Spring has sprung - Afternoon Tea Lemon Syrup Cake

Spring has well and truly sprung here in Oz, with the cherry blossom trees in our yard in full bloom, the scent of jasmine in the air and to top it off it was 27 degrees the other day, magic !

I was given a bag of lemons recently by my kind neighbour and my thoughts instantly turned to our family's favourite cake recipe, Lemon Syrup Cake. It is an old recipe from my grandmother and I have made it so many times now I think I could bake it in my sleep.

 Lemon Syrup Cake

This recipe is my 'go to' if I have to whip up a quick afternoon tea for unexpected guests, but 9 times out of 10 I bake it for the hubby and Callum who are both big fans.

You only need a couple of ingredients and most will be staples in your pantry or fridge.

Place the sugar, lemon rind and butter in your mixer

Cream the butter, sugar and lemon rind until light and fluffy

 

After beating your eggs into the butter mixture, fold in the milk and flour

 Our little man is always on hand to lick the spoon

Serve it hot out of the oven with a cup of tea and I promise you won't be disappointed ! My grandmother's recipe for Lemon Syrup Cake is posted below for you and your family to enjoy.

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Recipe - Lemon Syrup Cake

Ingredients:

125g butter, softened

1 1/2 cups of self raising flour sifted

1 cup caster sugar

Rind of one lemon finely grated

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Lemon Syrup

2 lemons juiced (approximately 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup caster sugar

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line a 7 inch springform cake tin or loaf pan.

Using your electric mixer, cream butter, 1 cup caster sugar and rind until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add half the flour and half the milk to egg mixture and gently stir to combine, then fold in the remaining flour and milk. Spoon the mixture into your cake tin. Bake for around 45 to 50 minutes (depends if your oven is fan forced or not). Insert a skewer into the centre of the cake and make sure it comes out clean.

For the syrup, combine 1/2 cup caster sugar and juice of two lemons, use a fork to mix well. Pour the lemon syrup over the cake whilst it is still hot. I like to skewer the cake a couple of times to allow the syrup to really sink into the cake. Stand in the tin until cooled (I can't bear to wait this long and usually start cutting up the cake when it is still warm from the oven. Yum !)

all images - the little oak tree

Miette Cookbook

I have been coveting Miette's new cookbook ever since I heard about it over at Eat Drink Chic and more recently Bakerella posted the recipe for the Tomboy cake which is the cover image on the book.

The demand for the book has been so great that I was on a wait list with the Book Depository, but when they finally had it back in stock I quickly ordered my copy. I have been waiting with bated breath for my little package to arrive in the letterbox and today it finally came! yay, I love getting something special in the mail other than the dreaded bills.

Miette is a gorgeous little bakery in San Francisco and this is their first cookbook filled with their signature sweets. One of the things Miette is known for is their sweets of a smaller scale with a lot of their cakes only 6 inches.

Don't you just love how a new cookbook inspires you to rush back into the kitchen and start baking. Look how delightfully sweet this book is with it's scalloped edges.

Such big, beautiful, full colour images, certainly have me inspired. I love a cookbook that provides an image for every recipe, I like to know what the finished product is supposed to look like!

Check out the mouth watering Fleur de Sel Caramels. Yum yum, these will definitely be featuring on the dessert table of our upcoming 30th Country birthday party.

 Delicate pale pink meringues

Who could resist this raspberry tart?

I have been searching for a good lemon curd recipe, so this is on my to-do list.

But, first and foremost I am going to have a crack at the Tomboy cake. It just looks so cute and yummy, and at only 6 inches I won't feel half as guilty if I end up eating half the cake!

I am off to the kitchen to rattle some pots and pans, if you would like the recipe for the Tomboy cake you can find it here on Bakerella's site.

Have a lovely day.

Hen's High Tea- Sex & The City theme

We are going cupcake crazy here at The Little Oak Tree putting the finishing touches on these cupcakes for a Hen's High Tea to be held tomorrow.

The inspiration for these gorgeous cupcakes was Sex & the City. One lucky bride-to-be will be eating these at her Hens High Tea. Her very lovely Maid of Honour has lots of devilish activities planned, and in true Sex & The City style we hear there may be a pink rabbit involved....I will say no more hehehe.

Do you have anything fun planned for your weekend? Hopefully this lovely sunshine will decide to stick around for a while. I will be spending part of my Saturday pulling together some ideas for an upcoming 30th birthday party which will have a 'country' theme. I will post an inspiration board for that in the next couple of days. Other than that, I am looking forward to spending my weekend relaxing with the hubby and our boy, and perhaps a glass of red wine.....or two.

Whatever you have planned enjoy !