown up).



Planning a party ?

these glass markers from vacu vin are are fun way to keep an eye on your glass.with fun shapes and bright colours and not as annoying as something on the rim.

not sponsored.

Lemon curd

Well, what can i say.... My favourite food ever! I love lemons, so this is perfect. Lemony, soft and definitely delicious.

Perfect on pancakes with cream, or try it inside a cake mixture and then on top for a lemony twist to cupcakes or for cake, pop this in and then put lemon drizzle on top.







Ingredients

4 unwaxed lemons
zest and juice200g/7oz unrefined caster sugar
100g/3½oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3 free-range eggs, plus 1 free-range egg yolk
  1. Put the lemon zest and juice, the sugar and the butter into a heatproof bowl.
  2. Sit the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Stir the mixture every now and again until all of the butter has melted.
  3. Lightly whisk the eggs and egg yolk and stir them into the lemon mixture.
  4. Whisk until all of the ingredients are well combined, then leave to cook for 10-13 minutes, stirring every now and again, until the mixture is creamy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  5. Remove the lemon curd from the heat and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally as it cools.
  6. Once cooled, spoon the lemon curd into sterilised jars and seal. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Thursday 20 June 2013

Coffee cake (without walnuts)

Well if you like coffee(like my dad and my mum) then you will defiantly like this divine cake. I prefer this cake to most others I've tasted as this one doesn't contain walnuts, which i find take away the "coffeeness" from the cake.Which i personally love!

For this recipe i kept the amount of coffee in the sponge the same, but i added more to the icing in attempt to put my sisters off, as they don't they coffee that much(it didn't work *_*).

* warning try to eat this at lunch time, to avoid being kept awake if you add more coffee.


And yes my most risky cake yet, a four layered one. ahhhhhhhhhhh scary. well not really all i did was bake two sponges and then cut them in half. well...  slightly wonky half's.






Ingredients

225g very soft butter, plus more for the tins
225g light muscovado sugar or caster sugar (i did half and half)
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
4 level tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water

For the coffee icing
175g soft butter
350g icing sugar
4 level tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water

1.Preheat the oven to 180C,Gas 4.
2.Butter and line two cake tins.
3.beat butter and sugar together
4.beat in eggs one at a time
5.fold in flour and baking powder.
6.Stir in the dissolved coffee until thoroughly blended.(taste, if needed add more coffee)
7. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins.
8.pop in the oven for about 25–30 minutes until golden brown and spongy.

9.For the icing, beat the butter and sugar together bowl, until smooth. 
10.Beat in the dissolved coffee (taste, add more if needed).
11. When cold (*optional* slice each cake horizontally in half)
12. ice each layer then the top (if you want to go round the sides you may want to double the icing).

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Rhubarb and lemon jelly cake

as promised, my favourite spring time dessert.With a crisp base, soft topping of rhubarb and lemon jelly. desserts don't get more spring like.



Preferably made with lemon jelly crystals but can't seem to find them in the UK,so i use a lemon jelly pack.
Homegrown rhubarb is obviously the best, choose bright red stalks for the best colour.

i used plain digestive biscuits for the base but you could use any plain biscuits. If you like a crisper base make it 1 -2 hours before you need it. left overnight the base isn't as crispy.

                                  








Ingredients

3 rhubarb stalks
70g butter
1/2 pack of 135g lemon jelly
150g biscuits

1. crush biscuits and pour in melted butter
2. boil rhubarb until soft and broken down
3. let the rhubarb cool slightly before adding jelly
4. pour onto base
5. pop into the fridge to set

6. serve with cream