Lemon and Pistachio Cake.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make... Lemon Cake.

Today is of course the 1^st of September and so unfortunately means that our summer, sunshine and days spent lazing on the beach are now over however, Google has assured me that Autumn does not officially begin until September 21^st so, despite the fact that the view out of my window is one of grey clouds and rain and ignoring the fact that I am bundled up in a chunky, over-sized jumper and debating whether to put my electric blanket back on my bed, I will choose to believe that we do still indeed have a few weeks of summer remaining. As such, I thought why not celebrate our remaining few weeks of summer with a few particularly zesty and summery recipes because I know that when Autumn arrives in just a few weeks’ time, it will bring a whole lot of chilly, windy and rainy weather with it and zesty, refreshing summer recipes will be a thing of the past as we tuck into our hearty stews and puddings instead.

For me, nothing is more delightful, vibrant and zesty in the summer than lemons which, just so happen to make some of the most delightful and flavoursome baked goods as well. I have therefore decided to do something a little bit different on the blog for the next few weeks and have created the 'When Life Gives You Lemons, Make...' mini series to share some delicious lemon recipes with you, as I thought that having a theme on the blog for a few weeks would be something new and exciting. So, over the next few weeks I will be making; Lemon and Pistachio Cake, Zesty Lemon Tart and Lemon Curd and Clotted Cream Shortcake and so, hopefully there will be at least one lemon recipe to catch everyone's eye but, if you are a lemon lover like me then I hope you adore them all.

I decided to start with this moist, crumbly lemon and pistachio cake taken from Fay Ripley's, Fay Makes It Easy cookbook and added in my favourite homemade lemon curd. It is the perfect afternoon tea cake, or for me; ‘the whenever I feel like a slice of cake, cake’. Every glorious, soft, sweet bite melts in the mouth and bursts on the tongue with zesty, lemony flavour while, the velvety, tart, river of lemon curd running through the centre is just a heavenly, hidden treasure. Simple and scrumptious, that's what we like to hear. 

Recipe

For the lemon and pistachio cake-

125g shelled pistachios

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g golden caster sugar

150g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

50g ground almonds

2 large eggs

juice of 2 lemons

150g-175g lemon curd

For the lemon drizzle icing-

75g icing sugar

2 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice

For the lemon curd-

Grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of 2 lemons

2 eggs, beaten

90g golden caster sugar

55g unsalted butter

Method

1. Start by preparing the lemon curd.  Sit a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, but don't let the bowl touch the water. Then place the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice in the bowl and whisk together. Now add the butter piece by piece and cook for about 15 minutes, giving it a good whisk from time to time, until the curd has become smooth, glossy and thickened. Allow to cool. You can make this the day before for convenience if you like so just cover with cling film and refrigerate if desired.

2. Next, pre-heat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 20cm round spring form cake tin with greaseproof paper. Prepare the cake mixture. In a food processor grind 100g of the pistachios to crumbs. Tip into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a freestanding mixer. Add the softened butter, sugar, ground almonds and mix until smooth and combined. 

3. Pop in the eggs and mix again until combined. Add 2 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice and mix. Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mix and fold in gently.

4. Scrape half of the mixture into the cake tin and spread to fill the tin and meet the edges. Smooth the mixture out and then top with the lemon curd. Roughly spread the lemon curd over the top but not quite to the edge.

5. With the remainder of the mixture, drop dollops over the top of the lemon curd layer to cover it and gently spread the mixture to the edge of the cake tin, smoothing with the back of a spoon. 

6. Roughly chop the remaining 25g pistachios with a knife and scatter over the cake. Bake for about 45 minutes until brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.

7. For the icing just mix together the icing sugar and 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice, stirring into a paste. Drizzle over the top of the cake, creating a criss-cross pattern and leave for a couple of minutes to set before serving.

P.s. if you do happen to have any lemons remaining after baking this cake, then the whole 'When Life Gives You Lemons, Grab Some Vodka And Make Limoncello' sounds like a great idea too. 

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes.

Yesterday, I made these chocolate coconut cupcakes because I thought they sounded like a really yummy flavour combination and I've got to say I was actually really pleased with how they turned out as they tasted lovely and I kind of just made the recipe up on the spot. I adore Bounty's but, I know they're not everyone's cup of tea. Does anyone else find that when the celebrations tin goes round at Christmas you always get left with half a tin of Bounty's and Milkyway's which, nobody else wants? That's always fine by me though as I think Bounty's are delicious so, while everyone else is fighting over the Galaxy's and Maltesers, I'm happily munching away on a pile of Bounty's. 

Anyway, I'm starting to feel like a bit of a Bounty saleswoman right now with the amount of times I've said Bounty in this post so I will stop now. If you do like the combination of chocolate and coconut though, I hope you enjoy these cupcakes! In a few weeks I am going to trial this recipe again too and add in a chocolate and malibu ganache so, I will let you know how that works out, I'm hoping pretty well as I can't really think of anything more delicious than a cake oozing with chocolate and malibu ganache right now!

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes-

110g butter, room temperature 

220g dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

165g self raising flour, sifted

55g cocoa, sifted

½ tsp. bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp. baking powder

140ml sour cream

For the Coconut Frosting-

520g icing sugar

90ml Coconut milk

115g butter

100g desiccated coconut

Plus extra desiccated coconut and 12 chunks of bounty (chop two bars of bounty into 6 pieces) for decorating.

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c.
2. Place 12 muffin cases into a 12 hole muffin tin.
3. For the chocolate cupcakes, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs and add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and delicately fold into the mixture.
4. Divide the mixture into the 12 cake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sponge springs back when the surface is pressed lightly.

5. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack and allow to cool.

6. Whilst the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the coconut frosting. Beat together the butter and icing sugar. Pour in the coconut milk and beat again until smooth and fairly thick. Stir through the desiccated coconut.

7.  Next, place a fairly deep layer of about 100g of desiccated coconut into a bowl, tray or on to a plate. Cut a small hole in the centre of each cupcake using an apple corer and fill with the coconut frosting. Using a palette knife then spread a layer of the coconut frosting on the top of each cupcake and roll in the tray of desiccated coconut to completely coat the top. 

8. Finally, place a chunk of bounty on the top of each cake and there you have it; twelve delicious chocolate coconut cupcakes to enjoy!

Onion Bhaji Burger and Homemade Chips.

7 years ago my 13 year old self decided to stop eating meat and now I couldn't imagine anything different. I love cooking veggie food and I try my best to make unique tasty dishes which, you often can't get as a vegetarian when you go to restaurants or buy foods in supermarkets as the choice is more limited. Last weekend I decided to make these quirky and yummy onion bhaji burgers which, I served with the Hairy Biker's special homemade chip recipe and rest assured that Si and Dave certainly know what they're doing when it comes to making chips as these chips are delicious. Deep fried chips and deep fried onion bhaji's, so obviously not the healthiest of meals I've ever made. Come to think of it, do I ever really make healthy meals? Nevermind though, a little bit of what you fancy does you good is what my Nan always says so, if you do fancy giving these onion bhaji burgers a go, please do and let me know what you think!

Recipe
Serves 4
For the Onion Bhaji Burgers-
For the Onion Bhajis-
2 red onions, one finely chopped and one thinly sliced
100g gram flour (chickpea flour)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. curry paste (I used Tesco finest Goan Massala paste which was very yummy but, it is a mild coconut flavoured paste so feel free to use a spicier curry paste like rogan josh or madras if you'd prefer a kick)
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
For the Garlic, Mint and Cucumber Raita-
150g natural yoghurt
2 tbsp. chopped mint
1 small garlic clove, crushed
8 slices of cucumber, each cut into 8

Mango Chutney
1 Beef tomato, sliced
Iceberg Lettuce, chopped
White english muffins  

For the Chips-
4 large Maris Piper potatoes
sea salt

Method

1. Start by preparing the chips. Peel the potatoes and cut lengthways into roughly 1cm thick slices. Cut each slice into fairly thick chips and rinse in a colander under plenty of cold water to remove excess starch. (If you have time, it's worth letting the chips soak in a bowl of cold water for several hours, or overnight.) 

2. After soaking, pat the chips dry with kitchen paper. Heat an electric deep-fat fryer to 130C. Using a large, metal, slotted spoon, gently lower half the chips into the hot oil and stir carefully. Fry for ten minutes, or until cooked through but not browned.

3. Remove the chips from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on plenty of kitchen paper. Repeat the process with the remaining chips and set aside. (The chips can be left for several hours at this stage.)

4. Next, mix together the raita ingredients with a little salt and pepper, then spoon into a small bowl. Refrigerate until needed.

5. Prepare the onion bhajis. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the curry paste, chopped chilli and a good sprinkling of salt. Add about 80-100ml of cold water to make a thick batter. Stir in the chopped and sliced onions until they are well coated.

6. When the onion bhaji batter is prepared, heat the oil in the deep-fat fryer to 180C. Add heaped tbsps of onion mix to the pan, a few at a time, and cook for a few mins, turning once, until they are evenly browned and crisp, about 3-4 mins. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the remaining bhajis.

7. Once all of the bhajis are prepared, finish cooking the chips. Increase the temperature of the deep-fat fryer to 190C. With a slotted spoon, lower all the par-cooked chips gently into the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Tip into a serving dish and sprinkle with salt to serve.

8. Finish by assembling the onion bhaji burgers. Halve and lightly toast the english muffins. Spread one half with mango chutney and one half with the raita. Place lettuce and tomato on top of one of the halves of each muffin. Add the onion bhaji (or two bhajis if they are quite small), place the lid on and hold together with a cocktail stick. Serve alongside the chips and enjoy!