Tag: lemon

Easy Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Alliyah Dawud
March 29, 2019

If there is any flavour of cake that doesn’t last in my household it’s lemon. My youngest is obsessed with lemon cakes of any shape or form. We made two dozen of these to give out for Ramadan at they proved a bit hit. With Spring in the air (British Summer Time has began in England; and you know what that means…one Happy Alliyah!). I thought you would love to bake a batch and enjoy them in the slightly warmer sun reminding us that Summer is on it’s way…

Feel free to half the recipe if you wish to make 12.

Ingredients:
250 grams butter (I use stork or store own brand version) at room tempreture
250 castor sugar
4 medium eggs
220 grams self raising flour
1 level tbsp baking powder
Juice of 4 lemons
Zest three of them
4 tbsp lemon curd (level spoons)

For the icing:
250 grams stork or other similar butter at room tempreture
550 grams icing sugar
2 tbsp lemon curd
1 tbsp boiling water
Optional extras: lemon decorations

1) preheat your oven to 170 (fan assisted) or 180 (non fan assisted). If you are an avid baker I really do recommend buying a stand alone thermometer you can pop in the oven to ensure baking tempratrues are even. Line two 12 hole muffin trays with cases (this recipe makes muffin size cupcakes).
2) Beat together the castor sugar and butter. This is called ‘creaming’ as you are creating a creamy buttery sugar mix. This shouldn’t take too long as long as the butter is at room tempretarure. You can also do this in a food processor. Either way cream away.
3) Now add the eggs-one by one. My tip is to crack each egg one by one into a bowl. That way if you end up with egg shell going into the egg it’s easier to fish out. Beat the egg in. Don’t worry if the mixture looks a bit curdled; this will be fixed when you add the flour.
4) Add the flour and baking powder and fold in.
5) Add the lemon juice and zest. Stir to combine.
6) Now add the lemon curd and gently whisk in. Don’t worry about combining it with the batter. If you can see the curd that’s absolutely fine.
7) Now spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases. Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 10/12 minutes (they’ll be a light golden colour). I usually use a cake testing skewer. Insert in the middle and if it comes out clear it’s all good. Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack.
TIP: don’t attempt to ice warm cupcakes. The mess is epic.

To make the icing:
Place the icing sugar and butter in a bowl and gently beat. Place in an icing bag (with a nozzle attached). Or use as you see fit.

To make the drizzle (optional):

Place the lemon curd in a jug/mug and add the boiling water. Whisk with a folk to create a ‘drizzle’. You may need to add a bit more water to get a drizzling consistency. If you find it’s too runny add a little bit more curd. Balance it out. I like a slightly runnier drizzle. You may prefer a more thicker one; hence why this part of the recipe is about testing until you find what you are happy with.

8) Once the cupcakes have cooled down ice them. Add the drizzle (it using) and decorations (ditto).

9) Enjoy.

These cupcakes keep in an airtight container for up to three days. Hot weather won’t help though. So if you wish to keep them in the summer months don’t ice them until you are ready to ravish them.

Zesty Citrus Slices
Alliyah Dawud
November 2, 2017

Zesty citrus slices

I absolutely love citrus fruit. My favourite has to be lemons closely followed by limes. Lemons are just so versatile. From being the feature of a lemon drizzle cake to being a star of a tagine and not to forget good old lemonade.

So when I was looking for something awesome without cocoa powder citrus popped up in my mind.

These slices are great. Extremely easy to make and versatile as you can switch up the citrus fruit to suit your fruit bowl.

I’ve tried the following:
Lemon and lime
Lime
Orange and lemon
Orange
Orange and lime

So as you can see you can mix and match the citrus to suit your needs. My favourite is pure lemon which I believe goes really well with mint tea (Arabian style).

Ingredients:
180 Grams plain flour
80 grams icing sugar
180 grams margarine or other solid fat suitable for baking (softened/melted)

For the citrus filling
3 eggs
Juice of 3 citrus fruit (or two if you are using oranges. So you can use 1 lemon and 1 orange) . Don’t forget to strain the juice.
Zest of the citrus fruits
270 grams caster sugar

Extra icing sugar for decorating

1) Preheat the oven to 375F (160 C). Grease a 19cm by 19cm square square pan. I use Wilton Cake Release greaser as it has never let me down and is less messy than traditional butter and flour.

2) In a large bowl combine the plain flour, icing sugar and margarine. Use a wooden spoon. What you’ll have is a rough dough like mixture. That’s fine. It’s meant to look like that.

3) Tip the flour mixture into the pre-prepared pan and pat down (pushing into the corners too). Try to level out the mixture as much as possible.

4) Now place in the oven and bake until lightly golden (approx 25 minutes).

5) Whilst the pastry layer is baking create the filling. In a large bowl (go on; wash the bowl you used the create the first layer) add the eggs, caster sugar and zest whisk. Now add the citrus juice and whisk a bit more.

5) take the pan out of the oven. Pour over the filling mix. Return to the oven and continue to bake until lightly golden ( check after 20 minutes to ensure you don’t burn it. My slices took 30 minutes to become golden brown).

6) Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely.

7) Dust with icing sugar and slice into 9 slices.

8) Serve with a nice cup of Mint Tea/Coffee or whatever you prefer.

Keep these slices in an airtight container and eat within 5 days.

NOTES:
For an extra citrus kick add the zest of one fruit to the dough mixture.