lime and blueberry cake

i’ve been craving cake, smothered with rich buttercream icing, for several weeks now. it was triggered when i was watching lorraine pascale’s baking made easy, a new(ish) cookery programme on bbc2. she made several cakes which involved buttercream and the low level thoughts that i always have along the lines of "cake + icing = joy" were triggered, and have been growing as i watched each episode.

i’ve really enjoyed the series – it has an old fashioned feel, where the recipes are quite normal rather than being obsessed with shortcuts at the expense of a decent result. it's an advocate of the view that if you put in a bit of time and effort, you’ll be rewarded. the recipes are solid and, having seen online various accounts of how people have got on when making them, reliable.  

the recipe i chose was her blueberry and lime drizzle cake. it should have had a glaze icing made from icing sugar and lime juice, but i wanted something richer and the buttercream worked well. it’s a lovely cake, really flavoursome and moist (keep it in the fridge) and would be easy to adapt for different fruit combinations.

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tea cake

 

peanut butter flapjacks have been keeping me on the new year fit-&-healthy straight-&-narrow track of moderation and healthy snacks. however, i am in need of a change. a friend made a tea cake the other week, using this recipe, which looked wonderful, so i decided to give it a  try.

the fruit (i just used raisins) is soaked in tea (i used a mix of earl grey with rose and black tea with orange blossom which made it slightly perfumed) and held together by a lightly spiced cake mix. i deviated from the original recipe with the addition of lemon zest and candied peel.

the result is delicious – a not-too-sweet loaf which tastes delicious (the citrus tang is lovely) and is fairly healthy. i sliced and wrapped the cooled loaf, ready for adding to daily packed lunches.

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darkest, lightest chocolate cake

 

when thinking about which chocolate cake to serve with my christmas vodka, i knew i needed something dark and not very sweet. this darkest chocolate cake is a very grown up cake, with its use of dark muscovado sugar and cocoa powder which create a slightly treacley, not too sweet, chocolate flavour. it is also wonderfully light and moist which makes it the perfect cake to serve as a dessert, when people might already be filling a bit full.

i’ve made this cake three times in the past two weeks – twice to serve with the vodka as a pudding and once to share with colleagues at work (sadly no vodka for them). each time i’ve been asked for the recipe, which is an indicator of its deliciousness and flexibility – it’s great, served with cream and vodka after a meal, or on its own (spinkled with a bit of edible glitter to liven it up!) with a mid-morning cup of tea. nice and easy to make too.

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moist nectarine and plum cake

nigel slater’s moist plum cake remains a firm favourite of mine, not least becase of its adaptability. i’ve blogged about a cherry and almond version (this post includes the recipe) and a blackberry and apple version. this week i made a plum and nectarine version.

lemon and prosecco cake

 

cooking for others is one of the things i love doing most. thinking about what flavours people like and how to create an experience that makes people feel loved and indulged is an absolute favourite thing for me to do.

last week we had friends round – some who i see all the time, some very rarely and some who i barely know – and everything worked so well. 

pudding was my favourite part of the meal – this lemon and prosecco cake which i served with stewed rhubarb and crème fraiche. it’s made with prosecco which instantly makes it feel celebratory and gives it an incredibly light texture. which is just as well, given what else we ate – more of which later…

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