This is a public service announcement – anyone with who featured the words ‘diet’ or ‘health’ in their 2015 new years resolutions should close this window now. You have been warned.
Told you so.
I love the way that sweets are like fashion. There are staples that we rely on year in and year out. Those desserts that you know are delicious and will never let you down. Your little black dresses and chocolate cakes. Then you have your pretty young things which aren’t quite as chic and timeless but seem to stay popular amongst those who are young at heart. A little like ballerina skirts and desserts in cocktail glasses. And then you have your trends. Split into two categories, the first are those that are definitely fun while they last but often don’t suit the general population and tend to elicit a ‘what was I thinking?’ grimace upon reflection. Think hair mascara, bucket hats, most of the fashion of the 90s, neon and netting. Then there are some trends which, when done properly are possibly the best thing to have ever happened – ombre hair, high waisted shorts and the return of the peplum.
Remember the hit trends in sweets over the past decade? Ridiculously cute and well decorated cupcakes then light and much easier to eat macarons. These delicate desserts gave way to the oily but decadent frankensweet, the cronut (love child of the croissant and the donut. Where would this craziness end?
Oh baby. I had a slice of delicious lemon drizzle cake from Flour and Stone ages ago and became so obsessed with making it at home that I must have gone through half a dozen recipes before I got to one that I was happy with. Its like sunshine in a cake. This is not at all a recreation but just a damn good lemon cake which I think should be a staple in any baker’s repertoire. I mean, look at it…
Delicious, moist cake with a super tangy, sugary icing. As if your mouth isn’t watering just thinking about making this. P.s. like how arty I am now? With that little lemon in the shot as well as the cake? Yeah, im a real pro.
Ive re-discovered the Nigella Lawson cookbook How To Be A Domestic Goddess and have a few more recipes coming from her in blog posts to come. And yes, they will come. Now that i’m on holidays and have finished a super stressful (but very rewarding) year, I have lots of time for blogging. Fourth post this month peeps! Yeah!
The original recipe just uses normal flour but its such a small percentage of the whole thing that I swapped it with gluten free flour. That way I could make it for my friend’s birthday. I’m still a little wary of the ability of gluten free flour to properly emulate non-gf flour so i’m not quite game to use it in large quantities say for cookie dough or the like. Baby steps for me.
As you can see, the cake is super dense so not for the faint of heart. But, for all its density it is wonderfully moist and the tangy icing sets it off beautifully. The best thing about this is that you can adjust the lemon flavour to your liking just by tweaking how much zest and juice you add. Although, I tend to think the more lemon the better. But hey, do what you like! I’m so glad that I re-discovered this baby as there had definitely been a bit of a citrus drought in the old Casa KB and this cake set us back in balance. And a slice counts as a serve of fruit doesn’t it?
So my lovelies, what old favourite have you re-discovered recently?
Hello Sunshine Lemon Cake (adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Damp Lemon and Almond Cake)
Cake Ingredients
225g soft unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
50g plain gluten free flour
225g ground almonds
zest and juice of 2 lemons
Lemon Icing Ingredients
2 cups icing sugar
1 scant tbsp warm water
lemon juice to taste
Cake Method
1. Cream butter and sugar until super super pale
2. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a quarter of the flour after each addition
3. When everything is incorporated, gently stir in the ground almonds and lemon zest and juice
4. Pour mixture into a 20cm round cake tin and bake for roughly an hour at 180 degrees celsius (check after about 40 mins and if the cake is browning too quickly, cover with alfoil)
5. Boom! Moist and delicious cake. Ready for icing when its cooled.
Icing Method
1. Sift icing sugar into a bowl
2. Stir in lemon juice
3. Add the water in small additions until icing had reached desired consistency. You want it thick and lava-like rather than runny. That way it will coat the top of the cake but give you a nice thick layer of zingy icing.
Hey there kids! This is just a quick post to let you all know that i’m still alive. And eating gelato burgers.
Yes, you heard that right.
Gelato Burgers.
Hubs and I heard about Cremeria De Luca in Five Dock through Broadsheet and seriously, going there was a no brainer. Gelato and burgers are basically two of the best things ever. This place is super cute and friendly and with a limited menu, its easy to choose what you want. It was refreshing to see that the variety of flavours was in single digits with some pleasant surprises amongst old favourites. I can safely say that this summer will be devoted to attempting to re-create the delicious cinnamon flavoured gelato that I had on my burger! How is it that cinnamon gelato has not yet become a thing???
God I love cake. I love relaxing on the couch eating cake. I love eating cake in summer. I love eating cake while wearing comfy coral jeans. Show me a person who doesn’t like cake, and i’ll show you a really sad person. The saddest person in the world. But, I would like to think that even the most dedicated cake hater might declare an amnesty on this little baby. Its a moist pineapple and coconut cake. Moist and crumbly and sweet. What could be wrong with that?
