Italian Lemon Cream Cake

 

I used some of my precious flour this weekend to bake us an Italian Lemon Cream Cake.  I had a lemon that was close to spilling over to unusable and some cream which was also close to being unsuable as well. 

 

Several months ago, I am ashamed to say  . . .  losing such things wouldn't really have bothered me overly much, although I have always tried to use everything, in the past I have probably not been as diligent as I could have been. 

 

These days I am much more aware of waste and shortages.  Flour (for one thing) and sugar are in short supply and I don't have regular access to fresh ingredients either.  For as long as we are bothered by this Covid 19 pandemic my days of simply popping to the shops or sending Todd when I need something are over, and in fact I am not sure if I will ever live like that again.

   

Did you know you can keep flour in the freezer indefinitely, and indeed you can keep it in your refrigerator for up to two years before it will go rancid.  So long as they are stored in airtight containers, that is. A timely tip there!

 

I had recently been sent some lovely Italian flour by an online supplier of authentic Italian foods,  Cibilia.   I have been storing it in my freezer and decided to use some of it today. There was a semolina flour and 2 types of soft wheat flours, both perfect to make things like shortbreads, scones, biscuits, cookies and so on.  The flour has been produced by Zilletta Di Brancia - Apulian Stone Mill, which is the only artisan stone mill existing in all the Tavoliere delle Puglie.  It is also a family owned mill. For this Cake I used TIPO 1 which is an Organic all purpose flour.

 

As you can see I had beautiful results.  Look at the beautiful crumb which resulted after baking!  I was so impressed. 

 

The cake itself is a very simple cake.  It is light and beautifully flavoured and as you can see has a very light crumb and is very moist.

 

You beat three large free range eggs together with an additional large free range egg yolk, lemon zest and a quantity of confectioners sugar to make a light and fluffy mixture, that almost doubles in volume.  This is what adds to that beautiful texture of the cake.

 

Once you have done that you fold in a mix of the flour and some baking powder, alternating with heavy cream . . .  rich and moist  . . .

 

A quantity of melted and cooled butter gets folded in at the end along with some vanilla, melted butter, and lemon juice . . .  creating a beautiful cake.  You need to be careful when you are folding it in so that you don't knock out much of the air that you have beaten into it.

 

I baked it in my 9 1/2 inch bundt tin. Do make sure you grease the tin really well and dust it with flour. I thought I had done a really good job of that, but my cake still stuck in a few places.  I needed to use a knife to run down the sides to loosen it and I really hate doing that with my bundt tins.  I absolutely dread scratching it.

  

In any case if you are looking for a lovely simple cake that is moist and delicious, delicately flavoured with lemon with a beautiful crumb . . .  this is YOUR  cake!

Italian Lemon Cream Cake

Yield: 10

Author: Marie Rayner

A moist and delicious cake with a delicate crumb.  Flavoured with Lemon.  Tthis cake is wonderful on its own but would be equally as delicious served with some fresh berries in berry season.

Ingredients:

• 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled (7 TBS)
• 280g plain flour (I used a TIPO1 Italian flour) (2 cups)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 large free range eggs
• 1 large free range egg yolk
• 230g icing sugar (1  3/4 cups) sifted
• 160ml double cream (2/3 cup heavy cream)
• the zest of one unwaxed lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• Icing sugar to dust on finished cake

Instructions:

How to cook Italian Lemon Cream Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Grease a  9 1/2 inch bundt tin and flour it well, tapping out any excess flour.
2. Melt the butter and allow it to cool completely.
3. Measure the sugar, lemon zest and eggs, plus egg yolk into a bowl.  Beat with an electric whisk unti it becomes very light in colour and doubles in volume.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gently fold into the creamed mixure, alternating with the cream, until thoroughly blended in. Gently fold in the lemon juice, vanilla and melted butter.  Pour into the prepared pan.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting  onto a plate and allowing to cool completely.  Dust with icing sugar to serve.

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I simply dusted it with some icing sugar, and then decorated it with a couple of viola blooms and some fresh mint leaves. I thought it was quite pretty.  You can't get much prettier than Mother Nature I don't think!

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Blueberry, Almond & Lemon Cake

 

Every time I go to Costco I pick up a large punnet of Blueberries.  I adore fresh blueberries and often have them on my cereal in the morning.  I also enjoy them baked into muffins, cakes and desserts.  They really shine in baked desserts.

  

Theyare so good for you.  They are what is known as a super-food, and small wonder as they are little power-houses of nutrition. Packed with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids, these berries are also high in potassium and vitamin C, making them the top choice of doctors and nutritionists. Not only can they lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, they are also anti-inflammatory.  You can't lose! 

  

Today I decided to bake some of them into a cake I adapted from a recipe that I found in the book Simple by Ottolenghi.

 

This was the first recipe I have cooked from the book, although I have quite a few ear-marked.  I love the food of Ottolenghi.  When I worked at the Manor, the oldest daughter would often come down from London for the weekend and she would often bring with her things she had bought in his London shop and restaurant.  His salads are phenomenal.

 

I have been gathering middle Eastern ingredients together so that when my children are here we can do some middle Eastern cooking together.  Create a few taste memories with each other.

 

I found this cake is a bit denser than most cakes are, perhaps from the combination of the use of ground almonds and flour combined.  In fact there is more ground almond in the cake than there is flour.

 

There are a full two cups of blueberries in the cake.  Some are stirred into the cake batter before baking and some are scattered over the top of the cake partially through the bake time.

 

For the most part my berries sunk to the bottom  . . .  which didn't really affect the taste of the cake, just the looks.  In the book the photo of the cake had plenty of berries sitting on top, bleeding into th icing.

  

The texture is very much like a frangipane bake . . .  dense, buttery and lovely . . .  just sweet enough  . . . the perfect combination with the sweet/tart berries . . .

 

It may not be the prettiest cake around, but it I think it is one of the tastiest   . . . .

 

The batter is flavoured with plenty of freshly grated lemon zest, fresh lemon juice and vanilla.  Blueberries and lemon are the perfect partners  . . .

 

The finished cake is drizzled with a lovely lemon drizzle icing once the cake has cooled completely.

 

This is the perfect cake to sit down and enjoy with a hot drink . . . . .

 

I can also see it being enjoyed on a warm summer's day with an ice cold glass of lemonade.

  

In short, this is a cake that you can enjoy any hour of the day, any day of the week, any week of the year . . .  full stop.

Bluberry, Almond & Lemon Cake

Yield: 8

Author: Marie Rayner

A very moist and delicious loaf cake adapted from a recipe in Ottolengi 's book Simple.

ingredients:

• 150g unsalted butter, at room temperature (2/3 cup)
• 190g caster sugar (1 cup fine granulated sugar)
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
• 90g self raising flour (1 cup, less 3 TBS) sifted
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 110g ground almonds (1 1/4 cup)
• 200g fresh or frozen berries (if using frozen, thaw and pat dry) (2 cups)
• 70g icing sugar (generous 1/2 cup)

instructions:

How to cook Bluberry, Almond & Lemon Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas  mark 4.  Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf tin and line with paper, leaving an overhang to lift the cake out with when done.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together with the, vanilla, lemon zest and 1 TBS of the lemon juice with an electric mixer on high speed for about 3 to 4 minutes.  Lower the speed to medium and then slowly add the beaten eggs, a bit at a time and stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Whisk together the flour, salt and almonds.  Add in three additions, stirring it well together.  Fold in 3/4 of the blueberries by hand.  Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and scatter the remaining blueberries over top. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes.  It should be turning golden brown at this point, but still be semi-raw.  Cover lightly with a sheet of foil and bake for a further 25 to 30 minutes, until risen and cooked (Mine took a further 45 minutes.) A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean.  Leave in the pan to cool, on a wire rack for 10 minutes before lifting out to finish cooling completely.
4. Once the cake is completely cold, whisk together the lemon juice and icing sugar until smooth.  Drizzle this mixture decoratively over the cake.  Leave to set and cut into thick slices to serve.

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I am still trying to sort out my facebook page.  Someone keeps reporting my recipe posts as Spam and then Facebook removes them as being in contradiction to their community guidelines for Spam.  My recipe posts on there are no different than anyone elses.  I can't think of any reason anyone would want to be so malicious with me, but you know people.  It takes all kinds.  I have asked for FB to review the posts, but you know how long it takes for FB to do anything.  In the meantime I would suggest you follow me on Instagram or even Pinterest.  Many Thanks! 

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Deep, Dark & Delicious Gingerbread

 

This week I was craving a cake. Oh, we still have Christmas cake left, but I wanted cake cake.  Something without raisins and currants and peel . . .  just cake. Something that I could just sit down and enjoy a slice of with a nice hot cup of herbal tea.

 

It didn't have to be fancy smancy . . .  just pleasant and satisfying.  I toyed with making a Victoria Sandwich Cake (which is our favourite cake) or a Coffee Walnut Cake (another favourite), but they just weren't ticking the boxes of my desire.

 

I wanted something spicy and dense, dark and delicious and then I remembered this gingerbread cake recipe that I have had in my big blue binder for about a bazillion years. In fact I think its been about a bazillion years since I have made it.

 

You cannot call it a pretty cake by any stretch.  It is the ugly step sister of pretty cake.  The country cousin of the city mouse . . . a cake you might be tempted to overlook when glancing upon it sitting in the glass case of a bake shop.

 

Were you to do so you would be making a grave mistake.  This is the kind of gingerbread cake that sonnets could be written about, poems . . .  novels.  This is the kind of gingerbread cake that you could imagine Meg, Amy, Jo and Beth sitting down to enjoy on cold winter's evening while the fire burns low in the grate, whilst Marmee reads to them the latest missive from their pa  . . .

 

It is a gingerbread cake that gets more delicious with each day that it stands . . . denser, moister . . .

 

The cake you will find yourself sneaking down the stairs to steal a smidgen of in the middle of the night.  Midnight feast cake has no calories, everyone knows that!

 

This is the kind of cake as a child I imagined Mary Poppins picking up for Michael and Jane Banks, with shiny gold stars stuck to its surface, all wrapped up in brown paper  . . .

  

Oh, I know I do have a fanciful mind.  It comes from a lifetime of reading books.  I come by that habit honestly. My father inspired a love of the written word in me when I was very young . . . I can still hear his voice reading to me in my mind's eye. He would change his voice with each character in the story. It is a beautiful memory that I hold dear and close in my heart.

 

In any case I do hope you will bake this lovely ugly step sister of a cake and that you will enjoy it.  The ginger glaze icing is quite tasty  . . .  and it would be lovely spread with softened butter as well, or . . .  dare I suggest it, lemon curd.

 

Today I fancied a little bit of indulgence with a small squirt of squirty cream  . . . .

  

They do say a little bit of what you fancy does the body and the mind good  . . . I believe that's true.

Yield: 16

Author: Marie Rayner

Deep, Dark & Delicious Gingerbread

A moist, sticky and dense slice with plenty of ginger spice!

ingredients:

• 250g butter (1 cup +1 1/2 TBS)
• 250g soft dark brown sugar (1 1/4 cup, packed)
• 250g molasses or dark treacle (9 fluid ounces)
• 300ml whole milk (1 1/4 cups)
• 2 large free range eggs
• 5 knobs of preserved ginger in syrup, chopped finely
• 375g plain flour (2 1/2 cups + 3 TBS)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

instructions:

How to cook Deep, Dark & Delicious Gingerbread

1. Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a 9-inch square baking tin and line it with baking paper. Set aside.
2. Put the butter, sugar, and molasses into a saucepan. Cook over low heat to melt the butter and sugar. Whisk in the milk. Set aside to cool some.
3. Whisk together the flour, soda, ginger, allspice and cardamom in a large bowl. Stir in the chopped glace ginger. Make a well in the centre.
4. Beat the eggs into the liquid ingredients thoroughly. Pour into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir together, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients from the side of the bowl until you have a smooth and thick batter. Pour into the prepared baking tin.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, until well risen and firm to the touch. Do NOT be tempted to open the door prior to that time or the cake may sink in the middle. Once an hour has passed, check the cake. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. If it doesn't cook for a further 10 minutes and try again. The cake is done when the skewer comes out clean.
6. Leave to cool completely in the tin. Once cold remove from the tin and either wrap tightly and store in an airtight container for up to a week.
7. Optional Icing - Whisk together 65g of sifted icing sugar (1/2 cup) and enough ginger syrup to give you a smooth drizzle icing. Drizzle decoratively over the cold cake.

NOTES:

Note - if you can't get preserved stem ginger, you can use candied ginger.  I would say about 12 pieces, chopped finely. Instead of syrup in the glaze icing use some fresh lemon juice

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I enjoyed this with a hot cup of Taylor's Spiced Apple Tea.  It was definitely a  "Home Sweet Home" moment and made for a great beginning to my year.   

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