Ever since I was able to I've loved baking cakes. As a child I used to spend the whole summer at my grandparents house. Me, my nan and my sister would spend hours baking anything from pies, to cakes, we even made toffee one day! I still love baking now, so when I get the chance, I like to see what I can throw together. One rainy day a few weeks ago, me and my boyfriend decided to make some cakes. I absolutely love lemon cake so we found a recipe and gave it a go. He was horrendous at baking as I expected - but it was fun!
Ingredients:6oz self-raising flour (sieved)6oz baking fat6oz caster sugar (granulated will do, just make sure you give it a good mix)3 eggsThe juice of half a lemonThe zest of 1 whole lemon
For the frosting:3oz butterIcing sugar (usually around 1-2oz but I just keep adding until it's sweet enough, and at the right consistency) The juice of half a lemonLemon zest to decorate
First of all preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan oven). Next add the baking fat and butter into a large mixing bowl and whisk until creamy. Then whisk together the eggs in a small jug and add gradually. Whisking in between adding each bit.
Once all of the egg has been added, I like to give the mixture a quick whisk to get lots of air into the mixture so your cakes rise nicely, and have a nice light texture to them. Next gradually add the flour (if you haven't already you will need to sieve the flour to get rid of the lumps). Add it bit by bit, and just like the egg whisk in between. Once all of the flour has been added, again give it a good whisk to ensure all of the ingredients are mixed together well.
Finally, mix in the lemon juice and zest and give it a final whisk to make sure this is mixed in as even as possible. Then divide the mixture between cupcake cases, how many this mix makes depends on the size of your cases. I managed to get 18 cupcakes. Place the tray in the oven for around 20-22 minutes, remember to keep an eye on them so that they don't burn!!
*TIP: To check if your cakes are cooked or not, stick something in the middle of the cake (I use a knitting needle) and if it comes out clean then your cakes are cooked, if there is any cake mix on it, then they will need a few more minutes*
So once your cakes are cooked, remove them from the tray and give them time to cool down, then its the fun part - decorating! For the frosting, simply whisk the butter so it's soft and creamy. Then gradually add icing sugar. Remember to sieve it as you add it to avoid making lumpy frosting. Continue to add the icing sugar until the butter cream is as sweet as you would like it to be. Then add the lemon juice and mix in well.
You can decorate the cakes however you like. I did mine like fairy cakes. I simply cut a hole out of the top, filled it with frosting then cut the piece of the cake that I had cut out in half, and placed it back on top like fairy wings. I then sprinkled some lemon zest on top just to add a nice finishing touch.
What's your favorite thing to bake? If you have a go at this recipe, please tweet me a picture! @misssarahlouise_
