Lancaster Lemon tart

I keep flicking through the many cook books I have and thinking how I would love to make every single one of the recpices. However that isn’t completely feasible, so I keep chipping away at them one at a time. This one I stumbled across and thought looked a bit different and interesting.

Golden brown. Exactly how it should be!

It is very similar in a lot of ways to a bakewell tart just with different layers and no icing on top. The recipe tells you to use lard in the pastry. I’ve tried this once before and wasn’t pleased with the results. Instead I used my own sweet shortcrust recipe and it turned out much better.

Forr the pastry;

• 225g Plain Flour
• 30g Icing sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 125g Unsalted butter, diced
• 1 Egg, beaten
• Chilled water (optional)

For the filling;

• Jar of lemon curd
• 100g Unsalted butter, softened
• 100g Caster sugar
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 3 tsp Lemon juice
• 75g Self raising Flour, sifted
• 25g Ground Almonds

To make the pastry;

1. Place the flour, icing sugar and salt into a mixing bowl
2. Rub in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs
3. Add the egg and using a cutting motion with a knife mix into the mixture
4. Add a little water if the pastry is too dry
5. Bring it together with your hands and kneed gently in the bowl until smooth
6. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 mins
7. Then roll out on a floured surface to about 5mm thick to line your tart tin with
8. Prick with a fork and prepare the filling

To make the tart;

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Spread a thick layer of lemon curd over the base of your pastry and place into the fridge to cool
3. Beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until smooth
4. Add the eggs and lemon juice and beat well
5. Sift over the flour and add the ground almonds using a metal spoon or spatula to fold into the mixture
6. Place gently on top of the lemon curd in the tart tin and smooth the top
7. Bake in the oven for 30mins and then reduce to 150°C for 10 mins until golden brown and the sponge springs back slightly when pressed

Mine took a lot less time than this in a fan oven but as long as you keep an eye on it you can’t really go wrong.

Until next time happy baking

Jam and cream Roll

This is a twist on your standard roll. I’ve made a honey spice roll before which was very tasty but a more refreshing dessert I decided to make this. I used the same sponge recipe as I did for making the honest spice swiss roll. Then simply added in cream and jam.

I’ll admit it’s not the best roll I have ever achieved doing this but its probably because I did stuff it full of jam and cream 🙂

Filled with Jam and Cream. Yummy!

You need:

• 110g Self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp Mixed spice
• 3 Eggs, seperated
• 110g Caster sugar
• 2 tbsp Hot milk
• 20g Icing sugar, plus extra to serve
• 200ml Whipping cream
• Jar of jam
• 10″ x 12.5″ Swiss roll tin, lined and greased

To bake:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
2. Sift together the flour and mixed spice
3. In a seperate bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form
4. Gradually add the caster sugar 1tbsp at a time beating well inbetween
5. Add the egg yolks one at a time beating well inbetween
6. Beat for a further 5 mins until thick and pale
7. Pour the hot milk down the side of the bowl and sift the flour over the top
8. Use a spatula or large metal spoon and fold the mixture together until combined
9. Pour into the prepared tin and smooth over the top with the spatula or spoon
10. Bake for 8-10 mins or until golden and springy when pressed and a scewer comes out clean
11. Place onto a sheet of grease proof paper covered in the sifted icing sugar
12. Remove the grease proof paper used for baking
13. Roll up the cake tightly whilst being gentle to not tear the cake
14. Leave to cool completely
15. Whisk the whipping cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form
16. Unroll the cool cake and evenly spread over a thick layer of cream
17. Then on top of this spread over a layer of jam
18. Roll back up the cake and just before serving sprinkle over a little extra icing sugar

This is a really tasty dessert which goes great with a bit of extra fresh cream as well.

Until next time happy baking xxx

Easter Cake

Everyone  needs to do some baking at easter. It’s a great way of bringing people together sharing in the food or the making. This easter I thought it would be a great idea to try my skills out on icing a proper cake and decorating it. I’ve tried this as you’ve seen before on cupcakes but never a full size cake. I’m pleased to say I’m chuffed wit the results. Although I’m sure Mary  Berry and Paul Hollywood would critisicise it I’m pleased with the outcome.

A few little blemishes but I’m chuffed 🙂

For the sponge I used a simple recipe to save a bit of time and truth is its a fantastic sponge recipe 🙂

Ingredients;

• 10oz Margerine, softened
• 10oz Caster sugar
• 5 Eggs
• 10oz Self raising Flour

You’ll also need a 8″ round cake tin with the base lined and sides greased. For the icing you can do what you like. I used a butter icing for the filling and decoration. The icing is done using sugar icing which can be bought in blocks and simply rolled out.

The recipe can be found for this cake earlier in my blog posts. It’s the ‘oh so simple sponge’.

I will be trying more and more of this as it was such fun. The decorative icing around the bottom and the support for the eggs is simple coloured butter icing piped around the base.

I did also make Easter biscuits which again the recipe for can be found earlier in my posts.

Until next time happy baking xxx