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?!

Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream

Home made ice cream is the yummiest of all summer treats but unfortunately one of the rarest. When I was passed down an old ice cream maker from my boyfriend's Gran, I couldn't wait to give it a go. Having never made ice cream before I wanted to start with a classic custard base Vanilla Ice Cream and I wasn't disappointed. At one point I noticed my custard start to curdle but with a blend of milk and cornflour I managed to save the day. Once enough freezing time had passed I served up a generous scoop into a chocolate wafer cone, drizzled with syrup and topped with sprinkles. Irresistible!