A Weekend of Baking...Lemons, Lemons and more Lemons!

It seems like a long time since I have been in the kitchen as I have been on holiday, so I thought I'd share a few baking exploits centered around lovely lemons.

Since I made the Lemon cake for the 50th birthday, my mum has been keen on having her own slice, so for her birthday, I made another lemon cake and this time I decided to leave it plain with a simple filling of buttercream and lemon curd. Yet here is the surprise, I made the lemon curd entirely from scratch! I was a little nervous at first, having never made it before, but following a recipe from Delia Smith, I was delighted with the results! The curd was thick and creamy with tiny flecks of lemon rind, and best of all, a deliciously fresh and pungent lemony taste, just what you want from your very own homemade curd.

I baked the cake and it came out just as delicious as before, pricked all over with a skewer before pouring the lemon juice and sugar mixture over the top and allowing it to sink in. I would definitely recommend you leave it overnight to make sure that all of the liquid has been absorbed before you remove it from the tin.

I then filled the cake with a little vanilla buttercream and dollops of the fresh lemon curd, a perfect accompaniment to the rich and juicy lemon sponge.

Tip: When using a mixer, make sure you scrape the sides every few minutes to make sure you don't have any large buttery lumps. This will give your cake a stodgy and undercooked middle and quite a soggy bottom, and nobody wants that!

We also had a Macmillan Coffee Morning at work, and I decided to use my lemon curd agin, making Lemon Curd and Almond buttons (A shortbread style biscuit with a hidden centre of gooey lemon curd) and Lemon Curd and B
lueberry muffins (a rich and creamy muffin made with vanilla yoghurt and a dollop of lemon curd on top). I made both in the evening after work, and in my slightly tired state I forgot to take any photos, but suffice it to say, they were both absolutely delicious and raised some money for an excellent cause.