Raspberry and Lemon Loaf Cake

One of the things I love most about summer is the food. The new potatoes, the summer fruits and always having an excuse to eat ice-cream (not that I ever need an excuse to eat ice-cream). The biggest one for me though is the fruit and especially strawberries and raspberries. Anyone from Ireland knows that the best strawberries and raspberries come from Wexford and I have the fondest memories of driving up to visit my Granny in Dublin during the summer months and stopping off to get fresh strawberries and raspberries from the vendors dotted along the coast road to Dublin from Waterford (before the motorway existed that is). Now unfortunately this recipe doesn't include Wexford raspberries as they are pretty hard to come by in London but the raspberries I am using are perfectly acceptable!! 

My parents were visiting at the weekend and while mum was engrossed in the Golf and Dad in his Sunday paper I thought it was the perfect time to go baking. They always complain they never get to sample the treats they read so much about online I couldn't let them leave without baking something for them. We had some raspberries left over from the previous nights desert and I spotted a lonely lemon in the fridge and decided to try out a new recipe. This cake is so tasty and easy to make and lasts for days if stored in an air tight container in a cool dry place. Why not try it for yourself?

Ingredients:

175g Butter (at room temperature)

175g Caster Sugar

175g Self Raising Flour (sifted)

3 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Zest of 1 Lemon (grated)

1 Cup of fresh Raspberries

300g Royal Icing Sugar

Juice of 1 Lemon

Prepare:

Grease and line your loaf tin with butter and parchment paper and preheat your oven to 170C. I used a 2 lb (or 900g) loaf tin.

Method:

Cream together your butter and caster sugar in a mixing bowl until a light and fluffy consistency. It is important that your butter is at room temperature as it helps to dissolve the sugar. If your butter is too cold your mixture will just clump together and you will not get the proper consistency. One by one add your eggs mixing in between each egg. For this cake I used a handheld electric whisk. You can also use a free standing mixer with pedal attachment or unlike me if you have great upper arm strength a regular balloon whisk! 

Once all your eggs have been added stir in your vanilla extract and lemon zest. When that is all combined you can fold in your flour. It is important to fold in your flour as opposed to mixing it in because you want to keep as much air in the mixture as possible to help the cake rise. Once the flour is well combined you can fold in your raspberries. Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and place in the oven for 55 mins - 1 hour. You will know the cake is cooked when it is golden brown in appearance and a skewer or cocktail stick placed in the middle comes out clean.

Place on a wire rack to cool and go ahead and prepare your icing. Place your icing sugar in a mixing bowl and slowly add your lemon juice. Begin with 2-3 tablespoons and one teaspoon at a time after that if needed. Stir until you get a runny paste consistency. You will know the icing is done when you lift and pour a spoon of the icing onto itself and it holds its shape for a few seconds before disappearing. 

Once the cake has cooled COMPLETELY you can pour the icing over the entire top of the cake and let it ooze down the side of the cake naturally. Try to resist coaxing it down as you may pull crumbs with it! You may want to put some kitchen paper or parchment paper under the cooling rack to catch the excess. Leave the icing to form a slight crust before slicing and enjoy :) . 

I hope you do try out this recipe and if you do please let me know how you got on. As always you can find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so tag me, tweet me or just leave me a message telling me how you got on. I hope you are all having a lovely summer so far and the weather is nice wherever you're reading this from! 

Happy Baking,

O x

Vanillla and Passion Fruit Cheesecake

It's SUMMER!!
Wow the weather has been amazing the last few weeks. This weekend has been a bit dull though so I thought I'd brighten up with a little summer bake! I have a new found love and it's with passion fruit.. I am obsessed! It all started with a passion fruit martini and then suddenly passion fruit began dominating my dessert selection when eating out. I cannot get enough of it so I thought I had to try a dessert with passion fruit and that's just what happened today. I am staying with family this weekend in a house where cheesecake is always a winner in the dessert stakes and this time I decided to mix it up a bit. Instead of doing a baked cheesecake which I have done in the past I decided to do a no bake cheesecake. I have to say it was absolutely delicious and so easy to make. The creamy sweet cheesecake with the bite of the passion fruit is in my opinion my yummiest bake I've made this summer! I hope you guys get a chance to try it and like it as much as I do!

Ingredients:

100g Butter

350g Digestive Biscuits

250g Mascarpone Cheese

80g Icing Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

400ml Creme Fraiche

300ml Double Cream

5 Passion Fruit

Caster Sugar (amount determined by fruit of Passion Fruit)

Prepare:

Grease and line a 9" Springform Cake Tin with parchment baking paper.

Method:

Begin by breaking up your digestive biscuits. You can do this by putting all your biscuits in a ziplock or freezer bag and bashing with a rolling pin (as you can see below). Alternatively you can break them into a food processor and blitz them until they are a sandy consistency.  

Place your butter into a microwaveable bowl and melt in the microwave. This should take about 1-1.5 minutes depending on the wattage of your microwave. When melted combine the butter with the biscuit and mix until you get a wet sand consistency to the biscuit. Then transfer biscuit mix into your cake tin and press firmly down into the base to create an even layer. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

While your base is setting you can prepare the filling. Using a hand held whisk or electric mixer beat your mascarpone cheese and icing sugar until soft then stir in your creme fraiche and vanilla extract until well combined. If you have a free standing mixer you can use this with the paddle attachment on a low speed.

In a separate bowl whisk your double cream until you get soft falling peaks. Be careful not to over mix!! Fold this cream into your cheese and creme fraiche mix. This mix is now ready to spread over your biscuit base. Spread evenly and place in the fridge to set for at least an hour.

You can now begin your coulis. Cut your passion fruits and scrape out the juice (pips included) into a cup or mug. Place this juice into a small saucepan and measure roughly the same amount of caster sugar into the mug. I used a white mug today and filled half the mug with the passion fruit juice so it was pretty easy to see how much caster sugar I needed. Place the sugar into the saucepan with the juice and bring to the boil, stirring often. Once it has come to the boil bring down to simmer and leave for 3-4 minutes. Then turn off the hob and leave to cool. Once the coulis has cooled you can spread it over the cheesecake. I made this a couple of house in advance so I put the coulis over the cheesecake while still in the tin and placed it back in the fridge. If you're stuck for time though the coulis is fine poured over the cheesecake right before serving.

I would love to hear from you if you try this recipe. Take my word for it (and my family's) it was delicious. If you have any questions you can find me on facebook, twitter and instagram. I hope you are all having a lovely summer so far. If you have any requests for summer bakes don't hesitate to contact me and just ask!

Happy Baking,

O x