Mini Caramel Apple Pies

I don't own a car.  I do have a license but have never been particularly fond of driving.  Being the anxious person that I am I am constantly worried that something will go wrong.  I also suck at multi-tasking so trying to drive panics me because I start to get confused.  The Hubby, on the other hand, is in the process of obtaining his license.  He is a good driver but hasn't managed to pass his test yet.  We've also never really needed a car.  It's an expense we can do without and it's easy for us to get about most places.  Of course, there are the odd times when a car would be useful, such as getting to and from work, going on trips to Ikea or for doing the weekly food shop.  It's not possible for us to carry our weekly food supplies back from the supermarket.  There is just a bit too much for the distance we have to travel (about a half hour walk).  But luckily we live in the modern age where you can get your food delivered right to your door.  

Why am I telling you this?  Well, when you shop online, you have to pick what you want and specify a quantity.  We have our favourites list which makes buying our regular groceries nice and simple.  However, we occasionally crave something different and therefore have to track it down with the search engine.  Last week, the Hubby put through the order for the shop.  I only went in to reschedule the delivery since we ended up going out on the Sunday to see The Force Awakens (which was really god, by the way).  His craving this week was for apples.  We get apples every week, but they're for me and they're red.  He doesn't really like red.  He prefers the tarter, green kind.  So he ordered 5.  5 bags that is.  Neither of us was aware until the shopping was delivered and we received a carrier bag of 5 bags of Granny Smiths - around 25 apples.  Well, I just found it funny to be honest.  The Hubby was confused and embarrassed.  I said it was fine because now we knew what I would be baking with next!

So that's how we ended up here.  I had a lot of apples and needed to make something with them.  I decided I wanted to do something with pastry because it's one of those areas I'm still a bit lacking in.  Besides, apples in pastry are quite a classic and much loved dessert.  After perusing ideas on Pinterest, I settled on making mini apple pies, with the added decadence of caramel.  If I'd had any rock or sea salt kicking about I might have turned that into salted caramel but alas, not this time.  Maybe in the future.

I ended up making a couple of tweaks due to not having everything I needed.  Namely, I used just butter, rather than butter and shortening.  I had shortening in the fridge but it was past the use by date and I couldn't decide if it had gone rancid or not since I didn't know what that would look or smell like.  I decided not to risk it in the end.  I also used orange juice concentrate in place of lemon juice because I had used up all my lemons.  The change of juice didn't seem to affect things.  As for the pastry, I knew not using the shortening would change the texture somewhat and it wouldn't be as flaky but what you get with just butter is yummy anyway.

The tedious part of this was coring, peeling and chopping all the apples.  I think I used...about 7 apples.  That and making the lattice tops.  Otherwise this was a reasonably nice recipe to do.  Other than initially forgetting to give the pies an egg wash...  I took my pies to the regular Wednesday night tea with the in-laws (along with some home-made bread, but that's for another day).  They were a big hit (and go well with ice cream) and I ended up leaving most of them there.  The Hubby said to take 1 back for him and is now regretting that because he's eaten it and doesn't have any more!

There are still two bags of apples sitting in the kitchen but that's a more reasonable amount for the Hubby to munch his way through.  Anyway, that wraps up the last post of 2015.  I'm aiming to get back into baking more regularly next year as I only work part-time just now.  I acquired some new cook books I am looking forward to trying out!  So Happy Hogmanay everyone!  See you in 2016!   

Recipe - adapted from Mama's Gotta Bake

Makes about 9 muffin-sized pies

Pastry:

•  340g/12oz plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 200g/7oz butter (or 115g/4oz butter plus 85g/3oz vegetable shortening)
• 5-6 tbsp ice water

Filling: 

• 850g/1lb14oz tart apples (like Granny Smith)
• 70g/2.5oz brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 60g/2oz caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2.5 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp orange juice 
• 9 tbsp Carnation caramel
• 1 beaten egg + 1 tbsp water

1. Start by making the pastry.  Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.
2. Add the butter (or butter and shortening) quickly and rub into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add 2-3 tbsp of the water at a time and mix together with a fork to get a smooth dough.  
4. Tip dough out onto a floured surface and give it a quick knead before shaping it into a ball.
5. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
6. Meanwhile, make the filling.  Peel and core the apples and cut into pieces about 0.5cm/0.25inch thick.  They need to be able to fit inside the cups of the muffin trays.
7. Put the chopped apples in a large saucepan with the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornflour and salt and mix together.  
8. Put the lid on the saucepan and cook the apples over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 18 minutes.  By this point the apples should be nice and tender.
9. Remove the lid and cook for another 5 minutes until the liquid has thickened.  Then remove from the heat and stir in the orange juice.  Allow to cool to room temperature.
10. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7 and grease a 12 cavity muffin tin (I used silicone as it made getting the pies out much easier).
11. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 0.5cm/0.25inches.  Cut out circles of dough that are slightly bigger than the cavities in the muffin tins (I used a ramekin as a template) and gently fit them inside.  Make sure you have about  1/3 of the dough leftover for the tops.
12. Fill each pie base with a generous helping of the apple filling (it shrinks as it cooks) and top with a tablespoon of caramel.
13. Roll out some of the remaining dough so it is wide enough to make two pie tops and cut into strips.  Lay out three strips horizontally on the floured surface then cut three more strips in half.  Weave the cut strips with the uncut strips then cut out circles that are just the same size as the muffin cavities.
14. Fit the woven tops over the top of the pies.  Repeat until you have made enough lattice tops for each pie.
15. Press the edges of the tops down against the base with a fork then use a pastry brush to coat the tops with the beaten egg.  Sprinkle with sugar.
16. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden and the mixture inside is bubbling.
17. Allow to rest in the tins for 5-10 minutes and then carefully remove (use a knife to run around the edges of the pies and use a spoon or fish slice to scoop pie out) and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Red, White and Blue Mini Panettones

Hello all, I hope you have had a nice Christmas or a general happy holidays if that's not your thing.  Mine was quite lovely except for the fact that I have been ill since I came off from school!  I was bed-ridden for 3 days, where I did nothing but watch movies on Netflix and sleep.  The Hubby did a wonderful job taking care of me (bringing me food and drinks and sitting with me for a bit) and has ended up being sick himself for his troubles.  It doesn't quite seem to be the same thing: he's really stuffed up whereas I was hurting and suffering an annoying and painful cough.  I've still got the latter.  Curse my weak lungs and the sensitivity to the weather.  It's worse this year though as it is far too easy for me to get out of breath.  I was almost done in by a walk to the train station yesterday (which is 3 minutes away).  

But enough about that.  As I was saying, my Christmas has been lovely.  There were some lovely presents under my  beautiful (if I say so myself since I made all the decorations) Christmas tree and it was nice having dinner with the Dunion side of the Hubby's family, as well as skyping mine.  I even spent a chunk of the day making mince pies because the mother-in-law had requested them.  I made a batch for taking to Christmas dinner and then sent another batch along to Falkirk with the in-laws on Boxing Day when they visited the McGinlay side of the family.  The Hubby and I didn't go.  We took the day to recover.

Now with the Dunion side of the family, one of the siblings hosts Christmas Dinner.  This year it was the Hubby's Aunt Linda.  We all go for our tea and then we all exchange presents with each other.  We didn't go last year since we were down in England visiting my family.  I try and make my presents for extended family.  The year before last it was orange shortbread.  This year, I made panettone since the Dunion side has Italian roots.

I'll say right off the bat, this is not a proper, traditional panettone.  You can probably see that from the photos since they are quite tall and skinny panettone and baked in tin cans.  True panettone would also require a sourdough starter, which I do not have the patience to cultivate or maintain, and several days for proving.  Admittedly, I did have that latter bit but it was slightly scuppered by the being ill thing.  Hence they are not as beautifully fluffy as a real panettone should be.  Finally, I'm not using the most traditional of ingredients.  No mixed fruit or Fiori di Sicilia.  This has cranberries, blueberries, white chocolate and candied peel.  Hence the red, white and blue in the title.  That being said, these are still very yummy and went down well as gifts.

I wanted the panettone to be as fresh as possible so I made them on Christmas Eve.  I just about managed to stay upright whilst doing it.  It gave me a fair bit of trouble.  The dough is ridiculously sticky for a start.  However, I may have added slightly more egg that I was meant to because a bag of sugar fell out the cupboard and upended my jug of beaten egg onto the floor.  There was still some left and I just mixed up 3 new eggs.  The recipe said it is meant to be sticky, but I'm also supposed to be able to knead it into a ball, which was a bit of a hassle and very messy.   It also did not want to rise so I was constantly worried that I had killed the yeast.  I ended up leaving it whilst we went for Christmas Eve tea and board games with the Hubby's parents, sister and sister's boyfriend.  I was praying they had risen by the time I got back so I could cook them before bed.  Otherwise I was going to have to start over again.  I stole eggs from my mother-in-law's kitchen just in case.   Thankfully though, I came home and they had risen.  I'd put them in the oven since I figured it would be a bit warmer in there and that seemed to do the trick.  Baking took forever as I was wanting that golden brown finish on the top and it was pretty late by the time I finally got to go to bed but the blasted things were done.  I would just need to spruce them up and package them the next morning, as well as grab a few photos (what a shame most of them blurred because I forgot to correct the ISO...).

Recipe - adapted from Good Food: Delicious Gifts

Makes 5 


There is a lot of waiting around and a lot of rising to be done with these.  At the least add in 2.5 hours for rising time but may take longer if it is cold.  Mine did.  Along with the prep and cooking time, you're looking at at least 4 hours from start to finish.

Panettone:

•  500g/1lb 2oz plain flour
• 14g/0.5oz easy blend, dried yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 100g/3.5oz golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200ml/7fl.oz milk
• 200g/7oz butter
• 75g/3oz dried cranberries
• 75g/3oz dried blueberries
• 100g/3.5oz white chocolate chips
• 100g/3.5oz mixed candied peel

To finish:

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour, yeast and salt together briefly before adding the sugar and mixing again.
2. Heat the milk in a saucepan until it is hand hot.
3. Beat the eggs with vanilla extract and add to the dry ingredients along with the warmed milk.  Mix to make a soft, sticky dough.
4. Work the dough for a few minutes in the mixer then remove the hook and allow to rest until it has doubled in size (about 1 hour but maybe more if it is cold).
5. Put the hook back in, add the butter to the dough in small pieces and mix to incorporate.  Leave to rise for another hour.
6. Add the cranberries, blueberries, white chocolate chips and mixed peel to the dough and mix in until just incorporated.
7. Grease the bottom of 5 clean 400g soup tins and add a circle of baking parchment.  Cut a strip of baking parchment that is just over double the height of the tin.  Fold in half and place inside the tin to form a collar.  Make sure the parchment sticks out over the top of the tin.
8. Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and knead quickly into a ball (the dough is very sticky so this is quite tricky and messy, I recommend using a dough cutter to help).  Divide the ball into 5 pieces and put one in each of the tins.  Leave to rise for about 30 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
10. Beat the egg and brush over the tops of the panettones and sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
11. Bake for about 50 minutes or until the panettones are a deep golden colour.  
12. Cool in the tins on a wire rack.  You should then be able to remove the parchment collar and decorate your tins with a bit of wrapping paper to present as a gift.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Matcha Tea Trees for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

Despite the lack of activity this year I knew I wasn't going to miss out on the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  I had so much fun doing it last year that as soon as applications opened, I signed up. The fact it is for charity is just a bonus really.

"The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap brings together food bloggers from around the world in celebration of all things scrumptious. The premise is this: sign up. Receive the addresses of three other food bloggers. Send each of them one dozen delicious homemade cookies. Receive three different boxes of scrumptious cookies from other bloggers. Eat them all yourself (or, you know, share. If you want. No judgement either way.) Post your cookie recipe on your blog. See everyone else’s cookie recipes. Salivate. Get lots of great ideas for next year’s cookie swap. Rinse and repeat.

This year we are again excited to be partnering with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against paediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. By participating in this cookie swap you are not only contributing to the food blogger community, but also supporting a great cause."

If you are interested in taking part next year you can sign up to be notified when next year's cookie swap opens.

Now (some of) you know me: I like to get inventive for this.  I also like to get festive.  Hence why last year was a take on a classic Christmas flavour (gingerbread) mixed with a little extra of what reminded me of the start of the season (cola).  This year was going to be no different.  I wanted something different from the usual chocolate chip, shortbread or gingerbread (not that I would complain if I received any of those myself).  I cannot remember what got me on to looking at matcha tea as an ingredient but once I had it I wondered about adding more Christmassy ingredients to it, namely cranberries and white chocolate (a popular combination with the Hubby).  And since matcha is green, I thought it would be so cute to make them look like Christmas trees!

The main research for this went into finding a recipe that used matcha and produced a cookie that would hold it's shape by baking.  Of course, I started early in case this bizarre idea turned out to be a disaster.  I required the Hubby's approval and was really unsure if I would get it with these.  Matcha is a bit out there.  I made up a small batch of the recipe I found and conveniently it made exactly one dozen cookies.  I used the tree cutter I had at the time but ended up buying a new one specially for the final ones because the shape looked too much like a holly leaf.  I tentatively offered one to the Hubby, saying I wouldn't be offended if he didn't like it.  As you've probably guessed though, he did like it.  In fact, he loved it and scoffed my whole batch!

I needed to be prompt with getting my cookies done and sent.  December is a busy time at school, even if I'm only working part-time.  I had to prepare my dough on a Sunday, cut and bake 3 dozen on the Monday after I got in from work and then finally photograph and package them on Tuesday, ready for the Hubby to take to the Post Office on Wednesday.  I really had to be strict with myself.  There were several moments where I wanted to just curl up on the couch and sleep.  I also annoyed my cats by shutting them in the hall so I could do my photography.  It is a bit of a problem living in a small flat with two nosy kittens who want to climb on your equipment.  Even more so when there are pretty ribbons all over the place!

Worth it though! I loved how my cookies turned out and I'm really hoping Claire (Clairey Fairy's Cooking), Alicia (Beef and Brioche) and Laura (Foodie Laura) enjoyed them!

I know I have been enjoying what arrived for me not long after: 

Soft Ricotta Cookies with Almond Icing from Iris at Whatever Gets You Through The Day	Chocolate and Candycane Cookies from Karen at Yankee Doodle Paddy	Mint Chocolate Snowball Cookies from Marsha of Marsha's Baking Addiction

The Hubby and I have been steadily scoffing our way through all these delicious bakes from three lovely ladies.  We also took some to share when we went to dinner at the in-laws and they very much appreciated it.  The Hubby says the cookie swap makes this the best time of year!

Recipe - adapted from Just One Cookbook

Makes 36 cookies

• 360g/12.5oz plain flour
• 22.5g/0.8oz matcha tea powder (green tea powder)
• 225g/8oz unsalted butter
• 195g/7oz icing sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 3 egg yolks
• 150g/5.5oz white chocolate chips
• 100g/3.5oz dried cranberries

1. Sift the plain flour and matcha into a bowl.
2. Cream the butter, icing sugar and salt together until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the egg yolks and beat in well.
4. Add the flour and matcha mix gradually to the butter.  Beat mixture until a soft dough forms.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips and cranberries.
6. Shape the dough into 3 equal rounds and wrap in clingfilm.  Chill in the fridge overnight.
7. Line a few baking trays with baking parchment.
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 7mm/0.25inches and cut into Christmas tree shapes using a cutter.  Place the cookies on the tray.
9. Put the cookies in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2.
10. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.  Allow them to rest on the tray for a couple of minutes after removing from the oven before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Toffee Apple and Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake

We had quite a lovely autumn this year.  The colours of all the trees around here were just stunning!  I really wish I had thought to get a picture of the view coming into the village before the truly horrible weather set in.  It was seriously pretty with the trees and the church and the local restaurant lit up with its fairy lights.  Especially when the sun is giving off that nice warm glow you only get when it's low in the sky.  Ah well.  It didn't occur to me until too late and now everywhere is wet and grey and most of the leaves have been blown off the trees.

Anyway, since it's autumn I felt like baking with some autumn flavours.  I was determined to include pumpkin, as I have several tins of it in my cupboard from bulk buying it last year.  However, I then started going a bit mad with wanting to add all sorts of flavours so I also ended up using apples, toffee and ginger.  I used a combination of two recipes for my autumnal experiment.  Well, actually, I used three as originally I was going to include cinder toffee too.  I scrapped that, though not until after I made it.  The cinder toffee turned out well but tasted ever so slightly burnt so it left a bitter after taste.  I didn't think that was right so I figure I'll try that again another day.  The cake was fine without it anyway. 

I made this cake twice as the first one did not turn out the way I wanted.  It was far too dense in the middle.  It still tasted good but it annoyed me because I knew it should have been more cake-y.  Turns out I over mixed it.  I got too carried away with my lovely mixer.  Oops.  So the second time around I made sure to do the barest minimum of mixing for each stage and folded in the flour.  The result was much better so I was happy.

It's not the most attractive looking cake.  But I think that seems to be common with fruit baked on the top.  I never think upside-down cakes look particularly appealing unless you've used pineapple.  Cooked toffee and fruit and dark cake can look overdone, even though it isn't.  It probably would look a bit better if my apples were a bit more evenly cut.  Ah well.

This cake was scrummy.  Nice and moist with a distinctly apple taste and a ginger note at the end.  Drizzled with leftover toffee sauce is a necessity and this would go well with warm cream. 

Recipe - inspired by Sophie Thompson (via A Mummy Too) and Very Best Baking by Nestle

Toffee Sauce:

• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 100g/3.5oz muscovado sugar
• 150ml/5fl.oz double cream

Cake:

• 245g/8.5oz plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1.25 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (see here to make your own)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 115g/4oz butter
• 115g/4oz granulated sugar
• 45g/1.5oz brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 a tin of canned pumpkin (about 215g/7.5oz)
•  3-4 large green eating apples (like Granny Smith)
• 60ml/2fl.oz treacle 

1. Start by making the toffee sauce.  Put the butter, sugar and cream in a saucepan together and set over a low heat.
2. Stir the mixture until it is bubbling and golden.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
3. Line a 23cm/9inch round, spring-form or loose bottomed cake tin with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
4. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
5. Cream the butter and the sugars together in a separate bowl until fluffy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in after each addition until just incorporated.
7. Peel and grate half an apple and add it, the pumpkin and treacle to the mix.  Beat in.
8. Gradually fold in the dry ingredients.
9. Spoon half the cake batter into the prepared tin and smooth out.
10. Peel half of the remaining apples and cut into thin slices.  Arrange the slices in a spiral pattern inside the tin.
11. Drizzle with about 1/3 of the toffee sauce.
Repeat steps 9-11 with the remaining batter, apples and toffee sauce (you should have some sauce left over for serving).
12. Bake the cake in the oven for just over an hour (a skewer inserted through the middle of the cake should come out clean).
13. Allow cake to cool in the tin for at least 45 minutes before unmoulding then finish cooling on a wire rack.
14. Serve with remaining toffee sauce. 

Carrot and Orange Cupcakes with Orange Brown Sugar Buttercream

So right now I am in the middle of sorting out my job.  It's been frustrating but at last we seem to be getting there.  It should mean that I'll be properly employed as a supply teacher in time for the start of the winter term.  I've already got some days lined up too, I just need to make sure I'm on the register.  I should have been, and I have done work based on that should have been, but I've stopped temporarily until it is properly sorted.  Don't want any legal repercussions happening if something goes wrong.

But, as I said, I have done some supply work.  The other week I was invited back to cover a class at the school I did my probation year in.  It was nice seeing everyone again and I was excited because there was going to be a bake sale.  Since I wasn't going to be working the day before, I figured I would bake something to take in.  I wanted something that felt a bit autumn-y and involved orange in some way.  I was originally going to do chocolate and orange but ended up changing to carrot and orange.  The vegetables made it feel more appropriate to the season.  Adding brown sugar to the buttercream was a random decision that I thought I would try.  It apparently works well with vegetable cakes.  I had to make the recipe for that up with a little trial and error but it worked.

Well, these never made it to the bake sale.  The staff paid for and ate them all at break time!  I was rather amused and very flattered.  It is nice when your work is appreciated.  They were very complimentary too.  They are rather refreshing thanks to the orange, and the addition of orange in the cake means it melds together well with the buttercream.  I made them again the following week for the Hubby and his family and they were also scoffed rather quickly.  His Mum had two helpings of cake with ice cream she liked them so much!  I've also been asked to make a large version as a birthday cake for Friday.

Recipe - Makes 12 large cupcakes
 

Cakes - adapted from Mary Berry's Baking Bible : 

• Zest of 1 large orange
• 150g/5oz butter
• 150g/5oz light muscovado sugar 
• 175g/6oz grated carrot
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 200g/7oz self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
• 1 tbsp orange juice

Orange and Brown Sugar Buttercream:

• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 60g/2oz brown sugar
• 225g/8oz icing sugar
• Juice of 1 orange
• Orange food colouring (optional)
• Zest of 1 orange (for decorating)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with large cupcake cases.
2. Put all the ingredients for the cake except the orange juice into a mixing bowl and beat together until well blended and smooth.
3. Add the tablespoon of orange juice and mix.
4. Split the mixture evenly between the cases.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cakes are risen and springy, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Remove from the tray and leave to cool whilst you make the buttercream.
7. Beat the butter in a bowl until it is smooth and creamy.
8. Add the icing sugar, brown sugar and half the orange juice and beat together to incorporate.
9. Add the rest of the orange juice gradually, mixing after each addition until you get an icing which is smooth, holds its shape but still pipeable.  If you make it too runny, firm it up with a bit of extra icing sugar.  If adding colouring, add a few drops at this stage and mix in until evenly coloured.
10. Put the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large, round nozzle.
11. When cakes are cool, pipe a swirl onto each , starting on the outside and working in.
12. Grate the zest of the orange over the buttercream to decorate.

Lemon and Blueberry Syrup Loaf

 

 
So my attention has been rather monopolised these past few weeks.  At the start of August the Hubby and I welcomed two new additions to our home.  We are now the proud owners of two gorgeous Siberian kittens.  We have been waiting for them since January so were very excited when we were finally able to go and collect them from Liverpool.  It involved six hours of trains either way but it was worth it.  They are just the most beautiful creatures ever, as well as the cuddliest.  They love to curl up with you on the sofa and it is wonderful.  They make me so happy.  They are also very distracting.  That's not to say they have stopped me baking.  It's more that they stop me updating the blog.  Trying to do food photography in a small flat with two curious kittens is quite tricky.  As is trying to type anything as they want to sit on either you or the keyboard.  There's also not been a huge amount of new innovation in terms of what I have baked.  I've been doing a lot of favourites recently, so there's not been anything new.

Until the Hubby's birthday!  I always aim to do a new recipe for that, though it often involves similar flavour combinations.  This year was no different, as I was asked for the usual mix of lemon and blueberries.  I decided I wanted to do a take on a lemon drizzle cake.  The one the recipe is based off is a Nigella recipe, which was just lemon.  The idea of the syrupy 'icing' made it sound a bit more decadent than a normal drizzle cake and so I adapted it to my needs.

The first version I did of this cake was for the Hubby's birthday and it was not a loaf cake.  The Hubby wanted a round cake so I made it in an 8inch tin circular tin instead.  I personally did not like how it looked because it felt a bit flat.  I feel a round cake needs layers.  I much prefer the loaf look.  Since I didn't photograph it first time due to time issues, I decided to do it loaf shaped for the second version.  I also altered the recipe slightly by adding a little more flour and a little less milk.  The blueberries sank in the first one because the batter was too runny.  I wanted a thicker batter for the second one.  It worked much better.  I also used much bigger lemons and added more zest to get a much more distinct lemon-y flavour.  The second one was definitely much better overall.  Even the texture was nicer, though maybe that was down to my recent acquisition that I purchased with my birthday money: my very own KitchenAid Artisan mixer.  Yellow, of course.

The cake was very well received.  The Hubby was really happy.  He prefers the round one but everyone else liked the loaf better.  The syrup and berries make it a very juicy cake but not too wet.  It was delicious.  It goes really well with ice cream and strawberries too.

Recipe - inspired by How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Makes 1 x 1kg/2lb loaf

Cake:

• 175g/6oz caster sugar 
• 125g/4.5oz butter
• Zest of 2 large lemons
• 2 large eggs
• 175g/6oz self-raising flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp milk
• 115g/4oz blueberries

Syrup:

• 155g/5.5oz icing sugar
• Juice of 2 large lemons
• 85g/3oz blueberries

1. Grease and line a 1kg/2lb loaf tin.  Cut the greaseproof paper so it hangs over the edge to make it easier to remove the cake after baking.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
3. In a large bowl beat together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Mix in the lemon zest.
5. Add the eggs and beat well.
6. Gently fold in the flour, followed by the milk and finally the blueberries.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and smooth top.
8. Bake for about 45-55 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean.
9. Whilst cake is baking, make the syrup by combining the icing sugar, lemon juice and blueberries in a saucepan and cooking over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
10. Squash the blueberries within the pan to release the juice into the syrup and stir.
11. Switch off the heat and leave syrup to thicken slightly.  Just before removing cake from oven, strain the syrup through a sieve into a jug to remove the berry skins.
12. When cake is baked, remove from the oven, but leave in the tin, and quickly poke holes all over it with a skewer.
13. Pour the syrup over the cake.  Aim to get syrup to absorb in the centre of the cake and not just the edges.  Keep adding syrup, even if you think you are drowning the cake.  As long as it doesn't overflow the tin it is fine.
14. Leave the cake in the tin until it has absorbed all the syrup and has gone cold before removing it from the tin.  If you can stand to wait, wrap the cake up and leave it overnight to get a more intense syrup flavour.