Sunday 13 March 2011

Dreaming of Summer

At last the mornings and evenings are getting lighter, and for the past few days it has even felt quite warm (although if you are reading this in Scotland you may not agree!).
And the best thing about lighter mornings is that I can get out on the river for longer each day before going to work.  Today I was out at 6.30am, and for the second time this week was treated to the sound of a couple of woodpeckers busily pecking away.  The herons too are very busy right now, building their nests at the highest point in the spindliest of trees - seems like madness for such large birds!  And finally the ducks - they appear to be mating quite well, so in only around 28 days there will be gorgeous little chicks floating around (yes, I did have to check the gestation period of ducks for that info!).
And with all the extra training (now training for cycling Lands End to John O'Groats in May, plus 1000km row down Zambezi river in August), I need to get a few more calories in, and what better way than great home-made cakes.

Lemon and Raspberry Summer Cake
 Serves 8-10

225g  unsalted butter, softened
225g  caster sugar
zest of 3 lemons
4 egg, beaten
200g  self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g  ground almonds
juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp caster sugar
250g  crème friache
150g  raspberries

1.     Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 5.  Grease and base line a 20cm loose-bottomed tin.
2.     Cream together the butter, sugar and lemon rind, until they are light and fluffy.  Slowly beat in the eggs, a little at a time.
3.     Sift in the flour and baking powder and carefully fold in with the ground almonds and 2 tbsp of the lemon juice.
4.     Pour into the prepared tin and cook for 1 hour 15 minutes – checking that a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean to confirm it is cooked.
5.     Whilst the cake is cooking place the remaining lemon juice in a small pan with the 2 tsp of caster sugar and heat gently to dissolve the sugar.  Leave to cool.
6.    When the cake comes out of the oven, pierce the top with a small skewer then drizzle over half the lemon syrup.  Leave to cool in the tin.
7.     When cool, remove from the tin, slice in half and fill with the crème fraiche and raspberries.  Drizzle over the remaining lemon syrup before serving.

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