Welcome to the first AlphaBakes round up. Thank you to everyone who participated in this challenge with us. We have had a whopping thirty-three entries which have far exceeded our expectations! Clearly the letter "L" has inspired lots of you to bake with us. I loved looking at all your lovely, luscious and lavish entries. There were a lot of lemon entries as expected but also some slightly more unusual "L"s.
Make sure you check out Caroline's blog on 1st March to see what the random letter for March is.
So without further ado, in the order that they came in, here are all the "L" entries for the month....
First up are these gorgeous Lamingtons from Homemade by Fleur. Fleur had an exciting day filming Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard the day before she made these little beauties. Can't wait to see the episode :)
Next is Nelly from Nelly's Cupcakes with mini lemon meringue tarts. Lemon meringue pie was actually her first ever post on her blog. I love the mini versions - they look so cute!
Next is Sarah from Sarah Bakes with her mini cupcake Lamingtons - clearly there's a theme here with lamingtons and minis :) These were made for Australia Day which is celebrated on Jan 26th. I love that she made them into a cupcake version.
C from cakecrumbsandcooking entered this fabulous lemon buttermilk cake. A great cake to bake if you have some buttermilk in the fridge that needs to be used.
Continuing with the lemon theme, we have some delightful lemon and poppyseed muffins from sugarcravingbaker. These remind her of her childhood where she used to visit her grandparents in Florida and had the best lemon and poppyseed muffins. I want to know the name of the bakery and if it's still there :)
Our first savoury entry is from Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids with her Lemon Thyme and Potato Frittata. Her son loves picking the lemon thyme leaves and rubbing them on his hands and then asking her "Mummy, do you want to smell my hands?" awww... how cute :)
More lemony goodness in the form of Lovely Lemon Cupcakes from Lottie's World of Cakes & Bakes. These were made to take to lectures as a thank you for reading her blog!! Can I please have one too as I have been reading your blog? They are lemon cupcakes with a lemon curd filling and a lemon cream cheese icing! You have to check out her beautiful two tone icing and apron!
Next is our very own Caroline's mum, Jacqueline who decided to join in our fun little challenge and sent us these gorgeous lemon curd butterfly cakes. Clearly baking runs in the family!
Next is a luscious lemon and blueberry loaf cake from cakeboule. Baked on a snowy day to warm her up they scream "come on spring already" For more amazing photos and to read about the tale of the secret world of swotchers click here
If that last cake shouted spring, you are going to want to see this one which is sunshine in cake form - moist, buttery and very lemony. Phil from As Strong as Soup shared with us his Amalfi Lemon and Almond Cake, based on a recipe by Salvatore De Riso, the celebrated pastry chef and baker from the Amalfi coast.
Next is Kat from Life of a Cupcake Baker with her Lemon Meringue cake. Its a lemon cake with a lemon curd filling and lemon frosting topped with meringues. What's not to like? :)
Moving away from cakes we have these super cute lemony lemon biscuits from wildaboutbaking. I absolutely adore them and would feel bad eating one knowing the amount of work that has gone into decorating them... not that I would say no of course :)
Next is a video from Lucas@CoverVersions.tv who made us a saucy lemon pudding. It's a brilliant video with a great soundtrack, do go and see it for yourself.
For something completely different, check out these Liquorice Allsorts Cupcakes by Liv a Little Bakery These cupcakes are made with melted liquorice and then shaped to look like liquorice allsorts!! How cool is that?
Back to lemons with lemon cupcakes from Corina from Searching for Spice. She got a set of icing nozzles and a piping bag for Christmas and has put them to good use here.
Next we have Lemon Poppyseed cupcakes with Almond icing from CAKEfyi Don't you just love the flecks of poppyseeds? There really is something about those little black spots that make you fall in love :)
Speaking of love, how about some Lemon Love Cakes from Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen? They look absolutely lovely especially with the little hearts on top.
Love is still in the air as my own entry are these Lemon and Raspberry Heart cakes. I used a whole lemon for the cake and added yoghurt for moisture.
When I told my mum about our challenge and that Caroline's mum had baked something, she immediately wanted to bake something and came up with not one but two amazing entries for us! Obviously I am biased but I am well impressed with mum's creativity. First up is a Lemongrass, Lemon and ginger bundt cake
followed by a Lotus Butter Cake cut in the shape of an "L" :) Thank you mum!
Next is Sue from A little bit of heaven on a plate with her lovely lemon & lavender meringues. These are part of a Valentine's afternoon tea which also inlcudes rose & violet cupcakes, almond sugar biscuits and tiny sugar biscuits dipped in white chocolate. I'd like to have one of everything on that table :)
Shelley @thecakebug sent us a lemon drizzle cake which is a Tana Ramsey recipe. She says its extremely easy and tastes lush especially warm and with a cup of tea!
My partner in crime Caroline from Caroline Makes delights us with this low fat slimmers' lemon cheesecake, perfect for if you are watching the calories but still want a treat. It's made from quark and fat free Greek yoghurt.
L is for... LOVE according to Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog who has entered these chocolate hazelnut cake truffles topped with love hearts! Leftover cake is an unknown phenomenon where I am but I would love to give these a try.
Next up Karen from Lavender and Lovage impresses us with her homemade Lemon and Ginger Marmalade. A perfect way to use up a surfeit of lemons :) Tested immediately on a warm buttered bread bun - doesn't it make you want to reach into the screen for that slice?
Karen's second entry is not strictly a bake but I couldn't resist adding it in as she made this amazing Wild garlic, Lemon and Lovage soup. Perfect for these cold, winter months and it had 2 "L"'s in the name! I have to admit I didn't know much about lovage before but I do now after reading her informative post on her favourite herb, lovage.
Another unique "L" comes from i-Lost in Austen who made this beautiful Lychee and Champagne Macaron. A huge Jane Austen fan, you get delicious bakes, Jane Austen quotes and music when you visit!
My second entry for this month is Lavender Shortbread - buttery and crumbly with the subtle flavour of lavender.
Not to be outdone, a second entry by my co-host Caroline from Caroline Makes are limoncello macarons. Caroline and I recently attended a macaron class which you can read about here. I have not been brave enough to attempt them myself so bravo Caroline, you should definitely be proud of yourself :)
Daisy@Nevertoosweet wows us with her lemon scones which are inspired by afternoon tea at Alice Tea Cups in New York which you can read about here. She made a lovely lemon glaze to drizzle over the scones making them irresistible in my book :)
Last but not least is Claire from The Pursuit of Domestic Goddess-ness with her lemon drizzle traybake. A fail-safe Mary Berry recipe, it looks absolutely divine! You would not believe it's her first time making a lemon drizzle traybake.
So there you have it, a virtual treasure trove of "L" bakes (and soup). A huge heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined in, we are overjoyed at the positive response and hope you will continue baking with us throughout the year.
Please make sure you check out Caroline's blog on 1st March to find out what letter we are baking with next.
PS: Apologies if I have made any errors or left anyone out - please email me and I will edit as soon as I can. I am currently on a road trip in California so internet access is a bit hit and miss.
