Thursday 16 February 2012

Lemon and Raspberry Heart Cakes


This is my second Valentine Bake and it's a pretty special one as I decided to make up my own recipe and it turned out better than expected!! If you don't already know, this month I am hosting AlphaBakes along with my lovely co-host Caroline from Caroline Makes.  AlphaBakes is a new blogging challenge where the idea is to bake with an ingredient that starts with the random letter chosen for the month. This month, the letter is "L" and the first thing to pop into my head is lemons. I know it's not very original but I love lemons and it was Valentine's so I came up with this recipe. I also have another "L" bake in the oven as I type so check back next week to see my second entry. 
Back to this recipe. I decided to be economical and used the whole fruit - skin, rind and all! I wanted to make it healthier so I used fat free yoghurt, less sugar and lots of fruit (lemon and raspberries).  The cake was really moist and smelled of lemons. It was quite tart what with the lemons and raspberries but everyone loved it! If you prefer a sweeter bake, I would advise adding more sugar.

Have you made your #AlphaBakes entry yet? If not, there's still time as the closing date is 25th February so go on.... you know you want to!


I am also sending these to Tea Time Treats hosted this month by Kate from whatkatebaked and co-hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage.  The theme for this month is Romance and these little hearts fit the bill perfectly :) 



 cut up 1 lemon and blitz in a food processor... 

... until you get this 

 adding raspberries (which have been coated in flour) to the batter 

 cute little hearts



 I'm glad all the raspberries didnt sink to the bottom 

An original recipe by me, bakingaddict 

180g self raising flour plus 1 tablespoon
pinch of salt
150g plain fat free yoghurt
2 eggs
1 whole lemon
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
150g raspberries
135g caster sugar (add 150g-175g for a sweeter cake)


  • Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Cut 1 lemon into small pieces, remove any seeds and blitz (skin, rind, fruit) in a food processor until fine as shown in picture above.
  • In a large bowl, mix the yoghurt, eggs and oil. 
  • Add the lemon pieces and stir.
  • Add the zest and juice of another lemon (omit if you don't want it to be too lemony)
  • Stir in the flour and salt. 
  • Coat the raspberries with 1 tablespoon of flour.
  • Fold in the raspberries.
  • Pour the cake into desired moulds and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes (small cakes) or 20-25 minutes (larger cakes).
  • The cake should spring back from the edges and a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
  • Allow to cool on a wire rack.



19 comments:

  1. Thanks for letting me know about the link, I fixed it :) and I know about Asda - literally the next day after my friend told me about it I just had to go there and buy some for myself! it's so awesome...apparently they've been overwhelmed by how well they've been selling so I only hope it encourages them to bring more American groceries over!! Yummy, these look so moist and delicious - I could just grab one from the screen right now - lemon and raspberry sounds like a good combo to me, very refreshing! and I still have some leftover raspberries from the Martha challenge - if only I didn't have a zillion other baked treats to eat up first I could have given these a try! I'll bookmark them for another day :)

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    1. It was the leftover raspberries from the Martha challenge that inspired me! I don't normally shop at Asda but I think I will have to now if they start stocking more American goodies :)

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  2. These are so pretty :) I love how everything is heart shaped lately because of Valentines day hehe ~
    These are great and I really like the fact that you use the whole lemon~it's hard to find recipe that too :D

    I'm jealous that you guys have such great sales over there in the UK, lemons are so expensive here in HK sighhh ~

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  3. I'm just hijacking someone else's conversation now - what is it that's selling so well in Asda?! Not that there is an Asda I can get to without a car, never mind.
    Anyway Ros these lemon cakes look delicious! Is it coating the berries in flour that means they don't sink? Wonder why that is?

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    1. Mini peanut butter cups and you know how much I love peanut butter :)
      I think coating the berries in flour helps prevent them sinking. It helps them 'stick' to the batter better and hold its position rather than all sinking to the bottom. Hope it makes sense!

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  4. How cute! Makes me want to run out and buy the heart-shaped baking pan!

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    1. I love my heart shaped mould and use it all year round!

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  5. mmm Lemon and raspberry sound perfect together and I love that you have used the whole fruit

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    1. Thanks I thought I'd give it a try and I'm pleased that it worked out :)

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  6. They look amazing! I'm sure they taste just as good!

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  7. Love these as lemon and raspberry work together so well! Great competition and I hope it all goes well. Was the moulds from the silcone company we use? I don't have that one!

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    1. lemon and raspberry do go very well together. I bought these moulds many years ago from house of fraser. I've just ordered another lot from the silicone company even though I haven't used all of my last order yet!

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  8. Great combinations & looks really sweet & lovely! I can't resist anything with heart shape. & these cute cakes does touch my heart! Love the raspberry on it too, simply AWESOME!

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    1. thanks! I love the heart shapes as well and used them again today (for a different recipe).

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  9. I am intrigued by the use of the whole lemon to make these! And as an American, I love the convo about peanut butter cups. If only you all knew what I have to do to get proper clotted cream!

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    1. I'm really pleased that using the whole lemon worked. We are obsessed with American confectionery :)

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  10. These are so cute and I love your heart-shaped moulds. Thanks for hosting this and I'm looking forward to next month.

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    1. Thanks! I love the heart shaped mould too :) hope you can join us for AlphaBakes in march!

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