LEMON AND PASSION FRUIT DOUBLE DRIZZLE CAKE

Hello! How are you doing? You ok-ish? The world feels like it's turned upside down, doesn't it? I'm a week into working from home, and just a couple of days into lockdown here in London. I'd like to say I'm getting used to it, but it does all still feel like a bit of a bad dream. 

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Blueberry elderflower loaf cake

I've blinked and somehow it's mid-September - how did that happen? Easter weekend honestly feels like a couple weeks ago. It's true what they say - the days get longer and the years shorter. 2019 has just flown by.

I've had a busy few (read: five) months what with wedding cake season, so it was nice to find myself with a little time to bake something that wasn't a birthday or wedding cake a couple weekends ago. This little loaf was the result of some leftover birthday cake batter, yellow sticker reduced blueberries  and the dregs of the many vats of elderflower cordial that fill our cupboards over wedding season. We took it to lunch with friends and ate it with strawberry ice-cream, which was just perfect.

I baked this baby loaf cake in the dinky little loaf tin I bought at the incredible E Dehillerin on a trip to Paris a couple weeks ago - it's very cute, but also rather small, so I've doubled the recipe to suit a regular sized 1lb loaf tin.

THE INGREDIENTS

4 eggs, weighed in their shells (this will be around 220g)

Equal quantities of:

Unsalted butter, softened

Golden caster sugar

Self-raising flour

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Zest of 1 lemon
100g blueberries

3 tbsp elderflower cordial

150g golden icing sugar

THE RECIPE

Heat your oven to 170°C, and grease and line the loaf tin with baking paper. 

Cream the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg in until smoothly incorporated before adding the next. Sieve in the flour and salt and fold to combine. Stir through the lemon zest and the blueberries (reserving a couple for decorating).  

Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and level the surface, then bake in the middle the oven for 30-45 minutes, until risen, golden brown and a skewer or knife inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. 

Use a cocktail stick or skewer to pierce little holes alls over the cake, then brush with 2 tbsp of the elderflower cordial. Leave to cool.

To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with enough elderflower cordial to make a thick icing. Add a tiny bit at a time to ensure the icing doesn't become too runny. Spread over the top of the cake, and decorate with the reserved fresh blueberries. 

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Grapefruit, Hazelnut and Polenta Cake

These precious days between Christmas Day and the New Year make up my favourite week of the year. After the excitement of advent and ensuing celebrations, the calm, quiet time that follows is unbelievable special. To me, it really does feel like the only time that everyone switches off, beds in and takes stock ahead as the year in question drawers to a close. I find myself looking forward to those days in between almost as much as I look forward to Christmas itself. 

After so much indulgence, a cake of a slightly more wholesome persuasion can be just the ticket. This little loaf is the perfect project to while away a cosy afternoon this week. Rich with hazelnut, polenta and grapefruit, it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest cake for breakfast too. 

THE INGREDIENTS

1 grapefruit

175g unsalted butter

175g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

60g plain flour

60g ground hazelnuts

60g fine polenta

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

300ml double cream

Toasted hazelnuts, optional

THE RECIPE

For the cake, begin with the grapefruit. Run the fruit under hot water to remove any wax coating, then place in a saucepan. Cover with water so that the grapefruit is submerged. Boil for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until the fruit is completely soft and a knife sinks through the peel with no resistance.

Remove the grapefruit from the water and set aside to cool. Slice in half, remove any pips, then blitz (peel and all!) in a food processor until pureed. Set aside. 

Heat the oven to 170°C and line a loaf tin with baking parchment. Grease the sides of the tin lightly with butter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Adds the eggs, mixing after each addition. Add half of the grapefruit puree (discarding the second half) and fold into the mixture.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground hazelnuts, polenta, baking powder and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Place this in the centre of the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the surface of the cake is a deep caramel colour, and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

When you are ready to serve the cake, whip the cream into soft peaks, and spoon over the top. Sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts and top with dehydrated grapefruit slices to decorate.

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BANANA COCONUT LOAF {DAIRY FREE}

It has been a strange few weeks. A surreal blur of keeping the wheels in motion. Finding yourself in London's only late night post office at 9pm on a Thursday night in Belsize Park kind of weird. Another story for another day - although there's not much more to it than that really.

It can seem crazy to stop everything and whip up a cake when things are busy, but I'm constantly reminded of how important it is to make some time for yourself every now and then. There is so much buzz around mindfulness at the moment, and it's worth listening to - everyone needs downtime occasionally.

When my alarm went off at 6.45am on Saturday - on Saturday - I wasn't convinced. But by lunchtime I was sat at my Granny's sewing machine, pattern pieces carefully cut out, the first pieces of a dress coming together. It may have taken a weekend and several stiff drinks for both of us, but I had my first homemade garment packed in my bag for the train journey home. I feel very lucky that my grandparents are still in my life and passing on everything they've learnt to us.

Perhaps it was the sewing - perhaps it was the fact that my grandparents life in a wi-fi blackspot - but this weekend was the first time I felt able to really switch off from life. It was fun, and I hope I'll have the mental energy to put my sewing lessons to use again one day.

For now, I'm sticking to baking. This banana coconut loaf is naturally dairy free, and low in sugar too. It's so easy to make and, if the remainder I polished off yesterday is anything to go by, actually gets better for being kept for a few days.

  THE INGREDIENTS (all at room temperature)

75g coconut oil

100g coconut cream

75g caster sugar

1 tbsp treacle 

1 egg

3 small ripe bananas

100g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tbsp Malibu rum (optional, but delicious) 

THE RECIPE

Line a 1 lb loaf tin with parchment, and preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the coconut oil, coconut cream, sugar, treacle and egg to combine. Mash the bananas separately, then mix through.

Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt, mix, then pour into the lined tin. Bake in your preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until it is golden and passes the knife test. While the cake is still hot, brush with the malibu. Allow to cool before slicing.  

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