No Waste Pavlova with Lemon Curd

Pavlova is a great dessert to impress guests though it's very easy to make and prepare in advance.

So, I often make it for a dinner party.

The problem is what to do with the leftover egg yolks. Custard? Mayonnaise?  

Tada! This recipe solves the problem, as you can make the lemon curd for the pavlova itself.

The tangy lemony flavour works very well with the sweet meringue. It's very refreshing. :)  

Ingredients

For the pavlova base

• 2 tsp cornflour

• 2 tsp white wine vinegar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 4 medium free range eggs, at room temperature
• 200g caster sugar

For the Lemon Curd

• 4 egg yolks

• 130g caster sugar
• 60g unsalted butter

• 2 tsp grated lemon zest 
• 100ml lemon juice (appox. 3 lemons) 

Method for Pavlova base

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C (fan).
2. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment, cutting it to fit. Using a cake tin or plate as a template, draw a 23cm diameter circle on the parchment with a pencil.

3. Place the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla extract in a small bowl and blend with a teaspoon until smooth.
4. Separate the eggs one at a time, taking care not to include any yolks with the whites.
5. As each egg is separated, tip the white into the large mixing bowl.
 Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff enough to hold their shape.
6. Whisk in the sugar a tablespoonful at a time, adding a little of the cornflour mixture each time.
7. When all the sugar and cornflour has been added, the consistency of the mixture will be thick and marshmallowy.

8. Using the spatula, turn the meringue mixture onto the baking sheet. Spread it to the marked line, then swirl with the spatula, making a slight indentation in the centre for the filling.
9. When the Pavlova is ready to bake, turn the temperature down to 120°C and bake it for 1 hour. Then turn the oven off and leave the pavlova base to cool completely in the oven.

Method for Lemon Curd

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until well combined but not frothy.
2. Tip into a heavy-based non-reactive saucepan and add butter, zest and juice.
3. Stirring constantly, bring to simmering point over a medium-high heat (about five minutes).
4. As soon as bubbles appear, remove from heat, still stirring. Allow to cool. Transfer to a sterilised jar and seal if you do not use all the lemon curd for the pavlova.

Pour the Crème fraiche on top of the Pavlova and drizzle the lemon curd.

Very Lemony Muffins

If you love lemon flavour it can't get more lemony than this.

All sweet Valentine Day's treat with a tangy twist. Classic. :) 

Ingredients (makes approx 12 muffins)

For Muffins: 

• 280g/10oz plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 115g/4oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 200ml milk
• 6 tbsp/ 90ml sunflower oil
• juice of one lemon and zest of 2 lemons
• approx 4 tbsp lemon curd (optional)

For the lemon syrup

• Juice of one lemon and a bit of zest
• 80g granulated sugar

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F/Gas Mark 6 and grease muffin tin or place cases in muffin tin.
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder then stir in the caster sugar.
3. Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then beat in the milk, oil and juice of one lemon. Make a well in the dry ingredients’ bowl and pour in the beaten liquid then stir gently until combined but try not to over mix. Then stir through the zest of two lemons (You could leave a little for the lemon syrup to make it extra lemony).
4. Spoon half of the mixture into the prepared muffin tins or cases then add a teaspoon of lemon curd into the centre of each one before spooning the rest of the muffin mixture on top if you would like the muffins to have a lemony creamy surprise. However, the muffins are just lovely without this.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes until they are well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch.
6. While baking the muffins, make the lemon syrup with the juice of one lemon, granulated sugar and lemon zest. Mix the lemon juice and granulated sugar in a small bowl to give a runny consistency.
7. Then transfer to a wire rack. Prick the warm muffins all over with a skewer then pour over the drizzle – the juice will sink in and the sugar will form a lovely, crisp topping

Easy Fruit Cake

This is a very easy fruit cake. Just remember to soak the dried fruit with liquid overnight. I used lemon juice and water, but apple juice is a very nice alternative. The cake is very moist as you would expect.
I made fruit cake in a hurry without soaking the other day and the cake turned out really dry.
So, using "juicy" dried fruit is definitely the key.

Ingredients

• 6 oz low-fat spread (or butter)
• 6 oz caster sugar
• 6 oz self-raising flour (or plain flour + 2tsp baking powder)
• 6 oz dried mixed fruit  
  
• 2 eggs
• zest of 1 lemon 
• juice of 1 lemon
• 30ml water or apple/orange juice

Method

1. Soak the dried fruit and lemon zest with lemon juice and water overnight.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 170 °c  (160 °c fan) 
3. Put low-fat spread (or butter), sugar, flour and eggs in a food processer and mix well.  I often use an electric hand mixer.
4. Gently fold the soaked dried fruit and the juice into the mixture. 
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin.
6. Bake it in the oven for about 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the cake. 
7. When the cake is baked, let it stand for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate. 

something called "Lemon Bars"

I really enjoyed my bargain lemons and there were the last two remaining in the fruit bowl. 

I was wondering if there was any unusual recipe for my last two lemons and came across something called "lemon bars." Sounds very American to me as we may call these "lemon slices" here in Britain. 

Anyway, these are slices of very tangy lemon filling on top of a biscuit base. That's more or less what they are.  Tray-baked lemon tart ... something like that.  I added lemon zest to the filling to get even more lemony flavour. 

Click here for the video for how to make these. 

Ingredients

• 225 g butter, softened 

• 100 g caster sugar

• 250 g plain flour

• 4 eggs

• 300 g caster sugar

• 30 g plain flour

• zest and juice of 2 lemons

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175 C.
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 250g flour and 100g sugar. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in a preheated oven, or until firm and golden. 
4. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 300g sugar and 30g flour. Whisk in the eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
5. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. 
6. Cut into squares when cooled.  

Really Tangy Upside-down Lemon Cake

 

I can't resist a bargain .... A bag of unwaxed lemons was half price ... I had to buy them. 

So here is the incredibly tangy upside-down lemon cake with two whole lemons. 

Yes, truly two whole lemons. I used lemon zest in the cake mixture and sliced the lemons and placed them in the bottom of the cake tin which was layered with caramel sauce. 

I love lemon, but it was seriously tangy.   However, somehow, it was quite morish and I really enjoyed it. Should I recommend you to bake it?     

I'm not so sure ... but if you REALLY like a tangy lemony flavour, go for it. 

Ingredients 

• 200g plain flour
• 150g sugar 
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150ml milk
• 50ml vegetable oil  
• 1 egg
• zest of 2 lemons
• 2 sliced lemons
• for caramel: 3 oz caster sugar + 3 tablespoon water

Method

1. Place the granulated sugar and 6 Tbsp water into a stainless steel pan.
2. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and there are no granules.
3. Remove the spoon and increase the heat. (Do NOT stir! Just watch!)
4. Boil until a golden straw colour and immediately pour into the cake tin. Leave it to cool.
5. Slice the lemons and place them on top of the caramel layer in the bottom of the cake tin.
6. Measure out the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add lemon zest.
7. Measure milk and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg and whisk well.
8. Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture.  Stir until just combined. 
9. Pour the mixture into the cake tin.
10. Bake in a preheated (180 C) oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. 
11. When the cake is baked, leave it for a few minutes then turn it upside-down onto the plate. 

"seriously lemony" lemon Drizzle cupcakes

Lots of people are having nasty colds at this time of year. My very good friend had one and she said she would be off work and staying in bed. Poor thing. :(   Fortunately, I'm ok so far, so I decided to make little cupcakes to cheer her up.   These are "seriously lemony" cupcakes which contain lots of vitamin C which, I hope, helps her to fight the cold.  I posted "lemon drizzle muffins" in this blog before, but these are "lemon drizzle cupcakes" ... yes, different. I understand that muffins and cupcakes are different things. Muffins tend to use a liquid form of fat like vegetable oil whereas cupcakes likely require a solid form of fat like butter or margarine. 

So, here are my cupcakes filled with a lot of lemony moisture. Ahhhh, seriously good. 

Ingredients (8-9 cupcakes) 

• 6 oz plain flour  (or self raising flour)  
  
• 6 oz caster sugar
• 6 oz low-fat spread (or butter if you prefer)
• 2 tsp baking powder (if you use plain flour)
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 Tbsp milk
• zest of 1 lemon

      For the lemon syrup

• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp sugar 

Method

1. Put all ingredients (except the lemon syrup) in a bowl and whisk up with an electric whisk. The mixture should have a dropping consistency. If not add a bit of milk.
2. Pour the mixture into cupcake cases that are placed in the tin.
3. Bake for about 30 minutes in the preheated oven (180c). 
4. When the cupcakes are baked, leave then in the tin for a few minutes and then take them out to cool.
5. When the cupcakes are still slightly warm, make a few holes in each cupcake and pour the lemon syrup over each one. (about 1-2 tsp each) 
6. Let them absorb the lemon syrup. 

Very Yellow 3 egg yolk Cake

I was planning to make some macaroons with 3 egg whites. 
Obviously there would be 3 leftover egg yolks.  I thought to myself, what could I do with the leftover egg yolks?  Making mayonnaise, extra rich pastry, carbonara spaghetti, etc. ... but I wanted to make a cake.  
So I searched to find out if there was any recipe which only uses egg yolk because I didn't want to waste the leftover egg yolks. Then, I came across the cake called "yellow cake" which doesn't require egg white at all. I amended the recipe for my 3 egg yolks and created a recipe for a very yellow lemon cake. 
I also added zest of an orange to the batter to make citrus flavoured cake. Then, I made lemon syrup with fresh lemon juice and sugar, and poured the juice over the cake when it was still warm in the cake tin.  
The resulting cake was unexpectedly good, very moist and yet light and fluffy in texture.  
Ironically, I spectacularly failed to make macaroons. Everything went so wrong and it was absolutely disastrous.  So I ended up wasting the precious ingredients of the macaroons as most of them were badly stuck to the baking paper and I couldn't remove them.
Well, I have to admit that I was defeated by macaroons, but I was rescued by this leftover cake. 
However, I won't give up making macaroons. So watch this space. :)

Ingredients

• 150g  plain flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 85g butter (or low-fat spread)
• 130g sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 120ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 degrees F).
2. In a bowl sift or whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft and creamy (about 1-2 minutes).  Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes).  Add egg yolks, in two batches, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
4. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture (in three additions), and milk (in two additions), beginning and ending with the flour.  
5. Pour the mixture into the cake tin. Bake 22 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake just comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the centre.  

Lemon Iced "Chubby" Fingers

Here is another way of presenting rich sweet dough ... very wet and sticky dough .... 

... and it was quite difficult to shape the dough into "fingers." 

As you see they are more "chubby fingers" than they really should have been, but they tasted good.... 

So, it's all good, isn't it? 

 Ingredients

• 255g strong white flour
• 250g plain flour

• 125ml warm water
• 125m warm milk

• 1 x 7g sachet fact-action dried yeast
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 50g caster sugar
• the zest of 1 lemon or orange
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• 50g butter, cut into cubes
• For icing 
  • 50g icing sugar
  • ½ lemon, juice 

Method

1.     Place the flour, water, milk, yeast, salt, sugar and lemon (or orange) zest into a large bowl and mix. 
Add the beaten egg and butter and continue to mix until the mixture comes together as a sticky dough.

2.    Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for ten minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

3.    Lightly oil a bowl with a little of the vegetable oil.

4.    Place the dough into the bowl and turn it until it is covered in the oil.  Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside in a warm place for one hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

5.    Lightly grease two baking trays.

6.    Knock the dough back to its original size and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Divide the dough into twelve portions, shape them into long oval and place onto the baking trays. Ensure the buns are well spaced. Cover with a tea towel and set aside to prove for 30 minutes.

7.    Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

8.    Bake the buns in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until well risen and golden-brown.  Remove the buns from the oven and set aside to cool on a wire rack.

9.    Meanwhile for the icing, mix the icing sugar and lemon juice (and food colouring if you like) together in a bowl until smooth.

10.  Once the buns have completely cooled, spread the icing on top of them and set aside until the icing has hardened. Decorate with orange/lemon peal.  

Lemony Cupcakes

Believe it or not, these are my first ever attempt at making cupcakes. I had never made them before.
Well... I've been baking a lot of muffins by now. I must admit almost an obsession as I kept baking muffins in the last few months. Yesterday, I ran out of vegetable oil which I believe is an essential ingredient for making muffins. I think vegetable oil gives muffins a very light fluffy texture compared with using butter or margarine. So, no vegetable oil, but I couldn't be bothered rushing to the supermarket just for that.
So, plan B... Ah.. Why not cupcakes? Cupcakes are cakes, not muffins, so they say... They have a different texture altogether. Therefore, cupcakes require different ingredients and a different method. Cupcakes need butter or margarine instead of a liquid form of fat, and more eggs. For making cupcakes, I can use an electric whisk.
Result: The texture is quite dense and very moist. They are cakes after all. They should be like that, shouldn't they?  I love a lemony flavour, so I made a mixture of lemon curd, extra lemon juice and icing sugar for the top of each cupcake.


 Ingredients

• 125 g Self-Raising Flour  (or Plain Flour + 1tsp Baking Powder)
• 125 g Caster Sugar
• 125 g Unsalted Butter or Margarine
• 2 Medium Eggs
• ½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoon Milk 
• Lemony mixture ( Lemon Curd + Icing Sugar + Lemon Juice )

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C  (Electric oven | Electric fan oven 160°C | Gas Mark 4) and place paper cases into a muffin tin.
2. Using an electric whisk, food processor or wooden spoon, beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in well before adding the next. Add the vanilla essence if using.
4. Carefully fold in the flour and baking powder with a spatula.
5. Bake in the oven for 10 - 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, check to see if the cupcakes are ready by inserting a cocktail stick into one of the cupcakes. If it comes out dry then the cupcakes are done. If not, then put them back in the oven for a few minutes more. Don't overcook the cupcakes otherwise they will dry out. Lift the cupcakes out of the muffin tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
6. Make the lemony mixture and pour on each cupcake.

Lemony Golden Syrup Muffins

Golden syrup is a kind of comfort food, isn't it? So, here are the muffins which make you feel "ahhhh". I was looking for a muffin recipe and found one in Nigella.com. Her recipe suggests adding extra golden syrup to the middle of each muffin, but I decided to pour "lemony golden syrup" into each muffin instead. It makes the muffins lovely and moist with a hint of lemon flavour. :)  

Ingredients 

• 200g flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons (90g) golden syrup
• 1 dash of vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 50ml vegetable oil
• 130 ml milk
• golden lemon syrup (golden syrup + lemon juice) 

Method

1.     Pre heat the oven, 200  (190 fan oven)

2.    Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

3.    Mix all the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.

4.    Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and lightly mix.

5.    Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake them for 20 minutes.

6.    When the muffins are baked, poke a few holes into each muffin with a very fine skewer and pour the golden lemon syrup into each muffin.

Serve while still hot, with a cup of tea or coffee. 
They would also be great turned into a pudding with a big dollop of custard.

Lemon Drizzle Muffins

Yes, I did it. :)  I baked 8 Lemon Drizzle Muffins, 8 Mixed Berry Muffins, 8 Double-Chocolate & Banana Muffins and 24 Oat & Fruit Cookies in 2 hours including washing up this morning.  Phew... 

I was preparing for a coffee break party for friends this afternoon. Muffins should be eaten on the day baked, ideally, so I decided to bake them all in the morning of the event. It was fun. :)  

I added some pieces of chocolate to my Banana and Cocoa Muffins to make them more chocolatey. 

Here is my new recipe for Lemon drizzle muffins. I put lemon curd in the middle of each muffin to make them even more lemony. :) 

Ingredients 

• 200g Plain Flour
• 150g Sugar
• 2  tsp Baking Powder
• ¼  tsp Salt
• 100ml Milk 
• 1 tsp Lemon juice
• 50ml Vegetable Oil
• 1 Egg
• Vanilla extract
• 1 tsp Lemon curd for each muffin
• Lemon syrup ( Juice of one lemon + 1 Tbsp Sugar)   

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
2. Measure out flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix the dried ingredients well.
3. Measure milk and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg, lemon juice and vanilla, then whisk well.
4. Add the wet mixture (3) into the dry mixture (2).  Stir until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).        Do NOT over mix!
5. Add the mixture up to halfway in each muffin case, then drop 1 tsp of lemon curd into the centre of each muffin. Gently top up the muffin mixture to cover the lemon curd.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.   
7. Make 6 holes in each muffin with a fine skewer.
8. Make a syrup with lemon juice and sugar and pour over the muffins.

6 oz Cake

When you bake a cake for the first time, obviously you may chose the easiest recipe to follow. The recipe has the basic items that you can find in your cupboard and fridge. Nothing fancy.
Here is my "6 oz Cake" whose main ingredients are fat, flour and sugar in equal measure of 6oz.    Some people call this type of cake "Pound Cake" which I remember I saw in a shop in Japan. But I had no idea what this really meant. Anyway, you can find lots of recipes of this easy to follow basic cake and I have one, too.   My recipe is based on Delia's "all-in-one sponge" which was in my first cookery book I bought in Britain.   My version follows the same principal of "equal amounts of fat, flour and sugar", but I changed other  ingredients over the time I have been baking this cake.
Now, for me, this is the formula which works perfectly. Very light but moist... and low-fat.
This cake is very versatile. You can add dried fruit, chocolate chips, cocoa powder.... etc. to change the flavour.... endless potential. :) 

Ingredients

• 6 oz Low-Fat Spread
• 6 oz Caster Sugar
• 6 oz SR flour (or Plain flour)
• 1 tsp Baking Powder (if you use the Plain flour, increase the BP to 2 tsp)
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Lemon or Orange zest
• 1 Tbsp  Milk
• 1 Tbsp  Lemon Juice

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven 160-180 °c      
2. Put all ingredients in the food processer and mix well. Or put all  ingredients in a bowl and mix with  electric hand mixer.
3. Bake it in the oven for 40-50 minutes
4. When the cake is baked, let it stand for 5 minutes, then turn it out on a plate.

       *Decorate with lemon juice + icing sugar mixture   

Low-Fat Lemon Cake: Lemon drizzle cake

This is a very "lemony" version of my basic low-fat cake recipe. You need to pour lemon syrup after the cake is baked. 1 lemon would be enough, but try 2 if you like a really lemony flavour. :) 

 Ingredients

• 6 oz Castor Sugar 

  

  Baked in a lof tin. decorated with lemon icing
  (Lemon juice and icing sugar)

• 6 oz SR Flour (or plain flour + 2tsp baking powder)
• 6 oz Low-Fat Spread (ignore the note on the package “Not suitable for baking” It seems to work fine.) 
• 2 Eggs  
• The Zest of 1 or 2 Lemons
• 2 Tbsp Milk

 For Lemon Syrup 

• The Juice of 1 or 2 Lemons
• 1 or 2 Tbsp Sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 °c or 160°c for fan oven.
2. Put all ingredients in the food processor, or stand mixer, and mix well. (but not too much) I normally use a hand mixer.
3. Bake in the oven for about 40 to 50 minutes.
4. When the cake is baked, let it stand in the tin for 5 minutes.
5. Make 12 holes with a fine skewer.
6. Make a syrup with lemon juice and sugar and pour over the cake.
7. Wait about 20 minutes for the cake to absorb the syrup and then remove the cake from the tin.
8. Finish with a thin even layer of granulated sugar and a few pieces of lemon zest