Lemon Love

madeira cake

April 30, 2012

This cake is a simple English treat – lemony but not overly so, nor too sweet, and perfect with some thick compote or a dollop of lemon curd on top.

I spent several hours on Friday night baking for the bake sale I mentioned participating in. I made double chocolate chunk cookies with sea salt and lemon-drenched lemon cake – two of my favourites! But of course, since I was packaging it up for other people I didn’t get a chance to steal myself a slice of cake and so I was left hankering for something lemony.

Enter this cake. Yes, lemony, but a completely different beast to that other one. This is much more of a simple everyday cake, jazzed up with some lemon zest and juice and perfect if you’re in the mood for something sweet but not dessert-like or cloying.

I always thought that Madeira cake came from the islands of Madeira, but no!  Evidently, centuries back in the U.K. it was popular to eat a slice of this cake with a glass of Madeira wine. If you have some on hand then please give it a go and report back but personally I’d recommend it with a good cup of tea. Enjoy!

Madeira Cake
adapted from Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

  • 240g/8.25oz softened unsalted butter
  • 200g/7oz caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
  • Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 large eggs
  • 320g/ 2.5 cups all-purpose/plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/330F. Butter a 9- by 5- inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf tin, buttered and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
  3. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and light, and add the lemon zest.
  4. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each egg to prevent the mixture curdling.
  5. Gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice. Transfer batter to prepared pan and  sprinkle with about 2 tbsp sugar. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
  6. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool in the tin before turning out.

lemon poppy seed waffles

February 20, 2012

The last time I posted a waffle recipe here, several of you commented that you were on the fence about purchasing a waffle iron. Well, hopefully this recipe will push you firmly off the fence and into the magical land of waffle love.

These are decidedly dessert-like waffles and yet I ate them for breakfast and strongly vote in favour of you doing the same. I used yoghurt instead of buttermilk and I found it gave them such a soft, rich texture so that it’s not unlike eating a lemon poppy seed muffin, in waffle form. The warmed blueberry sauce (my recipe is here) adds a wonderful decadent touch but if you’re looking for something more simple, spooning some blueberry jam on top would work too.

The lemon flavour is gentle and whilst the blueberry sauce is a bit of a dream, I actually really enjoyed the plain bites where I could feel the textural crunch of the poppy seeds and really taste the lemon zest. If you wanted to make them even more lemony, I’d recommend adding the juice of half a lemon to your wet ingredients. That would really make these zing. Happy waffling!

Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles
adapted from Bon Appetit, September 2000 via Epicurious

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp poppy seeds
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups plain whole yoghurt
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 2 oz) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tbsp grated lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
  • Warm blueberry sauce, to serve
Directions
  1. Combine the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk together.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs, yoghurt, melted butter, and lemon zest to blend. Add the yoghurt mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until just blended. Let the mixture stand and rest for 15 minutes. Great time to do the dishes!
  3. Preheat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon batter onto waffle iron. Cover and cook until golden and cooked through, about 7 minutes. Serve immediately with warm blueberry sauce.

 

Victoria Sponge Meyer Lemon Curd 650

What to do with some of that meyer lemon curd you made last week? Why put it in a cake of course!

I spent many a sneaky moment last week with my head buried in the fridge swiping spoonfuls of lemon curd straight from the jar. It’s that good, I needed no vehicle other than my trusty spoon.

But as delicious an activity as that was, I thought I might should find a more imaginative way to consume the second jar tucked away in my fridge. And so…cake!

This is a fun and delicious twist on the classic Victoria sponge cake (which is sandwiched with cream and jam). Instead of adding vanilla to the batter, I used a teaspoon of lemon zest although I don’t think the vanilla would go amiss now that I think of it. You could also use a teaspoon of lemon extract though honestly, the lemon curd provides all the tangy zing you need.

Victoria Sponge with Lemon Curd 650

Victoria Sponge Cake with Lemon Curd

Ingredients

  • knob of butter, melted
  • 1 cup (8oz) butter, softened
  • 1 cup (8oz) sugar
  • 4 large free-range eggs
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 cup (8oz) all-purpose flour, sifted (you may need a bit extra)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Lemon curd, for the filling
  • Powdered sugar, to dust

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Gently heat the knob of butter in a pan and brush two 8 inch cake tins with the melted butter. Line the bottom of the two cake tins with a circle of greaseproof paper.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy, using an electric whisk or a wooden spoon. Beat well to ensure you get lots of air into the mixture.
  3. Beat in the eggs one at a time. You want to avoid the mixture curdling, so that it stays airy. If it does curdle, add a tbsp of flour. Add the lemon zest and stir gently to combine.
  4. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a large metal spoon (this will cut into the mixture better than a wooden spoon). Be careful not to over-mix it. Pour the mixture equally between the two cake tins and level.
  5. Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes are well-risen, spring back when pressed gently with a finger and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack and let cool completely, about an hour.
  6. Spread a thick layer of lemon curd on top of one of the cakes and sandwich the other on top. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.