Dreamy Lemon Slice

I’ve made this a Lemon Slice a few times now – we have a tree bursting with lemons to be used.  It’s absolutely delicious and very easy to make.  I’ve made this to share with my colleagues and made some for Simon and Harry (our flatmate) to take to work and everyone loves it.  In fact, I met up with a friend for lunch the other day and he paid for lunch so that I would owe him more Lemon Slice as pay back!  It’s soooo good!

Ingredients:
350g packet plain biscuits, crushed (use what you like – I found Farmbake White Chocolate Chip biscuits to be the best though!)
150g margarine or butter, melted
3 eggs
395g can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup lemon juice (approx. 3 lemons)
¼ cup desiccated coconut

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180˚C.  Grease and line a 20 x 20cm square baking dish.
Mix the biscuits and melted butter together.  Press the biscuit mixture into the prepared tin.
Separate the eggs, keeping the yolk.  Add the yolks to the condensed milk and mix until combined.  Add the lemon juice and mix again.  Pour over the biscuit base and bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until set.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.  Sprinkle the desiccated coconut over the top of the slice.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before cutting into squares and serving.

*If you thought this was really easy (because it is) try outDirk’s Lemon Meringue Pie, which just has an extra step added onto the end and uses up the egg whites.

Blueberry Cheesecake

Believe it or not, this Blueberry Cheesecake was inspired by a Broccoli Salad!  I absolutely recommend you try the Broccoli salad, it’s one of Simon and mines faves.  The recipe calls for Blueberries, which is something I haven’t really eaten in the past and we had been leaving them out of the salad because they haven’t been in season.  But, they are in season now, and I am loving them!

This is a no-bake cheesecake and is packed full of blueberry – none of that plain cheesecake business with a few blueberries scattered on top, or a swirl of syrup (although, I have done that too!), this one has blueberries all the way through.  Which, has got to be good for you right, considering they are super high in antioxidants?

I topped my cheesecake with a thin layer of plain cheesecake mix with blueberry jam swirled through it.  I also made candied lemon peel to sprinkle over the top to pick up on the lemon juice that is in the cheesecake - I’ll include how to make this in the recipe below.  However, if you can’t be bothered with the extra work, I think spreading some whipped cream over the top and decorating with some extra blueberries or simply grating some white chocolate over the top would be perfect (this would be amazing if you use the same biscuits that I did for the base).

Ingredients:
Base:
350g biscuits (I used Farmbake’s White Choc variety and they were delish!)
80g butter, melted

Filling:
3 teaspoons gelatine
¼ cup boiling water
375g cream cheese
½ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup cream
3 cups blueberries (this worked out to be three small punnets from the supermarket)

Topping:
¾ cup of cheesecake mixture (reserved from main recipe)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 teaspoons blueberry jam

Candied lemon peel:
3 lemons
4 cups water
2 cups white sugar, or as needed

Method:
Grease a 20cm round tin.  Place the biscuits into a food processor and process to a fine crumb.  Mix through the melted butter.  Press into the base of the prepared tin and place in the refrigerator to set.

In a glass, sprinkle the gelatine into the quarter cup of boiling water.  Mix until dissolved, then set aside.

Using a hand beater or stand mixer, in a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, caster sugar, vanilla essence and one tablespoon of lemon juice.  Once the mixture is a smooth buttery texture, add in the cream and gelatine and beat until the mixture is smooth again. 
At this point, if you want to create a marbled effect on the top of the cake as I have one, reserve three quarters of a cup of the cheesecake mixture into a small bowl and set aside.
Using a blender, puree the blueberries (some bits of skin will still remain).  Pour the blueberry puree into the main cheesecake mix and stir through until combined.
Pour the mixture over the prepared base and place into the refrigerator to set.

To make the candied lemon peel, boil 2 cups of water in a small saucepan.
While the water is heating up, remove the rind from the lemons and cut it into thin strips.  I find the easiest way to do this is to use a vegetable peeler and peel off the skin, then cut it into thin strips using a small knife. 
Once the water is boiling, add the lemon peel strips.  Boil for about 5 minutes, until tender.  Remove peels from the water.  Replace the water with 2 new cups of water and stir in the sugar. Return to a boil, add the peels, and boil for about 15-20 minutes until the peels translucent.  Stir regularly as the mixture can burn. 
Taste a piece of the peel – if it is bitter tasting, change the water and sugar so you have a fresh pot and re-boil the peel.  Continue to do this until you are satisfied with the flavour.  Drain and allow to dry either on a wire rack or on a paper towel.

To make the thin marbled layer on the top of the cheesecake mix a teaspoon of lemon juice through the reserved cheesecake mixture.  Once the top of the blueberry portion of the cheesecake in the tin has set across the top, gently spread the plain mix across the top in a thin layer.  Dollop blobs of the jam randomly around the top of the cake.  Using a skewer or a fork, rake through the jam blobs to swirl them into the cheesecake mixture.  Place into the refrigerator for 5 minutes before topping with the candied lemon peel and extra blueberries.  Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight before cutting into wedges and serving.

Lemon Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake in early January and it is absolutely delicious. The refreshing zing of lemon cuts through the richness of the cheesecake and somehow makes it feel less naughty. I made my cheesecake by making slight changes to Mel's 'Lemon Cheesecake Slice' recipe and setting it in a cake tin as opposed to a slice tin. This is a perfect weekend dessert and my vanilla ice cream was the perfect accompaniment for it.

Ingredients:

Base

200g round wine biscuits

100g butter, melted

Cheesecake

250g cream cheese, room temperature

3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind

395g condensed milk

⅓ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon gelatine

2 teaspoons hot water

Method:

Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin and line with baking paper. 

Process the biscuits and in a food processor until fine. 

Add the butter and mix through to combine. 

Press the mixture into the prepared tin and put into the refrigerator to set for 30 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese and lemon rind in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. 

Add the condensed milk and juice, beat until smooth. 

Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot water and then stir to dissolve. 

Add the gelatine to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again. 

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the base. 

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight to set, before cutting into slices and serving.

Decorate with lemon zest and serve with some refreshing vanilla ice cream for the perfect summer dessert.

Lemon Coconut Cake

I experimented and came up with this cake last weekend to use up some of our lemons.  The recipe turned out great!  The first cake came out perfect so I made another one and ended up making this layered cake.  I’ve put the recipe down with quantities to make the two cakes, but if you just want one, half it.  Also, my oven only bakes nicely in the middle, I baked one cake and then the other.  I would recommend most people do this too – if you bake the two cakes in the same part of the oven, then will turn out similar to each other. 

I think this cake is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea.  I wish I had some now.  I’ve got a cup of tea and I am sitting in bed writing this post, but there’s no cake, or any other baking for that matter.  I’m a bit sick with a cold and have had a very unproductive day.  However, the sight of that lemon curd oozing out of the cake is pretty cheerful and an uplifting reminder that Summer in New Zealand is on its way!

Ingredients (for a double layer cake):
300g butter, softened
2 cups sugar
6 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups self raising flour
250g sour cream
1 ½ cups desiccated coconut
rind (finely grated) and juice (about a cup) of 4 lemons
1 cup cream
lemon curd (I made some using this recipe which tastes awesome and is easy, or you can use store bought)
icing sugar (to dust)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease a 22cm circular baking tin.
Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs and beat again to combine. 
Mix through the flour in three lots, alternating with the lemon juice.  Stir through the sour cream.  Mix in the coconut and finely grated lemon rind.

Pour half the mixture into the prepared tin.  Bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre can be removed cleanly.
Once the cake has cooked, remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before turning out of the cake tin and onto a cooling rack.
Re-grease the tin.  Give the remaining cake batter a good stir before pouring into the prepared tin and baking like the previous cake.

Once both cakes have cooled, level one of the cakes by cutting off the top.  Beat the cream until it is thick and holds its shape.  Spread the cream over the top of the levelled cake.  Cover the cream with lemon curd.  Place the remaining cake on top and dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread

I’ve come home to a tree full of lemons.  Lots of lemons.  Which is great; I love lemons in baking.  So, in an attempt to use some of my lemons up I made these Shortbread biscuits.  I also made Lemon Curd, some other biscuits, and a cake, which I will share on here soon.  And, there’s still heaps of lemons left on the tree so I am taking some into work tomorrow to giveaway. 

This shortbread is really easy to make and if you don’t like poppyseeds you could try adding something else.  Next time I might experiment with half a cup of chopped pistachios or walnuts.  If you have a tree bursting with lemons and need more recipes to use them up, check out our Index page for more ideas.  And, if you like shortbread and want another easy recipe, I totally recommend you try making some Pecan Shortbread – it’s one of my fave recipes!

Makes about 36 pieces.

Ingredients:
250g butter, softened
½ cup caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
2 cups flour
¼ cup cornflour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon poppyseeds

Method:
Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together with an electric beater until light and fluffy.  Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.
Divide the mixture into two pieces.  Roll each piece into logs approximately 20cm x 5cm x 2cm in thickness.  Wrap the logs in cling-film and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or until the dough is firm.
Preheat the oven to 170°C.  Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Slice the logs into 1cm thick slices and place on the prepared baking trays.  Bakes for approximately 15 minutes or until the edges are just starting to go golden brown.  Leave the shortbread to cool for a few minutes on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon Cupcakes with White Chocolate and L&P Ganache

Everyone seems to be going wild for the new Whittakers L&P chocolate (have you tried it? Thoughts?…) so I decided to give it a go and use it in some baking. I wanted a light, fluffy lemon cupcake and to use the chocolate as frosting. The ganache was a little trickier than I have found it in the past due to the consistency of the chocolate compared to white chocolate melts, if I was making these again I might try a light lemon butter cream and topping each cupcake with finely chopped L&P chocolate, that way the popping candy will really POP!

To make my cupcake base I decided to adapt one of the most popular posts on the blog – Orange Cupcakes – the cupcakes were perfect and even a little lighter that the standard orange cupcakes thanks to a special ingredient…

Ingredients:
Cupcakes
1 ¾ cup flour
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
100g butter, softened
2 large eggs, separated and whites beaten until stiff
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup L&P
Zest of one lemon

L&P White Chocolate Ganache
250grams Whittakers L&P White Chocolate, roughly chopped
150mls cream

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease, or line a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcake papers.
Combine butter, sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest and vanilla in a mixing bowl and cream together thoroughly.
Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together in a separate mixing bowl.  Add dry ingredients to creamed ingredients ⅓ at a time  alternating with adding portions of the L&P to the creamed mixture.
Fold in beaten egg whites.  Spoon batter into cupcake holes until ½ full.
Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.
To make the ganache put the white chocolate and cream in a glass bowl, place bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is melting and cream is hot (but not boiling).
Remove from the heat and stir to combine into a smooth consistency.
Refrigerate to cool and thicken, this will take at least an hour or two so is best done ahead of time.
Beat the ganache with an electric mixer until it becomes pale and fluffy so that you can pipe it.

Enjoy your Kiwiana cupcakes!

P.S – A big welcome home to Mel and Simon who are back from their OE!

Lemon Friands

These are the first friands I have made.  I have no idea why they are a different shape to muffins / cupcakes and I am picking if you don’t have a friand tin they will turn out just fine in a muffin tin.  They are different to a cupcake though as they are made mainly of almond meal, egg whites and sugar – no flour.  I found them quite sweet and buttery. 
Here’s an interesting fact; my research tells me that friands are French in origin and are called ‘financier’ in some other parts of the world (sounds like something belonging in a bank to me, not a bakery).  So, it looks like I another sweet treat to look out for and try in it's home country while I am in France during my trip around Europe later this year.  I am so looking forward to indulging in French pastries and sugary delights!

Makes 12.

190g unsalted butter, melted
60g flour
1 ⅓ cups icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 cup almond meal
5 egg whites
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease a 12 hole friand pan with butter and dust with flour.  Shake out any excess flour.
Mix the flour, sugar and almond meal together in a large bowl.  Whisk the egg whites lightly with a fork, then add to the dry ingredients.  Add the butter and lemon zest to the mix, stirring until combined.
Fill each friand hole two thirds full with the batter.  Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until golden or when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Leave the friands to sit for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Raspberry and Lemon No-Bake Cheesecake

These are great for a summer dinner party or BBQ! This is a fresher, creamier take on the cheesecake mousse I made last year. They are quick to whip up and can be made in advance so that all you have to do come dessert time is bring them out to impress your guests!

Ingredients:
’Cheesecake’
250 grams cream cheese, softened
200 grams mascarpone
zest of a small lemon
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1/2 cup frozen raspberries, partially thawed
Base
10 double choc cookies
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Method:
To make the base place your biscuits into a food processor and whizz until they are crumb like. Place in a bowl and combine with melted butter.
Evenly divide your biscuit crumbs into four serving glasses and set aside.
Beat lemon zest and sugar together, this will infuse flavour.
Add cream cheese to your lemon infused sugar and mix until smooth.
Add vanilla, lemon juice and half mascarpone and mix.
Fold through the rest of the mascarpone.
Fold through raspberries.
Divide the mix between your four serving glasses and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. The thawed raspberries will firm up again which is perfect!
These can be served as is or jazzed up with a spring of mint and some chocolate sticks as shown here,

Passionfruit and Lemon Tarts with White Chocolate Ganache

I almost didn’t post this recipe today but these are so yummy I just had to share! You see I’ve made these twice over the last month or so but because they were for Christmas and a bridal shower I catered I didn’t get a chance to ‘shoot’ them the way I normally would… These are summery and a lot easier to make than I thought they might be, however, if the idea of making your own pasty cases is just too difficult or you are short on time you can use store bought cases.

Ingredients:
Pastry Cases
1 cup flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
4 tablespoons caster sugar
125 grams cold butter, cubed
3-5 tablespoons iced water

Filling
Barkers Passionfruit and Lemon Filling

White Chocolate Ganache Topping
100 grams white chocolate melts
100 mls cream

Method:
To make the pastry place listed ingredients (bar the iced water) into the bowl of your food processor. Whizz for about 30 seconds or until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Using the pulse mode begin to add the iced water until your mixture forms a dough.
Remove the dough and wrap it in cling film. For ease later in the process flatten it and work it into a disk shape before refrigerating for at least an hour.
Spray x2 12 hole mini muffin pans with oil. Ensuring that the pans are well coated.
Flour your bench or work space lightly and roll out the pastry to about 3mm in thickness.
Use a round cutter (5-7cm works best for mini muffin pans) to cut out 24 disks.
Press the disks into the base and sides of the muffin pans. Use a fork to prick the base of each of your tarts (pricking prevents the pastry from shrinking).
Place the tarts into the freezer for at least an hour before baking.
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C. Bake tart cases for 12-15 minutes until the pastry is golden and firm. Remove from the oven and cool in tins for 5 minutes before placing on cooling racks to cool completely.
Once the cases have cooled fill with Barkers Passionfruit and Lemon filling. If you are short on time you could serve as is, maybe placing a mint leaf on top as a garnish, but if you truly want to impress top with white chocolate ganache.
To make the ganache place the white chocolate and cream in a glass bowl and microwave for about 45 seconds until the cream is hot (but not boiling), stir to combine into a smooth consistency. Refrigerate to cool and thicken, this will take at least an hour or two so is best done ahead of time.
Beat the ganache with an electric mixer until it becomes pale and fluffy so that you can pipe it.

Raspberry and Lemon Cake

This cake is the taste of summer! I first made it for my sister Meredith’s birthday in mid November but didn’t get a chance to photograph it to share with you, it has been requested several times since then and I have been happy to make it. This was my sweet contribution to our High Tea Picnic. Don’t you just love the bunting Melissa made for the top of the cake?! I think it’s gorgeous!

Ingredients:
Cake
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ – 2 cups raspberries
250 grams sour cream
½ cup milk
zest of 1 medium sized lemon
225 grams butter, room temperature
1½ cups sugar
4 eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla paste

Cream Cheese Frosting
250 grams cream cheese
50 grams butter
2 - 2½ cups icing sugar

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and grease and line two 23cm round cake tins.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
In a smaller bowl combine milk, sour cream and lemon zest and set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer beat butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time combining well after each addition. Add the vanilla paste before you add the last egg.
Mix in flour mixture alternating with milk mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture.
Gently fold in raspberries.
Divide mixture evenly between your cake pans and cook in your pre-heated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the top starts to turn a golden brown colour and a skewer can be removed cleanly.
Remove from oven and place pans on cooling racks for about 20 minutes before turning the cakes out to cool completely.
Once completely cool place cream cheese frosting between the layers and on top.
To make the cream cheese frosting mix cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add icing sugar gradually one cup to start with and then half a cup at a time. Add vanilla and mix to combine.
*** If using frozen raspberries thaw first and coat with a dusting of flour before adding them to your mix.

Lemon Cheesecake Slice

This Lemon Cheesecake Slice is simple to make and tastes deliciously sweet.  It has a yummy citrus taste just perfect for Summer.

250g butternut snap biscuits
½ cup flaked almonds
125g butter, melted
250g cream cheese
3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
395g condensed milk
⅓ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon gelatine
2 teaspoons hot water

Grease a 20 x 30 cm tin and line with baking paper.  Process the biscuits and almonds in a food processor until fine.  Add the butter and mix through to combine.  Press the mixture into the prepared tin and put into the refrigerator to set for 30 minutes.
Beat the cream cheese and lemon rind in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the condensed milk and juice, beat until smooth.  Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot water and then stir to dissolve.  Add the gelatine to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again.  Pour the cream cheese mixture over the base.  Refrigerate overnight to set, before cutting into slices and serving.

P.s. The cute lemon jubes used for decoration were from The Pretty Baker :)

When life gives you lemons…

It’s that time of year when Lemon trees around New Zealand are producing lots of yummy fruit.  Sure, you could make lemonade or a gin and tonic, but I say when life gives you lemons GET BAKING!  Why not try out one of these delish recipes:

Dirk's Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon meringue pies look tricky.  Trust me, they're not.  So simple in fact, that this is now quite often our go to dessert to make if we are in a rush and off to someone’s house for dinner.

Lemon Bars

These are super yummy.  This is a fave recipe which I really need to get around to making and photographing again as this picture doesn’t do it justice.

Lemon Loaf

Again, this is another beautiful recipe that I need to remake and photograph as the picture is rubbish.  Trust me, the loaf it not :)

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

These are delicious and impressive.  Fill them with your own home made Lemon Curd to really be fancy.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake  and Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I love the texture that the poppy seeds give to these two recipes.  The cupcakes are particularly divine – really moist and a nice flavour.

Lemon Tart

This lemon tart is just beautiful.  If you really want to go for gold, you can make your own short crust pastry too (however, store bought stuff will work just as well).

Lemon Tea Muffins

How cute are these?  They are almost too darling to eat.  Almost.

Lemon Whoopie Pies

So far, this is my fave whoopie pie recipe.  They have a lovely lemon flavour, but it is not too overpowering.

Sour Cream Lemon Cake

This cake is beautifully moist.  Who could resist tucking into that with a side or cream or yoghurt?

Here’s a couple of recipes to help you add a little something special to your baking:

Lemon Curd

Candied Lemon Peel

Hopefully that gives you a few ideas on how to use your lemons up :)

Luscious Lemon Whoopie Pies

So far (because I do plan on trying out more) this is my favourite Whoopie Pie recipe.  These Lemon Whoopie Pies were nice and cakey, and not too dense.  The recipe makes 10 Whoopie Pies, but I made 6 large pies out of my mixture.  I thought they looked really cute on my Nana’s old tea set she gave me a few years ago, which you can see in the picture below :)

Makes 6 – 10

250g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
large pinch of salt
115g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 large egg, beaten
100ml milk

Lemon buttercream filling:
4 tablespoons lemon curd
115g unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
200g icing sugar

Icing:
115g icing sugar
1 – 2 tablespoons warm water

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease a whoopie pie tin, or line 2 –3 large baking trays with baking paper.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.  Place the butter, sugar and lemon rind in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the egg followed by half the flour mixture, then the milk.  Stir in the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
Pipe or spoon 20 mounds of mixture (or what fits in the whoopie pie tins) onto the prepared baking trays.  Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until they have risen and are just firm to the touch.  Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the filling:
Place the butter and lemon juice in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 2 –3 minutes or until pale and creamy.  Gradually beat in the icing sugar and continue beating for 2 –3 minutes until the buttercream is light and fluffy.

To make the the icing:
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and gradually stir in enough water to make a smooth paste.

To assemble:
Spread or pipe the buttercream on the flat side of half the cakes.  Spread the lemon curd over the other half of the cakes, then sandwich the cakes together.  Spoon the icing over the whoopie pies.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake

I made this the other week and took it to share for lunch at Simon’s Nanas with his cousins.  It’s pretty yum, but I think I liked my Lemon Poppyseed Muffins better because I don’t really like decorating cakes; I’m not the greatest.  The poppyseeds give this cake an interesting texture and the cake itself is not too sweet.  It’s an easy recipe for remembering the quantities too.

Serves 8

3 eggs
175g caster sugar
175g unsalted butter, softened
Finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
1 ⅓ cups self raising flour, sifted
⅓ cup poppyseeds
⅓ thick Greek-style yoghurt

Cream cheese icing:
250g cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons caster sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon thick Greek-style yoghurt

Preheat the oven to 150°C.  Grease and line a 1L loaf pan or round spring-form tin with baking paper.
Beat the butter and sugar with electric beaters until thick and pale.  Beat in zest and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add a spoon of flour with the second and last egg to stop it curdling.  Sift over the remaining flour and fold in with the poppyseeds and yoghurt.
Spread into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minute sin the tin, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
To make the icing, beat all the ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.  Spread icing thickly over the cake.

How to make Candied Lemon Peel

Making candied lemon peel is pretty easy.  Adjust the quantities below depending on how much you want to make.  I halved the ingredients listed below to make the candied peel to go on top of my Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and I still had a reasonable amount left over.  You could use this recipe to candy the peel of other citrus fruits too.

You will need:
3 lemons
2 cups water
2 cups white sugar, or as needed

Remove the rind from the fruit.  There are two ways of doing this:

1. Cut lemons into slices and remove the fruit pulp. Scrape off as much of the white inner layer as you can, this part is bitter. A spoon or butter knife will work well.  This results in the circles of rind you can see in the picture above.

2. Use a vegetable peeler and peel off the skin, then cut it into thin strips.  This method is a lot quicker and the strips still have a pretty curl to them once they have been candied. 

Bring water to a boil in a small pan and add lemon peels.  Boil for about 5 minutes, until tender.  Remove peels from water and stir in sugar. Return to a boil, add peels and boil for about 15-20 minutes until the peels translucent.  Stir regularly as the mixture can burn.  Taste a piece of the peel – if it is bitter tasting, change the water and sugar so you have a fresh pot and re-boil the peel.  Continue to do this until you are satisfied with the flavour.  Drain and allow to dry before storing.  Liquid may be reserved and used as lemon simple syrup.

I sprinkled a little bit of sugar on my candied peels before using them to top my Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

These were delicious – they didn’t last long at my house!  I wanted to make them after trying a Lemon Poppy Seed muffin at a cafe.  The muffin was nice, but it wasn’t anything special; just a plain muffin.  I jazzed mine up a bit which made them super cute and taste just that much more amazing.

Makes 12

150g butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
rind and juice of 2 lemons
125g sour cream
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powders
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons poppy seeds

To decorate (optional):
3 – 4 tablespoons lemon curd
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
¼ cup candied lemon peel (recipe will be up on Wednesday)

Icing:
1 ¾ cup icing sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a 12 hole standard muffin tin with paper cases.
Cream the butter and sugar, then stir in the remaining ingredients until just combined.  Spoon into the prepared muffin cases evenly and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack.

So, there you have it.  You could just eat these little babies now, or…

You could decorate them…

Once cool, inject each muffin with lemon curd.
Mix the butter, lemon zest and vanilla together until all lumps are gone.  Add the milk and quickly cream it into the butter mixture.  Mix in the sugar half a cup at a time and then cream on high for 2 minutes.  Mix in the lemon juice.  Pipe or spread the icing evenly over the cupcakes.
Sprinkle the tops with some extra poppy seeds and place 3 – 4 pieces of candied lemon peel on top.

What do you reckon?  Much better.