Nectarine and Summer Berry Tart

It's Random Recipe time again and after showcasing our cookbook collections, this month Dom from Belleau Kitchen has asked that we start at the very beginning ie select a book at random and open it to a random page.  Luckily I had a little tidy up for last month's challenge so all my books were in 1 place (well 3 if you count bookshelf, table and floor but that's not the point!) Anyway, I counted up my books (which is increasing every month!) and used a random number generator which gave me... 

 Hurrah! I actually picked this for a random recipe challenge previously but have not baked from it since so I was really pleased to have this book. 

I opened the book to a random page and this is what I got.... 

 page 48-49 - the recipe on the cover!!! Yay!! 

This is a lovely and simple recipe. I was slightly worried as I've never made my own pastry before (yes it's true!) but it was surprisingly easy and tasted delicious! I added more fruit that stated in the recipe which is probably why you can see more fruit than sponge dough but I personally prefer it that way. This tart was amazing!! I loved all the fresh fruit and the pastry was delicious. Definitely a keeper! 

Serendipity is one of my favourite words in the English language. I think I am using it correctly here in saying that serendipity has a part to play as I can enter this recipe into multiple blog challenges this month, the most ever for 1 recipe - yay! (If you are a regular reader, you will know how much I LOVE entering blogging challenges)

So as mentioned this is for Random Recipes which is hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. I love this challenge as it encourages me to use my books more and it also challenges me at times, testing my limits (and patience), most notably when I picked the Macaron book but let's not mention the M word again ;) 

This month's Tea Time Treats which is hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked and co-hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage has the theme of picnic pies. Kate says that all tarts, pies and flans, sweet or savoury are welcome so I think this lovely tart will be perfect. 

As this is made with seasonal fruits I am also entering it to Simple and in Season hosted by Ren from Fabulicious Food.

Next up is Made with love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior. The idea is to cook from scratch with fresh ingredients which is exactly what this recipe is. I made the pastry and dough from scratch and used fresh fruits. 

As berries are summer fruits, it would also fit nicely with Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and co-hosted by Laura from Laura Loves Cakes. The theme is British Summertime and this definitely feels like it! 

This month's One Ingredient challenge which is hosted by Nazima from Working London Mummy and co-hosted by Laura from How to Cook Good Food has the theme of peaches and nectarines. 

A new challenge I discovered this month which is perfect for this recipe as it's called Let's cook with fruits event hosted by simply food.  There's plenty of fruit here so I think it will fit in well.

Finally my own AlphaBakes challenge which I co-host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter is T which is perfect for tart. The deadline is 25th August so if you haven't entered this month then hurry up!

 Look at all that delicious fresh fruit! 

 First time making pastry! (sweet shortcrust pastry)

 Fill with sponge dough 

 top with fresh fruits 

 fresh from the oven 

 yum! 

Recipe is from Popina Book of Baking, page 48-49

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon and honey frosting

I was looking through my blog and discovered that I've never blogged lemon cupcakes before. I've definitely made them often enough (mostly pre-blog) so I feel the need to share them here. This actually came about whilst I was making my lavender cupcakes. The original recipe made a lot of frosting (I've given half the amount which is enough to frost 1 batch of cupcakes) so before I added the purple colouring, I set aside half of the lemon and honey frosting and baked a batch of these delicious lemon cupcakes. I used my tried and tested lemon cake recipe and the result was a delightfully moist, zingy cake. It paired really well with the lemon and honey cream cheese frosting. I've made them with a lemon buttercream frosting previously which also works well.

I'm entering these to Cupcake Tuesday hosted by Liz from Hoosier Homemade. 

 ready to go in the oven 

 ready to be frosted 

 lemon and honey cream cheese frosting 

 topped with a sugared lemon slice 

For the cupcakes

Makes 10 cupcakes

110g golden caster sugar
110g self-raising flour, sifted
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
12g cornflour
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Lemon and honey cream cheese frosting
150g cream cheese
100g icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add the lemon zest and juice. 
• Add the flour, cornflour and baking powder. 
• Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely. 
• Spread the icing on the cupcakes using a spatula.
• Decorate with a sugared lemon slice. 

Lavender, lemon and honey cupcakes and a review

Recently I was sent a set of 2 paisley park baking moulds from dotcomgiftshop to review.  It's a great site full of lovely gifts for yourself or family and friends. They have quite a good baking selection and I've already built up a little wish list for myself.  The big question was which cupcake to make? 

I narrowed it down to hot chocolate cupcake, earl grey tea cupcake or lavender cupcake.  The decision was made when my lovely friend whom I baked the weight watchers coffee tiramisu cake for gave me a bunch of fresh lavender from her garden. I did a search for recipes and really liked the sound of lavender, lemon and honey cupcakes with a lemon and honey cream cheese frosting. 

lavender from my friend's garden 

The lavender taste is very subtle but definitely there. I am surprised that you can actually taste the honey as sometimes I find it gets lost in the cake. The lemon is the predominant flavour and I might try reducing the lemon flavour next time.  Overall, a very delicious, moist cupcake which paired well with the lemon and honey cream cheese frosting. 

The moulds come in this cute box. There are 2 silicone baking cups and 2 saucers (which are for presentation only). It comes in other colours too but I liked the pink one! The cups themselves are quite sturdy, easy to wash and the cake slid out easily with no problems. No need for greasing and flouring.  I was not too keen on the look of the saucers on their own as they look quite "plasticky"  but when presented with the teacup it actually looks quite cute. For the price, this was reasonable and I would have been happy to buy this for myself or a friend. It would be great if it came in a pack of 4 but you can always double up your order! 

 teacup and saucer 

 blitz the lavender flowers with caster sugar 

 lavender sugar smells lovely! 

 ready to go in the oven - I made regular cupcake as well as I only had 2 silicone cups 

 fresh from the oven - it keeps its shape very well. 

 add the frosting and a sprig of fresh lavender 

 The cupcake on the left came out of the silicone cup - you can see that it retained it's shape and is browned evenly on the outside. 

 the regular cupcakes! 

Recipe adapted from hooray for off weekends

Makes ~ 11 cupcakes

Lavender, lemon and honey cupcakes 

150g caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried lavender flowers

170g butter

3 tablespoons good quality honey

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest and juice of 1 lemon

185g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Lemon and honey cream cheese frosting

150g cream cheese

100g icing sugar, sifted

1 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon lemon juice

purple food colouring (optional) 

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Blitz the sugar and lavender in a food processor.
• Beat the butter, lavender sugar and honey until pale and fluffy. 
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Add the vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice.
• Mix in the flour and baking powder. 
• Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and the tops spring back.
• Allow to cool completely. 
• Mix all the ingredients for the frosting in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment until smooth. 
• Spread on top of the cupcakes. 
• Decorate with a sprig of fresh lavender. 

Disclaimer: I was sent these baking moulds to review free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Butterfly Cake

I made this a few weeks ago for a colleague's leaving do. We went out for dinner and drinks the night before so I had to make something quick and simple.  I knew I wanted to make a cake but wouldn't have time to make a fancy layer cake so I decided to jazz up a sponge cake with jam filling to look like a butterfly. 

I used to make these quite often pre-blog which is why I'm only sharing this with you now. Since starting my blog, I've tried many new recipes and tend to make something different each time so I can blog about it. This cake has brought back memories of my early baking days and I will try to share a few other tried and tested recipes with you on my blog in the coming months. 

 leftover blackcurrant jam from we should cocoa challenge last month 

 fill the cake with jam 

 spread buttercream frosting on top 

 

 add a little glitz and glamour 

 slice the cake in half and turn them around as shown to create the butterfly wings 

 add a giant twix bar in the middle 

For the sponge

250g butter

250g caster sugar

250g self raising flour

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the buttercream

100g butter

200g icing sugar

few drops of food colouring 

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Add in the vanilla extract and flour.
• Divide evenly between 2 round sandwich tins.
• Bake for approximately 15-18 minutes or until it's golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely before assembling.
• Place 1 cake on a plate. Spread jam evenly over the top.
• Sandwich with second cake.
• To make the buttercream icing, mix all the ingredients until smooth.
• Spread the icing on top of the cake and add sprinkles.
• Slice the cake in half and turn both halves around as shown.
• Add a twix bar in the middle. 

Weight Watchers Coffee Tiramisu Cake

It's true that you know who your true friends are when you are in trouble. Recently I really needed the help and support of friends and I'm pleased that one in particular came to my rescue. She was a star and I am so grateful for her help. Of course my way of saying thank you is to bake a cake but she had recently started weight watchers and told me (jokingly I hope!) that part of the reason was my bakes!!

Undeterred, I looked up a recipe on weight watchers and came across this coffee tiramisu cake which has 4 weight watcher points per serving. I ended up having a slice with her when I delivered the cake but I'm afraid I don't have a picture of the slice. What I can say is that the cake is quite tasty for a fatless sponge. This is far better than my previous attempt at a low fat chocolate mocha cake. If you or your friends are on a diet, I highly recommend this for a healthy treat! Just to be clear my friend was very pleased to receive the cake and no I do not intentionally sabotage people's diets! :)

I'm sending this along to AlphaBakes hosted by myself this month and co-hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes as the letter is T for tiramisu. I promise it was a total coincidence - my aim was to find a delicious low fat recipe that uses regular ingredients. I do wonder how they got the height of the cake in their photo - either a very small tin or a different recipe!

 whisk the eggs and sugar until it is thick and airy 

 I think I was supposed to use a smaller tin ... oops! I only have this size anyway so tough luck. 

 I only had marsala wine so I used that. I bought 0% fat youghurt and low fat cream cheese 

 Place the (thin) sponge on a plate 

 spread the yoghurt/cream cheese mixture on top 

 Layer with cake and more topping 

 Finally dust with cocoa powder 

Recipe from weightwatchers

5 spray(s) Cooking Spray, Calorie Controlled 1 teaspoons Coffee, Ground 3 medium Egg, Whole 75 g Sugar, Light Brown 75 g Flour, Wheat, White, Plain 250 g Cheese, Soft, Medium Fat 100 g Rachel's Organic Range Luscious Low Fat Bio-Life Yogurt with Vanilla 15 ml Liqueurs, High Strength, (3 tsp) Tia Maria 1 teaspoons (heaped) Cocoa Powder, for sprinkling Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190°C/fan oven 170°C.  Lightly grease 2 x 18cm sandwich tins with low fat cooking spray.  Line the bases with circles of non-stick baking parchment or greaseproof paper. Put the coffee powder or granules into a cup and add 1 tbsp boiling water, stirring to dissolve. Whisk the eggs and sugar together using a hand-held electric whisk until pale, thick and very airy. This will take about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the coffee liquid. Sift the flour into the mixture and fold it in lightly using a large metal spoon.  Share the mixture between the cake tins and level the tops.  Bake the cakes for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops spring back when pressed lightly.  Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from the tins and peel away the lining paper. Cool completely. Beat the low fat soft cheese with a wooden spoon until softened, then stir in the vanilla yogurt and 1 tbsp Tia Maria or Marsala.  Put one of the cakes on a serving plate and sprinkle the rest of the Tia Maria or Marsala evenly over the surface.  Spread half the soft cheese mixture on top, then place the second cake in position.  Cover with the remaining soft cheese mixture and sprinkle with cocoa powder.  Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve, though allow time for the cake to come up to room temperature to enjoy it at its best.

Banana Butterscotch Pecan Muffins

I mentioned yesterday that I baked 2 banana recipes recently. If you missed the dark chocolate and raspberry banana loaf then do check it out as it's delicious! This is actually one I've baked before but I decided to make them into muffins and because they are so good, I want to share them again.  The flavour combination of banana, butterscotch and pecan is heavenly. I substituted spelt flour to make it healthier - you can also use wholemeal flour or plain flour. It makes for a very substantial breakfast and  they freeze well too :)

 finally got a chance to use my pretty muffin wrappers 

 yum! 

Makes 8 large muffins

3 ripe bananas
225g spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
150g brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
60mls milk
60g yoghurt
100g pecan nuts
150g butterscotch chips

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mash the bananas.
• Add the eggs one at a time. 
• Add the sugar, oil, milk and yoghurt and mix well.
• Add in the dry ingredients and mix.
• Finally stir in the butterscotch chips and pecan nuts.
• Spoon into muffin cases.
• Bake for approximately 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown. 
• A skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean.