Lemon Raisins Yogurt Cake

In my family house at the village we have these two lemon trees, that grows huge balls of lemon. Though for the amount of juice it produces per lemon it is best to call it 'big for nothing'. Why do I call them that - the lemons have so much pith but they redeem themselves by providing enormous quantities of rind per lemon.

 Recently my dad travelled and brought some back with him. Then I went over to his place to visit I saw the lemons where just  sitting in the sack he brought them back with and I knew I had to rescue them. 'Yes" I had to or they would have just stayed in the sack and go to waste.

Anyways I got greedy and took almost all of them home because like I said  'I wanted to rescue them'. The first day I made Yellow Lemon curry, and I decided to make Lemon cakes to go with my lemon themed meal. Moist cake of any kind is the love of my life ( now don't tell DH i wrote that)any cake with oil or any form of liquid- milk, yogurt or fruit drink gets me in my comfort zone. So for my cake I used yogurt since I had some raisins as tenants in my fridge I decided to include them.



List of characters

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 cup yogurt

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sugar

3 tsp lemon rind

1 cup raisins

1 tsp flour


Lemon Syrup

3 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp sugar


Method

• Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt set aside. Grease and flour the baking tin.In another bowl whisk the eggs, yogurt, oil, lemon rind, vanilla extract and sugar.

• Slowly whisk in the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. 

• Sprinkle the 1tablespoon of flour into the raisins rub it in, add the raisins to the batter and mix in

• Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes, Remove and cool. I always wrap my cake up in cling film or nylon bag this help to trap in heat and helps to create a more softer cake.

Making the lemon syrup

• Mix the lemon juice with 1 tablespoon of sugar bring to a boil remove from heat. Remove the cake from the cake pan.Using a cocktail stick pierce holes into the cake on top and slowly pour the lemon syrup over the cake allow to sit for a few minutes before cutting into it.

Red Velvet Cupcake

I love to bake! That’s a fact.

I absolutely love red velvet cake...so... so yummy. Its inviting red color and super moist feel is delightful and the cream cheese filling oh so amazing to me its the best. There are so many recipes for red velvet cake but my absolute favorite is made with oil rather than butter.

Red velvet is a super moist cake almost comparable to devil's food cake. The best part aside eating it is that it so easy to make. There are only two step instructions which is mix the dry ingredients together and mixed the wet ingredients together combine and bake now how's that for super duper easy!!!!

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil (the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups, I reduced it and it was just fine)
2 eggs
2 TBSP red food colour liquid
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar


Pre- heat the oven to 180c. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners, lightly spray the liners with cooking spray (this makes it easy to remove the paper liners).

In a stand mixer add the eggs and whisk then pour in the rest of the wet ingredients with the eggs and whisk. Sift the dry ingredient into another bowl after sifting combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredient until its smooth and lumps free.

Gently pour the cake batter into the prepared pans don't fill it all the way up to the brim. It should be about 3/4 filled. Put the pan into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Bring it out of the oven transfer to a tray and allowed to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

1 cup butter
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
5 TBSP flour
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch  of salt

Put the milk, sugar and flour in a pot and slowly bring it to a boil while continuously stirring it. You have to do this or else you end making a dumpling look-alike which is not what we want here. As it boils it will thicken and become a smooth paste allow it to cool completely.

Using a mixer cream the butter then add the cooled boiled milk and whisk until it is fluffy. Then decorate the cakes with the frosting. The name of the frosting sounds weird and unpalatable but it tastes amazing. Give this a try.

Tips: it is difficult to get buttermilk in Nigeria so make one by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of milk allow it to stand for about 15mins and your buttermilk is ready. To reconstitute powdered milk simply add 1/3 cup of dry milk to 1 cup of water.