June 22nd 2007

Okay I am back to finish what I started. The Lemon and Lavendar cake. As I said it took an hour and a half in the oven to bake. And it smelled yummy!!!

After it had cooled I made a lemon glaze to go over it and then sprinkled on a few more lavendar buds.



Now yesterday you could definately taste the lemon and the lavendar in the first bite, which was a bit unusual. But after the initial bite, you didn't taste the lavendar only the lemon.



And today the cake has had time for the flavours to meld together and you really don't taste a strong lavendar taste at all. It did turn out very nice and moist even for that long baking time..

And here is the recipe....

Adapted from the American cookbook The New Pillsbury Family Cookbook 1975. This was my first cook book I ever owned or rather a copy of the first one as my son has my original copy. I have since found this one on the internet and had it shipped over to the UK. Anyway here is the recipe and my additions.
Lemon Lavendar Pound Cake
2 1/4 cups plain flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest ( I used the zest of a whole lemon)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup butter softened
1 cup yogurt
3 eggs
And my addition of 2 tablespoons of fresh lavendar flower buds.

Preheat the oven to 325°F (I used fan at 170°C). In large mixing bowl combine the sugar and the butter just till mixed, then add all the other ingredients and on low speed until blended of an electric hand mixer. This is a really heavy batter. Beat for an additional 3 minutes at medium speed scraping the bowl's sides several times. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x5 inch loaf tin. Bake for about 1 hour and 3o minutes. Until golden brown and when a tooth pick inserted into centre comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then remove from pan. Cool completely befor icing the cake.

Lemon glaze icing...

Well this is my own and there are no measurements. Just till it looks right.

Take a small bit of butter and melt into a measuring jug. Add a tablespoon at a time of sifted icing sugar and mix. When thick then add a little vanilla extract and the zest of 1 lemon and the juice of 1/2 of a lemon then start adding more sifted icing sugar until it is of a fairly thick, but also runny consistency. You can make it as thick or as thin as you want by adding either more sugar or more liquid (lemon juice or milk). Now spread onto cooled cake and I sprinkled about a teaspoon of more Lavendar flower buds.

It was and is an interesting cake. If you want what we Americans call a pound cake just leave out the Lavendar buds and there you have it. It is very similar in texture to the British Maderia cake, but the flavour is different. My work colleague liked it and is taking some home to her husband to try. My hubby likes it too.

Smoothies

We have been having the occasional smoothies still and Hubby really likes them. I did and will admit to having one that we both didn't really care too much for and it is this one. I put the oranges in whole and the skin didn't blend up as much as I had hoped, so well.... let's just say it wasn't as smooth as it should have been.

But to make up for it this one here we both gave the thumbs up!!!
A handful of fresh blueberries, 1 banana, 1 mango, about 5 large strawberries, juice from 1/2 lemon, two heaping teaspoonfuls of yogurt and lots of ice cubes all in the blender and pulse till smooth.... This one was very creamy and very cold too!! Excellent for the hot summers day we had after the cooker arrived.


Last night's supper meal 2 from the new cooker.

Okay I wanted to test out different parts of the new stove so looked for a recipe for grilling... Take a Chicken breast and cut a pocket into it. Stuff with goats cheese and some fresh thyme leaves and seal with a wet cocktail stick. Coat in honey and sprinkle on some paprika (I used smoked paprika, have you lot tried this stuff it is lovely!!!!!) Place on a preheated grill pan and grill for about 7 minutes per side. I had to turn my grill(broiler for the Americans out there) down. It was rather hot. In the meantime I sauteed some potatoes and with a griddle pan cooked some sliced onion and peppers that were tossed in some olive oil and some thyme leaves. The broccoli is frozen I just cooked quick in the microwave, thought we needed something green to eat. It all turned out lovely and actually quite quick again to cook. Guess this is the biggest difference between the old stove and this new one, the timing of the cooking. This one is like a super powered high performance machine and the poor old cooker (it did serve us well for over 15 years) was like an old sedan. We are going to be cooking a roast this Sunday and I will let you know how that gets on....