Bundt

Lemon, Thyme and Ricotta Bundt Cake

~ louisehad ~ 2 Comments

IMG_1751 (Edited)

 

 

For my final bake for my colleagues I wanted to bake something really special. Although I may not have a signature bake, I do have a signature tin; the heritage Bundt tin which I thought I would use this for my farewell bake. Lemon drizzle seems to be a crowd pleaser but I wanted to do something a little bit different and came across a recipe for Lemon, Thyme and Ricotta Cake at  https://www.supergoldenbakes.com/2016/03/lemon-thyme-ricotta-and-semolina-cake.html. I adapted the recipe slightly by increasing the amount of lemon and thyme and did not use the crushed candies on the top. I was so happy with how it turned out. First of all, there were no tin dramas; that’s when the top third of my cake gets stuck in the tin when I try to turn it out. I left the cake to cool completely before attempting to turn it out of the tin. The cake was light and fluffy. The lemon and thyme syrup made the sponge incredibly moist and zingy and the thyme gave a background note which added a layer of complexity to the flavour. After six years of baking for these guys, I think we ended on a high. It makes me extremely happy to bake for such appreciative people! 

Ingredients

·         250g unsalted butter at room temperature, plus a little more to grease the cake tin

·         250g caster sugar

·         250g ricotta

·         150g fine semolina

·         150g plain flour, plus a little more to dust the cake tin

·         80ml lemon juice

·         3 eggs

·         2 tbsp lemon thyme leaves, very finely chopped

·         1 tsp baking powder

·         ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

·         zest of 2 lemons

·         fresh flowers to decorate (optional)

 

For the herb syrup

·         100g granulated sugar

·         100ml water

·         2 tbsp lemon juice

·         2 sprigs lemon thyme

·         4 sage leaves

 

For the glaze

·         200g icing sugar

·         1-2 tbsp lemon juice or milk

 

IMG_1752 (Edited)

Method

·         Preheat the oven to 180C/350 F/ Gas 4. Grease a 20cm (8in) bundt cake tin with butter. Dust with a little flour and shake out any excess.

·         Beat the butter, sugar, thyme and lemon zest in a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer) until pale and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides as needed.

·         Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat to combine.

·         Stir in the ricotta and lemon juice.

·         Sift in the flour, semolina, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Stir everything together until the batter is smooth.

·         Transfer the batter into the prepared bundt tin and level. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack before carefully turning out.

·         Put the sugar, water, lemon juice and herbs in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the herbs and brush the syrup liberally over the cake.

·         Mix the icing sugar with enough lemon juice or milk to create a thick but pourable glaze. Drizzle it over the cake. I tend to put the glaze in the grooves of the bundt and use it as a glue to stick the decorations in place. Decorate with flowers. The cake keeps really well for a few days.

 IMG_1055

Blueberry, Lemon and Mint Drizzle Cake

~ louisehad ~ 1 Comment

Lemon, Blueberry, Mint Drizzle cake with edible flowers.JPG

 

I made this cake for the birthday of a very dear colleague at work. I wanted to make something traditional, but not boring and in my opinion, you can never go wrong with lemon drizzle, but I wanted to do a twist on it, so this recipe was perfect. The mint drizzle was totally delicious. It was originally made in a loaf tin, but to jazz it up for a birthday, I used my heritage bundt tin. The edible flowers were from my garden, but I made the mistake of decorating the cake the night before and in the morning all the flowers had shrivelled so I had to pick some more and do it again.   The original recipe is from Delicious Magazine.

http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/blueberry-lemon-and-mint-drizzle-cake/

 

Ingredients

115g very soft butter, plus extra for greasing

25g fresh mint, leaves picked

250g fresh blueberries

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon

250g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

225g caster sugar

2 large free-range eggs

120ml whole milk

25g desiccated coconut

100g granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

White icing sugar and lemon juice

Edible flowers and the tips of mint sprigs

lemon-blueberry-and-mint-drizzle-with-flowers

Directions

  • Position a shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease the heritage bundt baking tin.
  • Finely chop about a quarter of the mint leaves (to yield 1 tablespoon). Put the blueberries into a bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice and the chopped mint, then set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
  • Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and caster sugar together in a large mixing bowl for 5 minutes until pale and slightly fluffy. This will be a little harder than usual because of the high proportion of sugar, but it will eventually come together and become much paler in colour. Beat in the lemon zest. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding 1 tablespoon of the sifted flour with the second egg. Add the milk gradually, folding in large spoonfuls of the remaining flour until the mixture is smooth, then fold in the desiccated coconut.
  • Spoon one-third of the cake mixture into the bottom of the prepared tin and scatter over one-third of the blueberries. Repeat twice more, ending with a layer of blueberries. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes away clean.
  • While the cake is cooking, make the topping. Put the rest of the mint leaves and 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar into a mortar or small bowl and pound with the pestle or the end of a rolling pin until it forms a bright green paste. Stir in the remaining lemon juice (about 3-4 tablespoons) and leave to infuse. When the cake comes out of the oven, leave it to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, strain the minty lemon juice through a clean tea strainer into a bowl, pressing out as much of the juice as you can. Stir in the remaining granulated sugar.
  • Spoon the minty lemon and sugar mixture over the cake and leave it to cool. Remove the cake from the tin, then sprinkle the top lightly with a little more sugar.
  • Mix the icing sugar and the lemon juice together, until you get a consistency that can be piped. You can always add more icing sugar or lemon to get the right balance.
  • Decorate by using a piping bag to pipe the icing sugar and lemon juice mixture down the ridges of the cake. Finish off by place the edible flowers and the tips of the mint springs in the ridges.

 

Lemon, Blueberry and Mint Drizzle.JPG

Pear and Cardamom Cake

~ louisehad ~ Leave a comment

Pear and Cardamon bundt 3

Can you ever have too many baking tins? I used to ask this question about shoes, now it’s baking tins! If you check out the Nordicware website, I’m sure you won’t blame me for my new addiction! I mean, just look how great these cakes turned out. They just wouldn’t have been the same if I had used a traditional bundt tin.

Anyhow, this recipe is adapted from the cardamom and pear loaf recipe in the Waitrose magazine, November 2015. Of course, cooking it in the loaf tin would have been good too. A friend of mine also made this recipe with cinnamon instead of cardamom and that also worked really well.

 

Ingredients

175g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

2 cardamom pods, split open and seeds removed

175g light brown soft sugar

3 conference pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm sized pieces

1 lemon, zested

2 eggs, beaten

175g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 and half tablespoons flaked almonds

Icing sugar, for dusting

 

Pear and cardomon Bundt 4

  • Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ gas Mark 4. Grease a baking tin (I used a mini heritage bundt tin by Nordicware, (nordicware.com) which produced six mini cakes, but you can use any type of tin, just adjust the baking times).
  • Crush the cardamom seeds in a pestle and mortar.
  • Melt 25g butter in a frying pan over a medium heat with 25g of the sugar until bubbling. Add the pears and cook for 5 minutes, turning often until slightly soft. Remove the pears, leaving the butter in the pan and set aside.
  • Scrape the melted butter into a bowl. Add the cardamom lemon
    zest and the remaining butter and sugar. Beat until smooth and creamy, then work in the eggs, a little at a time. Mix the flour and baking powder, then fold into the mixture until well combined.
  • Put the pears into the mixture. Sprinkle the flaked almonds into the bottom of the tin. Spoon the mixture into the baking tin.
  • Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
  • Leave in the tin to cool and then turn out the cakes onto a cooling rack. Sprinkle with a few more flaked almonds and dust with icing sugar.

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