Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Honey Ganache

I wasn't going to post about this cake. To be honest, I'm a bit embarrassed about the way that it turned out. I know people make mistakes with cooking all the time. The above picture makes it look okay, but it looked worse in real life. But really, this blog isn't about gaining perfection (no matter how nice that would be!), it's about trying out new things, or new recipes anyway and posting about my experiences.

I'm not sure exactly what happened - whether there were too many blueberries, or whether the blueberries all sunk to the bottom of the tin for some reason, or whether I had the wrong size/shape tin - but half of the cake ended up sticking to the tin and falling apart. I managed to put it back together, but it wasn't very pretty. Not like the pictures from the blog I got the recipe from - Raspberri Cupcakes. But I must say, it tasted delicious! The cake was moist and lemony and the chocolate honey ganache was very rich and sweet.

The cake was for my sister's baby shower my family was throwing for her. When I say baby shower though, it's very low key and just our immediate family. It's become a little tradition for our family, since none of us sisters are really into the big events that baby showers can turn into these days. Although I must admit the food that usually comes with those events is so adorable. Anyway, I wanted to make something a bit special especially since it's my sister's first. And she deserves it, just for being my amazing, beautiful big sis!

If I was going to point out one thing I'd change about the cake it would probably be to omit the ganache the next time I make it. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but despite all the sweet things I love to make, I'm not actually that much of a sweet tooth and I found the ganache to be a little too sweet for me. I think it was just me though - everyone else enjoyed it. :)

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Milk Chocolate Honey Ganache
165g softened butter
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Rind of 1 lemon
200g plain flour
100g self-raising flour
1/3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
230ml buttermilk
125g bluberries, fresh or frozen

Ganache
200ml cream
200g milk chocolate
6 tbsp honey
Blueberries to decorate (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160C. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition, then add vanilla and lemon rind.
3. In a seperate bowl sift together the flours and bicarbonate of soda with a pinch of salt. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture and then half of the buttermilk. Repeat with the other half of the flour and buttermilk.
4. Add the blueberries to the mixture, and gently stir in by hand until just combined.
5. Pour the mixture into your prepared cake tin making sure the top is smooth and then bake for 45-50 minutes (or until cake is golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean). Cool in the tin for approximately 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cake rack and cool completely.
6. To prepare the chocolate honey ganache - in a small saucepan over medium heat bring the cream and honey just to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate to the hot mixture. Leave for a minute to allow chocolate to melt, then stir until the mixture is smooth.
7. Set the ganache aside to cool completely and then chill it in the fridge until cold and thick.

8. To serve, pour the ganache over the top of the cake and decorate with fresh blueberries (if you wish). Serve immediately.

Hmm....do you think someone went a touch overboard with the ganache? Oops! There was a lot of it though - couldn't let it go to waste ;)

Recipe Source:

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake and Chocolate Honey Ganache recipe from

Raspberri Cupcakes

Coconut Cake with Lemon Sour Cream Icing

It was a colleagues birthday last week and as a treat I decided to make him a cake. I'd planned on making him a chocolate cake, since I remember him saying he loved that, in the past. However, when I mentioned 'mysteriously' to him a couple of days before that I had to make a cake for someone, he asked 'what kind?' to which I replied 'chocolate'. He thought for a moment before saying 'what about a coconut cake?' Now, I'd heard of making icing with coconut, or sprinkling it on top of a cake - but I've never actually had a coconut cake. I went to my safety net - Google - and was surprised to see how many cakes instantly came up. I decided on this Lemon Coconut Cake from Taste,  as it sounded simple enough, but I thought the lemon would add a bit more flavour. My colleague loved the cake by the way - well I assumed so by all the 'hmmm mmmm' noises he was making!

Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 large lemon, rind finely grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup milk
1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf pan and line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a little to overhang at both long ends.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, beating until sugar is dissolved.

3. Add lemon rind and half the egg. Beat well. Add remaining egg and beat until well combined.

4. Using a large spoon, gently stir flour, milk and coconut into butter mixture.

5. Spoon mixture into prepared loaf pan. Smooth surface.

6. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow cake to cool a little in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon Icing:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 lemon, rind finely grated
1. Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add sour cream and lemon rind. Stir until well combined. Pour icing over cake. Allow to set.

Recipe Source:
Taste website's Coconut Cake with Lemon Sour Cream Icing

Coconut Cake with Lemon Sour Cream Icing Ingredients: 125g butter, softened 1 cup caster sugar 1 large lemon, rind finely grated 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted 1 cup milk 1/2 cup desiccated coconut Lemon sour cream icing: 1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture 1/4 cup sour cream 1 lemon, rind finely grated Method: 1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf pan and line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a little to overhang at both long ends. 2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, beating until sugar is dissolved. 3. Add lemon rind and half the egg. Beat well. Add remaining egg and beat until well combined. 4.  Using a large metal spoon, gently stir flour, milk and coconut into butter mixture. 5. Spoon mixture into prepared loaf pan. Smooth surface. 6. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow cake to cool a little in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 7. Make lemon icing: Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add sour cream and lemon rind. Stir until well combined. Pour icing over cake. Allow to set. Serve.

Tangy Lemon Slice

This slice is one of those recipes that I make over and over again. It's just so easy and quick to make, and it's also really delicious. The lemon/egg mixture tastes so rich, like the filling of a lemon meringue pie. But yet, surprisingly, it doesn't have any sweetened condensed milk (which my Mum's lemon meringue pie has in it). It's mostly full of everyday ingredients you would find in your pantry, which is great if you need to bake something tasty at the last minute.   Tell me, readers, do you have a favourite recipe that you go back to over and over again?

Ingredients:
125g butter
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 1/4 cups plain flour
3 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
1/2 cup lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease a 23cm square pan; line base and two opposite sides of pan with baking paper.
2. Beat butter and icing sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the sifted flour.

3. Press mixture over base of pan. Bake, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

4. Place eggs, caster sugar, remaining sifted flour, lemon rind and juice in medium bowl; whisk until combined.

5. Pour egg mixture over hot base. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until firm. Cool in pan on wire rack. Lift slice from pan before cutting. Dust with extra sifted icing sugar, if desired.

Recipe Source:
The AWW Cook: How to cook absolutely everything

Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies

I found these cookies on a blog I was ready aaaages ago and have gone to try making them a couple of times but then realized I didn't have all the ingredients. Unfortunately when I printed off the recipe, I think I copied and pasted it into a Word document and so my print out doesn't have the name of the blog on it. So if you know where these came from or who made them first please let me know, because then I'll be able to give proper credit.

These cookies were super easy to make and I'm so glad that I got to try them after such a long time. I really like soft cookies so these were perfect for me. I also really liked the contrast between the bite of the salt and lemon and the sweetness of the sugar.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
250g butter
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
1/3 cup coarse sugar (caster sugar or plain sugar works if that's all you have)

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Line baking trays with baking paper.

2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together.

3. Cream the butter, 1 cup of sugar and lemon zest until very smooth. Add the egg and continue to beat until fluffy. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

 4. Place the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar into a bowl. Form balls out of the cookie dough 2 inches in diameter and roll them through the sugar. Arrange on a cookie sheet 4 inches apart. 

5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just golden. The tops of the cookies should remain pale. Cool completely on the cookie sheets before removing to a plate. 

Recipe Source: 

Unknown - please let me know if you or someone you know is behind the creation of this fabulous recipe! I am more than happy to give you the credit due to you.