Lemon Madeleines

Madeleines have always held a whimsical fascination for me. Their delicate crumb, distinctive shell shape and the cute hump, without which it isn't really a madeleine, is it?!

 When LionsHome got in touch with me and asked me to create a recipe for them, my mind skipped right over to madeleines. I've had a hankering for the adorable little tea cakes for the longest time but always put off baking them as my madeleine pan is of the vintage persuasion. Beautiful to look at but the non stick coating is, to say, non existent.  That's where I decided enough was enough, I just had to invest in a new Madeleine Cake Tin. No need to over grease the holes, no need to gently jimmy a knife around the edge of each cake only to completely destroy their beautiful shape.  They just slipped out like a dream.  I can see many more madeleines in my future.

One thing I must say about baking these little delicacies, you must follow the chilling advice.  The chilling of the batter is what helps the cake form their distinctive hump.  Chill the batter, chill the pan and you should have perfectly formed little cakes. 

With a plate of still warm from the oven lemon madeleines, a piping hot cup of tea I had nothing else to do but peruse the Kitchen section of LionsHome for a spot of window shopping.  One of my favourite things in the world is to just sit and pour over online shops full of gorgeous home wares and imagine what I would buy and where I would put them in my home.  If only I had a bigger house to fill.

Lemon Madeleines

Ingredients

• 3 large, free range eggs
• 130g caster sugar
• 175g plain flour
• zest of 1 small lemon
• 125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature.
• 1tbsp unsalted butter, melted for greasing the moulds

Cooking Directions

1. Brush the holes of a madeleine pan with melted butter. Dust with flour, tap off any excess, and place in the fridge or freezer while you make your batter.
2. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whip the eggs and caster sugar for 5 minutes until frothy and thick.
3. Sift the flour into the whipped eggs, fold in gently. Once the flour is just incorporated add the lemon zest to the cooled butter, then dribble the butter into the batter a little at a time, folding the butter in as you pour until it is all incorporated.
4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Batter can be chilled for up to 12 hours.)
5. To bake the madeleines, preheat the oven to 175C. Pop around 1tbsp of batter into each mould and bake for 9-10 minutes until the cakes just feel set and have gone golden brown.
6. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for 5 minutes and slide the madeleines out onto a cooling rack. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy. 

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Orange Drizzle Loaf

With Valentines day a mere 24 hours away, I'm feeling the love in the air and the romance in the water. This year I decided to join in on Food Blogger Love and share a little bit of loveliness for my fellow online foodies.  My chosen Valentine is Kelly Lynn from Kelly Lynn's Sweets & Treats. Happy chocolates and flowers day Kelly!

Kelly's blog is jammed full of tasty treats and I just loved drooling over her recipes.  For the purpose of Food Blogger Love I thought I'd whip up my take on her delicious looking Orange Loaf Cake.  My orange drizzle loaf is a bit different from Kelly's version, hers is a traditional pound cake smothered in yummy frosting where mine is a fluffy loaf soaked in an orange syrup. I think between us we've got everyones preferences covered.

I have to admit, I'm super jealous of Kelly's orange tree, imagine having a bounty of fresh fruit right in your own back yard! I'll have to make do with my local green grocer, oh well.

Drizzle cake is my absolute favorite cake in the world. Normally you attribute this style of loaf with lemon but it lends itself perfectly to any citrus fruit. I've had excellent results from lime and even grapefruit.  There's nothing like breaking through that sugary crust and letting the zingy citrus sponge melt on your tongue.

Orange Drizzle Loaf

Ingredients

• For the cake:
• 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 250g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 250g self raising flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 2tbsp orange zest from 2 oranges


• For the drizzle :
• juice from 2 oranges
• 250g caster sugar

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 170C and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer mix all of the cake ingredients together untill fully combined.
3. Pour batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45-55 minutes until risen and springy to the touch. Allow to cool while you make the drizzle.
4. Stir together the sugar and orange juice, once combined pour over the loaf and leave to cool in the tin for 2 hours or overnight.
5. Once cool, use a sharp knife to release the edged of the cake from the tin and remove. Slice and enjoy. 

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Matcha and Raspberry Cupcakes

There's a bit of a theme with the tea based recipes here, I promise I'll give you a break after this one but I just couldn't hold it in any longer.  I love a cup of green tea, the health benefits are off the charts. It helps with bloating, is packed with antioxidants, boosts metabolism and lowers cholesterol.  Matcha is the heavy hitting big brother of a normal cup of green tea, and boy is it delicious.  I don't drink coffee so a matcha latte is my favourite go to drink when we're out and about.  We'll not mention the Starbucks version though, godawful!

I was gifted a pot of ceremonial grade matcha tea from The Tea Makers a while ago, and I just couldn't bring myself to drink it. It's like killing a unicorn.  So, instead I decided to incorporate it into some recipes and share the joys of matcha tea with my friends and family.  First up I baked up a batch of matcha and raspberry cupcakes and boy are they something special.  I fed them to my boyfriends bandmates and they went wild, something I was just not expecting from a bunch of hairy musicians.  I was overjoyed, these cupcakes are gold medal winners.

Matcha has a bit of an earthy undertone, which I personally love, but it's not for everyone.  With that in mind I decided to fill the cakes with a sweet and sticky raspberry jam to balance out the flavour.  It worked perfectly, matcha and raspberry are a match made in heaven.

I picked up these adorable matcha pocky from my local Asian supermarket for less than £1, and you can get freeze dried raspberries from Waitrose and Amazon.  

Matcha Green Tea and Raspberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

• For the cupcakes:
• 175g (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 175g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 175g (1.5 cups) self raising flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 2tbsp matcha green tea powder
• 50ml whole milk
• 1 jar of good quality raspberry jam


• For the frosting:
• 125g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 250g (2 cups) icing sugar
• 1/2tbsp matcha green tea powder
• 2tbsp whole milk
• freeze dried raspberries to decorate
• green tea pocky cut in thirds to decorate

Cooking Directions

1. Heat your oven to 170C and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with liners. Set aside.


2. The the bowl of an electric mixer whip the butter and sugar together till light and creamy, around 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time mixing between each addition. Add half the flour and mix, add the milk followed by the rest of the flour, the baking powder and matcha powder. Mix till combined the mix in the vanilla extract.


3. Using an ice cream scoop fill each cupcake liner to 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes until risen and springy when touched. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to a baking rack to finish cooling.


4. To make the frosting first mix the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale and soft. Add the icing sugar, matcha powder and the milk. Turn the mixer on low and gradually increase the speed. Whip for 5 minutes, if the frosting looks too stiff add a touch more milk until you reach a nice piping consistency.


5. One the cupcakes have cooled take an apple corer or a small knife and hollow out the center of each cupcake and fill with raspberry jam. Fill a piping bag, fitted with an open star nozzle, with the matcha frosting and pipe a cute swirl on each cake. Sprinkle with the freeze fried raspberries and top with 2 pieces of the pocky. 

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Earl Grey and Blueberry Layer Cake

Settling down with a good cup of tea is one of lifes little pleasures, pop some fairy lights and a softly scented candle in the mix and you're living the hygge life.  I have to admit, usually I opt for a bog standard builders brew. Yorkshire Tea with milk, no sugar please.  However, when I'm feeling a little frazzled and stressed out there's only one thing I want in my mug, a beautifully scented Earl Grey.  I take this with milk too; I know, I'm sorry.

What on earth could be better than a steaming cup of perfumed earl grey tea I hear you ask? How about a freakin' cake, infused with earl grey tea?!  OMG right?!  A pillowy tea infused sponge, creamy vanilla frosting and lashings of blueberry jam.

I present to you the Earl Grey and blueberry cake.  Hot Damn.  Blueberries pair perfectly with the bergamot in the tea, if you're feeling super fruity you could even add a handful of fresh blueberries to the sponge. 

Did you guys know that Newcastle, oh all right, Northumberland, is the ancestral home of British Prime Minister and tea enthusiast Charles Grey? Legend has it that the tea was specially blended to suit the lime heavy water at Howick Hall.  The Greys enjoyed the tea so much they brought the infusion with them to London where it caught the eye, and taste, of Twinings.  And so, an icon was born.

The key to this cake is the tea infused milk.  Steeping the teabags in the milk for a good hour before baking the cake is essential to get that strong Earl Grey taste.  While you're waiting for the infusion you might as well brew yourself a cup, it's a hard life. Just don't forget those fairy lights and candles.

Earl Grey and Blueberry Cake

Ingredients

• For the infused milk :
• 150ml whole milk
• 4 Earl Grey tea bags


• For the cake :
• 350g unsalted butter, softened
• 350g caster sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 350g self raising flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp vanilla extract


• For the frosting :
• 250g unsalted butter
• 450g icing sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 4tbsp milk
• blueberry jam
• fresh blueberries to decorate

Cooking Directions

• First of all pour the milk into a small saucepan and heat over a medium heat. Allow to bubble but remove just before it comes to the boil. Add the 4 tea bags, give it a stir and leave until completely cool. Once cooled down, remove the bags, give them a good squeeze and discard. Set the infused milk aside while you make the cake. 

• Preheat the oven to 170C and line 3 9" cake tins with baking paper.  Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on a medium speed for 5 minutes until the butter is light and creamy. Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside. Turn the mixer down to a low speed and crack the eggs in one at a time. Once the eggs are fully Incorporated add half of the flour and mix to combine, add the infused milk and vanilla extract followed by the remaining flour and mix again. 

• Pour the batter into the prepared baking tins and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and the cake springs back when you touch it. Allow to cool in the pans for 20 minutes before removing them and placing on a baking rack to finish cooling. 

• To make the frosting first mix the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale and soft. Add the icing sugar, vanilla and 2tbsp of the milk. Turn the mixer on low and gradually increase the speed. Whip for 5 minutes, if the frosting looks too stiff add the rest of your milk. You may find you need a little more, just go steady until you reach a nice piping consistency. 

• Spread the frosting on top of your first cake followed by a good splodge of blueberry jam, top with the next cake and repeat. Pop your top layer on and spread the remaining frosting on top, scatter with fresh blueberries. If you have a piping bag and nozzle feel free to pipe your butter cream on for a more polished look. 

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Homemade Vegetarian Gyoza

I've wrote about my undying love for gyozas before, nothing has changed. I still eat copious amounts of the blighters and I still have a warm fuzzy feeling when I have a freezer full.  The only thing that has changed is my house is now half vegetarian. Since I don't want to leave my poor boyfriend out of my frenzied gyoza eating sessions I decided to whip up some sans-meat. 

In fact, these homemade asparagus and tofu gyozas aren't just vegetarian, they're also vegan friendly.  The best thing about these little dumplings of joy is they freeze perfectly.  Simply freeze them in on layer before transferring them into freezer bags, you never know when an unexpected guest may drop by.  Plus, the kudos you'll get for steaming up a big batch of dumplings is amazing, nobody will believe you made these seemingly complex little parcels.

I get my gyoza wrappers from the frozen section of my local Asian supermarket, along with any of the harder to find veggies and sauces. They really are a total treasure trove of interesting ingredients, I could get lost for hours meandering through the colourful isles.  If you're in the Newcastle area, I recommend HiYoU, it's my go to.

Don't forget your dumpling press if, like me, you can't hack the fiddly folding process. I'm just too damn impatient, I'm sure I'll learn one day.

I used Cauldron Marinated Tofu in this recipe as there's no need to press it. Saves so much time and mess.

These dumplings are adapted from The Part Time Vegetarian cookbook. I cannot recommend this book enough for multi-diet households. Filled with vegetarian and vegan recipes with little notes on how to change it if you're partial to a bit of meat.  I have to say, it's one of my favourite cookbooks of last year.

Asparagus and Tofu Gyoza

Ingredients

• For the filling :
• 200g asparagus, thinly sliced into rounds, tips removed and set aside
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 2.5cm root ginger, grated
• 150g tofu, pressed and finely chopped
• 2tbsp light soy sauce
• 1tsp sesame oil
• good pinch of salt and pepper


• For the dipping sauce :
• 4tbsp light soy sauce
• 1tbsp chinese black vinegar or balsamic
• 1tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2" piece of root ginger, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely sliced


• For the gyoza :
• 25 gyoza wrappers
• 1tbsp vegetable oil for frying
• 1/2 red chilli, seeds removed and finely sliced

Cooking Directions

1. Mix together all of the ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.
2. Mix all of the filling ingredients together apart from the asparagus tips. Slice the tips in half lengthways and set aside.
3. Place 1tbsp of the filling into a gyoza wrapper, mosten the edge and fold in half, pleeting the edges. Or, if you have a dumpling press, place the wrapped into the press, pop your filling in the middle and fold. Repeat until you have used up all of your filling.
4. Pour your vegetable oil into a large frying pan with a lid and place over a medium heat. Place 10 gyoza, flat side down, in the pan and fry for 2 minutes until the bottoms are crisp and brown. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining dumplings.
5. Once everything is fried, place all the dumplins back in the pan in an even layer (do this in two batches if they don't all fit), sprinkle over the reserved asparagus tips and pour over 4tbsp water and quickly cover with the pan lid. Steam for 3 minutes and remove from the pan.
6. Serve with the asparagus tips, chopped chilli and the dipping sauce.

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