Zingy Lemon Meringue Pie

After receiving a beautiful new cake stand from my sister I had to make something scrummy to show it off. I had been playing with the idea of tackling pastry but for some reason I've always been intimidated by it. I found a recipe for sweet pastry that seemed straight forward enough for a first attempt. I scoured the cupboards and decided I had all the ingredients for a Lemon Meringue Pie. Making the pastry couldn't have been easier. I just wish I didn't have to wait around while the dough chilled. I made a lovely, zesty lemon curd and some meringue for the topping. I played with the meringue to create swirly peaks of  on top. When it came out of the oven I waited until cool before having some with a cup of tea. It was delicious! Not too sweet but sweet enough and I was delighted with the even bake on the base! 

Lemon Drizzle Loaf

Lemon Drizzle Cake is a favourite with my fiancé’s Gran. I wanted to give it a go and see how I got on. I decided to make a loaf instead of a tray bake because I think it looks more appealing and to make it extra zingy I added extra lemon juice and zest to the batter. While the loaf baked for the best part of an hour, I made the lemon syrup for drizzling over when it’s still warm and a lemon icing for aesthetic purposes on the finished cake. To me, this lemon drizzle loaf looks really appealing. I couldn’t wait to have a slice! I loved this cake so much; I wanted to make another one for when I visited my parents. For my second attempt, I added poppy seeds to the sponge to add a little bit of sophistication. It went down a treat! 

Five Fabulous Fudges!

On my quest to find great home-made fudge, I found another recipe I wanted to try. This time I had help from Hannah, my soon to be Sister in law. We rummaged around the baking cupboards and put together five flavour combinations – dark chocolate and pistachio, marshmallow and crunchie, cranberry and macadamia, maple pecan and peanut butter. 

Once the flavours were decided we got on with making the basic fudge. It took a while for the mix to reach the correct temperature on the sugar thermometer but when it finally got there we divided the mix into separate bowls with the various additions and poured into mini traybake foils. After a couple hours of cooling time we eagerly went to check out our results. We cut up the different fudge bars and demolished our samples. The flavour was excellent but there seemed to be a downside. The fudge was very soft; I think this was down to under beating the mixture. I will definitely make this recipe again, just to perfect it, you know?!

Coffee Walnut Cake

Recently my cravings for cake have led me to try out different recipes. Some I wouldn’t necessarily have tried. This week’s cake was to be a Coffee Walnut cake. I love coffee so what was there to wait for? When I got to the stage where you add the walnuts to the sponge batter, I realised I didn’t have any. I decided to substitute with some leftover pecans. The texture of the cake was light, airy and moist. I sandwiched the two layers together with a coffee butter cream and poured over a rich coffee glaze icing and sprinkled with chopped pecans. So evidently I used too much icing but I thought it looked beautiful and rustic, even if it was a little messy. This cake went down well with the fiancé’s family. 

Carrot Cake

When I decided to go home for the weekend, I wanted to make something special for my Mum. For some reason Carrot Cake jumped out as the obvious choice. Having never made a Carrot Cake before I was excited about the challenge and wanted it to be outstanding. It took a while for me to pick the recipe I wanted to use but eventually settled on one and added a few of my own tweaks. Instead of one large sheet cake I wanted a towering layer cake, generously iced with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting. The cake itself was moist and flavourful which balanced out the sweetness of the frosting. I like the 'naked' looking cakes so I left the sides bare, I only wish I had added more frosting to the top. I finished by decorating with Walnut halves and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Had I used Pecans in the recipe I would have decorated with them instead. I enjoyed a wedge of this scrummy cake with a cup of tea!  I was really happy with how my carrot cake turned out and the feedback from my family made it extra special. I will definitely be making this again!

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Decadent Chocolate Fudge Cake, made for a good friends, friend's birthday. This is a triple layer chocolate sponge cake, layered and coated in chocolate fudge icing, topped with giant chocolate buttons to give that little extra bite. I really love the look of the buttons on top with the whimsical red ribbon which finishes the cake beautifully. I was a little sad to give this cake away because, I believe it's the best chocolate cake I've ever made, and I would have loved to cut it open. I'm sure it will be a hit with the birthday boy and all those celebrating!

Lemon Cupcakes

Looking for a zingy teatime delicacy? Then treat yourself to some Zesty Lemon Cupcakes. A fluffy lemon sponge filled with a lemon curd core and topped with refreshingly lemon buttercream icing! What a lovely match for your afternoon tea, They're so light, you could easily be tempted to have seconds. I sprinkled them with edible glitter (not really seen in the picture due to my poor photography skills) to keep them looking effortless and chic.