Tag Archives: lemon

Sgroppino – An Italian Lemon Cocktail

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Sgroppino

Sgroppino is a traditional Italian dessert cocktail made with lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco. It is often served at the end of a meal, or sometimes between courses, as a refreshing palate cleanser. Light, citrusy and gently frothy, it is quick to prepare and best enjoyed immediately while still cold and airy.

Sgroppino

Servings: 4
Total time: 10 mins

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 500 g lemon sorbet, very cold and slightly softened
  • 100 ml vodka, straight from the freezer
  • 750 ml prosecco, well chilled
  • Zest of 2 lemons, optional
  • Mint leaves or lemon twists, to serve

METHOD

  1. Remove the lemon sorbet from the freezer and let it soften at room temperature for about 5 minutes until scoopable but still firm.
  2. Place the sorbet in a chilled bowl and whisk gently until smooth and creamy.
  3. Slowly whisk in the vodka until fully combined.
  4. Gradually pour in the prosecco, whisking gently to keep the mixture light and foamy.
  5. Taste and adjust, adding a splash more vodka for sharpness or a little extra sorbet for sweetness if needed.
  6. Serve immediately in chilled champagne flutes or coupes.
  7. Garnish with a mint leaf or a fine twist of lemon zest.

Lemon Sponge

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We’ve recently bought a mini electric oven so I’ve been experimenting with making cakes in small-sized tins. This one was a modification of Helena’s mum’s lemon drizzle cake recipe. I’d heard about the method of weighing an egg in its shell and then using the same weight of sugar, flour and butter.

My 2 eggs weighed 140g in total so I weighed out equal amounts of flour, sugar and butter. This was the perfect amount for a 220cm x 160cm x 5cm rectangular cake tin.

I’d got some icing left over from making a carrot cake so I spread this on top of the cake after pouring over the lemon drizzle.

 

LEMON SPONGE

This recipe is quick and easy to make and deliciously moist and lemony.

Lemon Sponge

CAKE INGREDIENTS

  • 2 eggs (weigh them with their shells)
  • (weight of eggs)g self-raising flour
  • (weight of eggs)g sugar
  • (weight of eggs)g butter, softened
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced (use the half the zest for the cake and the other half for the drizzle level teaspoon baking powder)
  • 4 tablespoons milk

TOPPING INGREDIENTS

  • 115g granulated sugar
  • juice of the lemon

METHOD

  1. Grease and line the cake tin.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar.
  3. Add the eggs and mix well.
  4. Add the other cake ingredients and 1 or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and half the lemon zest and beat for a minute or so.
  5. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 35 minutes (or until cooked).
  6. For the topping, gently heat the sugar and the lemon juice until the sugar dissolves.
  7. When the cake has cooked, prick the top of the cake with a skewer and pour over the lemon topping.
  8. Serve with cream.

 

Lemon Drizzle Cake

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I’m still experimenting with baking cakes in the breadmaker and trying out as many different recipes as possible. The recipe for this lemon drizzle cake came from Helena’s mum. It was super easy to make and tasted delicious – moist and lemony. This is a photo of the original recipe:

I’ve converted it into metric.

LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

This recipe is delicious and quick and easy to make.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

This recipe is easy to prepare and only requires turning after 20 minutes.

 

CAKE INGREDIENTS

  • 6 ounces or 170g self-raising flour
  • 6 ounces or 170g sugar
  • 4 ounces or 115g butter, softened
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced (use the zest for the cake and the juice for the topping)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 level teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 tablespoons milk

TOPPING INGREDIENTS

  • 4 ounces or 115g granulated sugar
  • juice of the lemon

METHOD

  1. Heat the oven to 170ºC (fan).
  2. Grease and line the loaf tin.
  3. Add all the cake ingredients to a mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes.
  4. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for about 35 minutes (or until cooked).
  5. For the topping, mix together the sugar and the lemon juice in a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
  6. When the cake has cooked, remove from the oven.
  7. Prick the top of the cake with a skewer and pour over the lemon topping.
  8. Leave to cool before serving.

This is an alternative recipe which uses more butter, no milk and an extra egg. The mixture is dryer but the cake is just as good.

    • 250g Soft Unsalted Butter
      250g Caster Sugar
      290g Self Raising Flour
      4 Large eggs
      Zest of 2 Lemons
      1. 1 Tbsp Milk
  •  

Topping:
Juice of 1 Lemon
100g Granulated sugar

Follow the same method as before but heat the oven to 160ºC (fan oven) and cook the cake for 35- 40 minutes. Turn off the oven at the end of the cooking time and leave the cake for a final 5 minutes if necessary.

Lemon and Olive Oil Drizzle Cake

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LEMON AND OLIVE OIL DRIZZLE CAKE


Lemon and Olive Oil Drizzle Cake

This cake is made from lemons and extra virgin olive oil. It is one of the cakes that I make in the bread-maker.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 250 g sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 lemons
  • 120 ml olive oil
  • 100 ml milk
  • 275 g self-raising flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder

For the drizzle

  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 50 g sugar

METHOD

  1. The recipe uses 3 lemons. Zest all the lemons and use 2/3 of the juice for the cake and 1/3 of the juice for the drizzle.
  2. Place the silicone liner in an 18cm cake tin.
  3. Whisk together the sugar and eggs.
  4. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil and milk, and mix thoroughly.
  5. Fold in the flour and baking powder.
  6. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the bread-maker on the BAKE cycle for about 1½ hours until cooked.
  7. Take the cake out of the tin and cool on a wire rack.
  8. Prepare the drizzle by heating the remaining lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan.
  9. Prick the top of the cake with a skewer and pour over the drizzle.

Kumquat and Lemon Marmalade using a pressure cooker

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I have never made marmalade before and have always been put off by the seemingly  never-ending, tedious task of chopping, peeling, shredding, juicing, boiling, testing, etc. But when a friend told me about his method of making kumquat and lemon marmalade by soaking the fruit in sugar for a day, I thought I would give it a go. In his recipe, the kumquats are halved, the pips removed, and then combined in a bowl with lemon juice and sugar for 24 hours before boiling as normal.

My challenge, therefore, was to invent a recipe for a pressure cooker which would be even easier and quicker to prepare. A neighbour’s sister makes quince jelly in a pressure cooker by combining equal parts of fruit and sugar and then cooking for 3 minutes at pressure so I decided to experiment with times to see if this method would be possible for marmalade.

The first attempt was a success (although the cooking times needed tweaking) and I was really pleased with the consistency, texture and taste of the first batch. I had literally thrown everything in together (pips, pith and lemon quarters) but decided that for the second attempt I would tie the pips and lemon pith and skins in muslin to keep them separate.

It was clear that three minutes was far too short and I had to bring the cooker back up to pressure several times. So I decided that for the second attempt I would cook the marmalade for 15 minutes at pressure.

INGREDIENTS
500g kumquats
2 large lemons
400g brown sugar or half the weight of the prepared fruit

METHOD
Cut the kumquats in half, remove the pips and save on a muslin square. Cut the loquats into 2mm slices.
Peel the lemon rind with a vegetable peeler. Shred the rind into 2mm strips.
Put an empty bowl on the scales and weigh in the fruit and lemon juice. Add half the amount of sugar and mix well.
Securely tie up the lemon pith and pips in the muslin square and add toe the bowl of fruit.

Leave for 24 hours, stirring every so often. At the end of that time, the sugar will have completely dissolved and there will be quite a bit more syrup.

Transfer the kumquats and the muslin bag to a pressure cooker. Bring up to pressure and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the pressure cooker from the heat and slow release the pressure.

Open the pressure cooker and transfer immediately into clean glass jars using a jam funnel and a measuring jug. Turn all the jars upside down to sterilise the caps for about half an hour and then turn back the right way and leave to cool completely.