Recipe: Lemon And Lime Sandwich Cake

Since I was a kid I’ve always loved the flavours lemon and lime combined. From squash to marmalade I had it all in lemon and lime. And even now as I’ve “grown up” I still love the combination. Last year I shared my recipe for lemon and lime cupcakes which my friend Debs still talks about to this day but I was still on the lookout for adding another lemon and lime recipe to my repertoire. A loaf cake was out straight away as mine have a horrible tendency to sink in the middle and it wouldn’t suit a shortbread or cookie recipe. So I decided to take a classic and give it a slight twist. So today I bring you my Lemon And Lime Sandwich Cake which consists of two light lemon flavoured sponges, sandwiched together and decorated with lime buttercream, with lemon and lime zest sprinkled over top.

Ingredients
For The Sponges
- 200g Caster Sugar
- 200g Self Raising Flour
- 200g Stork
- 4 Eggs
- Zest Of 2 Lemons

For The Buttercream
- 200g Butter, softened
- 320g Icing Sugar
- Zest Of 2 Limes
- A Splash Of Milk
- 1Tsp Lime Juice (optional)
- Extra Zest To Decorate (Lemon & Lime)

Method
1- Pre heat your oven to 180C. Grease and line two 19cm sandwich tins with greaseproof paper.
2- Into your bowl place the stork and caster sugar. Cream together until pale and fluffy in texture.
3- Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour. Beat until fully combined.
4- Repeat with your remaining eggs, adding a tablespoon of flour after each egg. Beat each time until every thing is incorporated, remembering to scrape the sides of the bowl as well.
5- Fold in the rest of your flour and lemon zest. Slow and steady is the best way at this part. You don’t want to beat the hell out of the mixture as it’ll knock out all the air you’ve already created and you’ll end up with a dense cake that is hard to chew and is more likely to sink when cooling.
6- Split the mixture evenly between your two prepared tins and cook for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for five minutes, then gently remove them from the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
7- Now it’s onto the buttercream. Place your softened butter into a clean bowl and beat until soft and pale in colour. A hand mixer or a stand mixer are the best for this as it takes a while and will give you horrific arm ache if you attempt it by hand.
8- Sieve in half of your icing sugar and beat until fully incorporated.
9- Sieve in the remainder of your icing sugar and beat again until combined. Take your time to scrape the sides of your bowl down so there are no pockets of icing sugar or butter sat on the sides.
10- If your buttercream is a little stiff add your splash of milk and lime zest now. Beat until it’s a pipable consistency, adding a little more milk if necessary.
11- Now this next step is optional but I added a little bit of lime juice to my buttercream to give it more of a kick. You don’t have to add it if you don’t want to but it’s a good way of adding a bit of punch if you like that stronger flavour.
12- Spoon your buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice and decorate however you choose. I used my trusty 2D Nozzle to create this mini flower-esque pattern both to sandwich them together and to decorate the top. It’s a nice way to give the middle, sandwich section a prettier look, especially from the sides.
13- Once you’ve decorated your cake sprinkle over your remaining lemon and lime zest. Leave to one side to set or cut a nice big slice straight away. It smells heavenly, looks divine and tastes scrumptious so it’s guaranteed to be a hit with family, friends and work colleagues.

Recipe: Strawberry Cupcakes

As the weather has taken a warmer turn, I've been craving strawberries more and more. Then I decided to make my nan a surprise cake but then realised that a two layer Victoria Sponge cake would be too much for her to eat on her own. So I turned them into cupcakes and they surprisingly turned out better than I expected. A light vanilla sponge with freeze dried strawberry pieces folded through topped with vanilla buttercream and a sliced fresh strawberry.

Ingredients 
For The Cupcakes
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 100g Stork
- 100g Self Raising Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 30g Freeze Dried Strawberries

For The Buttercream 
- 200g Butter, softened
- 320g Icing Sugar
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- A splash of milk
- A dozen strawberries sliced in half

Method
1- Pre heat oven to 180c. Line a twelve hole cupcake tin with paper cases.
2- Into a bowl place your caster sugar and stork. Using either a wooden spoon, spatula, hand mixer or stand mixer cream together until it's become soft, pale and fluffy in texture.
3- Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour. Beat until fully combined.
4- Repeat with the second egg and another tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined, taking care to scrape the edges of the bowl so that nothing is left sat on the sides.
5- Fold in your vanilla extract alongside the remainder of your flour. Take care when folding everything together as you don't want to knock out any of the air that you've already added to the mixture.
6- Spoon into your prepared cases and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top bounces back when pressed gently. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
7- Now it's time to start the buttercream. Place your softened butter into a clean bowl and beat until soft and pale in colour. I highly recommend using a hand mixer or a stand mixer for this part as it can take a while for it to reach the right consistency.
8- Sieve in half of your icing sugar and beat until it's fully combined.
9- Sieve in the other half of your icing sugar and beat until combined. Once everything is combined you can add a splash of milk to your buttercream to loosen it slightly so it's at an easier piping consistency.
10- Beat in your vanilla extract and take your time to scrape around the edges and bottom of the bowl so that there are no pockets of butter or icing sugar sitting there.
11- Spoon into a prepared piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice and pipe the buttercream onto your now cooled cupcakes. I used my trusty 2D Flower Nozzle that creates the perfect yet effortless swirl but you can use any piping tip you like.
12- When you've applied buttercream to all of your cupcakes, place your sliced strawberry half on top and leave to set. I highly advise putting these into either an airtight container or into the fridge what with having fresh fruit on top and all.
13- Then all that's left is to enjoy them. Mine went down a treat with my nan, family and work colleagues so I can guarantee all your friends and family will love them as well.

Recipe: Malteaser Cupcakes

Malteasers are some of my favourite chocolates and for the longest time I wanted nothing more than to devour a family box to myself. Yet I refrained from doing so and I chose to make easy Malteaser cupcakes that have a delicious malty kick to them. A light malt/chocolate sponge is topped with a malt and chocolate buttercream with Malteasers on top to decorate.

Ingredients 
For The Cupcakes 
- 100g Light Brown Sugar
- 100g Stork
- 100g Self Raising Flour
- 15g Cocoa Powder
- 10g Malt Powder
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tsp Chocolate Extract

For The Buttercream 
- 200g Butter, softened
- 320g Icing Sugar
- 15g Cocoa Powder
- 10g Malt Powder
- A splash of milk
- 1 Share Box/Bag Of Malteasers

Method 
1- Pre heat your oven to 180c. Line a twelve cupcake tin with paper cases.
2- Into a bowl place your light brown sugar and stork. Cream together until pale in colour and fluffy in texture.
3- Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined.
4- Repeat with the other egg and another tablespoon of flour. Beat until fully combined, taking care to scrape the edges of the bowl.
5- Fold in your chocolate extract, cocoa powder and malt powder alongside the remainder of your flour. You can use any type of malt powder, I used Ovaltine as that's all I had but you can easily use Horlicks and if you want to add even more chocolate use the chocolate alternative to both of these.  6- Spoon your mixture into your waiting cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed gently. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
7- Now it's time to start your buttercream. Place your softened butter into a clean bowl and beat until soft.
8- Sieve in half your icing sugar and beat until combined. If you're using a hand mixer to make your buttercream, start on a slow speed so your icing sugar doesn't fly everywhere because it coats everything and doesn't taste as good as it suggests.
9- Sieve in the remaining half of your icing sugar and beat until fully combined, taking care to scrape the edges and bottom of the bowl so everything is fully incorporated.
10- Beat in your cocoa powder, malt powder and a small splash of milk to help loosen the mixture and take it to the perfect piping consistency.
11- Spoon your prepared buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice and pipe onto your now cooled cupcakes. I used my 2D Flower nozzle to create these swirls as it always works wonders with my shaky, still somewhat amateur piping hands.
12- Once all of your cupcakes have been decorated, gently place your malteasers in the centre to create a small cluster. I went for two in the centre so that they didn't roll off or make the cupcake look overloaded but you can put as many malteasers on as you like.
13- Leave to set and then enjoy. I can guarantee these will be a hit with family, friends and work colleagues.

Recipe: Terry’s Chocolate Orange Egg Cupcakes

When I saw that Terry's were doing Chocolate Orange Eggs this year I may have done a dance of joy. Terry's Chocolate Orange is one of my favourite chocolates to eat and to have it now in mini egg form was even better than I expected. Yet it took me up until Easter to actually try one and damn they are tasty so I just had to incorporate them into a recipe. A moist chocolate orange sponge is topped with a light chocolate orange buttercream finished off with a small cluster of eggs in the middle.

Ingredients 
For The Cupcakes 
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 100g Stork
- 100g Self Raising Flour
- 25g Cocoa Powder
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tsp Orange Extract 
- 2 Tsp Chocolate Extract

For The Buttercream 
- 200g Butter, softened
- 320g Icing Sugar
- 2 Tsp Orange Extract
- 10g Cocoa Powder 
- A splash of milk
- 1 Bag Of Terry's Chocolate Orange Eggs

Method 
1- Pre heat your oven to 180c. Line a twelve cupcake tin with paper cases.
2- Into a bowl place your caster sugar and stork. Cream together until pale in colour and fluffy in texture.
3- Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined.
4- Repeat with the other egg and another tablespoon of flour. Beat until fully combined, taking care to scrape the edges of the bowl.
5- Fold in your chocolate extract, cocoa powder and orange extract alongside the remainder of your flour. I always use two teaspoons of liquid chocolate extract when I make any kind of chocolate sponge. It helps to stop the cocoa powder catching as the cake cooks and gives it a delicious rich flavour whilst helping the cake stay moist even if you do accidentally leave it the oven a couple of minutes longer than you should.
6- Spoon your mixture into your waiting cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed gently. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
7- Now it's time to start your buttercream. Place your softened butter into a clean bowl and beat until soft.
8- Sieve in half your icing sugar and beat until combined. If you're using a hand mixer to make your buttercream, start on a slow speed so your icing sugar doesn't fly everywhere because it coats everything and doesn't taste as good as it suggests.
9- Sieve in the remaining half of your icing sugar and beat until fully combined, taking care to scrape the edges and bottom of the bowl so everything is fully incorporated.
10- Beat in your orange extract, cocoa powder and a small splash of milk to help loosen the mixture and take it to the perfect piping consistency.
11- Spoon your prepared buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice and pipe onto your now cooled cupcakes. I used my 2D Flower nozzle to create these swirls as it always works wonders with my shaky, still somewhat amateur piping hands.
12- Once all of your cupcakes have been decorated, gently place your Terry's eggs in the centre to create a small cluster. You can use four or even five but I used only three to keep it looking cleaner and simpler but still ridiculously tasty.
13- Leave to set and then enjoy. I can guarantee these will be a hit with family, friends and work colleagues.

Recipe: Jelly Chick Cupcakes

When I said that I had a lot of recipes to post, I wasn't joking. Today I'm back with my third recipe which again I made back during the Easter period. Now these have Jelly Chicks on them but can easily be replaced by standard Jelly Babies. These went down a storm with my work colleagues when I took them in and I'm sure I'm going to be making these a lot more in the future.

Ingredients 
For The Cupcakes 
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 100g Self Raising Flour
- 100g Stork
- 2 Eggs
- 2Tsps Vanilla Extract

For The Buttercream 
- 200g Butter, softened
- 320g Icing Sugar
- 2 Tsps Lemon Extract 
- 1 Pack Of Jelly Chicks/ Jelly Babies
- Dr Oetker Orange Gel Food Colouring 

Method
1- Pre heat your oven to 180C. Line a twelve hold cupcake tin with paper cases.
2- Into a bowl place your caster sugar and stork. Cream together until pale and fluffy using either a spatula or a stand mixer.
3- Add an egg and a tablespoon of flour and beat until combined.
4- Repeat with your second egg and another tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined, taking time to scrape the sides of the bowl so everything is fully incorporated.
5- Fold in the rest of your flour and vanilla extract, taking time to add more air into the mixture instead of knocking it out. The air you add in now will help to create a light, fluffy cupcake that almost melts in the mouth.
6- Spoon into your prepared cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed.
7- Once the cupcakes are cooked, leave to cool in the tin for five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
8- Now it's time to start on your buttercream. Place your softened butter into a bowl and beat until pale and creamy. Your best bet is to use a hand mixer or a stand mixer as this can take a while to do and it's a lot easier on the arms.
9- Sieve in half of your icing sugar and beat until fully combined, taking to scrape the edges of the bowl so no clumps of icing sugar are left sat on the side.
10- Sieve the other half of your icing sugar into the mixture and beat again.
11- Now I added a little bit of lemon extract and orange food colouring but you can use any flavouring/colour combination you like. These needed to be beaten into the mixture alongside a splash of milk to take it to that perfect piping consistency.
12- Spoon your buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice. I went with a 2D Star Nozzle as it gives me a really nice swirl finish.
13- Once all of your cupcakes are iced, place your Jelly Chicks/Babies on top and leave to set so they don't fall off. Then all that's left is to enjoy them by yourself or shared with family or work colleagues.

Recipe: Mini Egg Brownies

I'm back again with another recipe. Now I baked this over Easter and whilst it may be long gone, I'm sure some of you have some emergency Mini Eggs lying around somewhere. These brownies are absolutely delicious, they're fudgy, rich and the mini eggs give it a delicious extra kick of chocolate. Perfect for anyone looking for a indulgent fix or just craving some mini eggs.

Ingredients 
- 275g Caster Sugar
- 90g Plain Flour
- 35g Cocoa Powder
- 200g Unsalted Butter
- 200g Dark Chocolate
- 3 Eggs
- 100g Dark Chocolate Chips
- 200g Chilled Mini Eggs

Method 
1- Pre heat your oven to 180C. Line a 9 inch brownie tin with greaseproof paper.
2- In a bain marie melt your dark chocolate and unsalted butter. You can melt the two together in the microwave but it does tend to catch and burn more than when it's done over a bain marie. Once everything has melted together, place to one side and leave to cool.
3- Into a bowl place your sugar and eggs. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, whisk until the mixture has doubled in size, has become pale in colour and has a mousse like texture.
4- Hopefully by the time it's taken to mix your egg and sugar mixture together, your chocolate/butter mixture will have cooled and you can gently fold the two together. Now you have to fold them together otherwise you'll knock out all the air that you've just beat into the egg/sugar mix.
5- Then it's time to fold in your plain flour, chocolate chips, cocoa powder and the majority of your mini eggs, keeping some to the side to press into the top before baking. Folding it all in together means that your mini eggs and chocolate chips are less likely to sink to the bottom and you don't run the risk of overmixing the mixture.
6- Pour into your prepared tin, using a spatula to spread it out evenly in the tin. Press your remaining mini eggs into the top of the mixture and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. I'd advise chilling your mini eggs before you add them to your mixture/press into the top as it stops the colour from fading as they bake and makes them less prone to cracking as they cook.
7- Once they're cooked, leave to cool and set in the tin before cutting and enjoying. These last for a good three days if kept in an air tight container and are some of the most delicious brownies I've ever tasted (if I say so myself).

Recipe: Mini Egg Cupcakes

I love Mini Eggs and surprisingly still have a few packets knocking around my house even though Easter is long gone. So today I thought I'd share with you my recipe for easy Mini Egg cupcakes with a light moist chocolate sponge, fluffy vanilla buttercream, topped with a cluster of Cadbury's best creations.

Ingredients 
For The Cupcakes 
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 100g Stork
- 100g Self Raising Flour
- 25g Cocoa Powder
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tsp Chocolate Extract

For The Buttercream 
- 200g Unsalted Butter, softened
- 320g Icing Sugar
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- A splash of milk
- 1 Bag Of Mini Eggs

Method 
1- Pre heat your oven to 180c. Line a twelve cupcake tin with paper cases.
2- Into a bowl place your caster sugar and stork. Cream together until pale in colour and fluffy in texture.
3- Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined.
4- Repeat with the other egg and another tablespoon of flour. Beat until fully combined, taking care to scrape the edges of the bowl.
5- Fold in your chocolate extract, cocoa powder alongside the remainder of your flour. I always use two teaspoons of liquid chocolate extract when I make any kind of chocolate sponge. It helps to stop the cocoa powder catching as the cake cooks and gives it a delicious rich flavour whilst helping the cake stay moist even if you do accidentally leave it the oven a couple of minutes longer than you should.
6- Spoon your mixture into your waiting cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed gently. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
7- Now it's time to start your buttercream. Place your softened unsalted butter into a clean bowl and beat until soft.
8- Sieve in half your icing sugar and beat until combined. If you're using a hand mixer to make your buttercream, start on a slow speed so your icing sugar doesn't fly everywhere because it coats everything and doesn't taste as good as it suggests.
9- Sieve in the remaining half of your icing sugar and beat until fully combined, taking care to scrape the edges and bottom of the bowl so everything is fully incorporated.
10- Beat in your vanilla extract and a small splash of milk to help loosen the mixture and take it to the perfect piping consistency.
11- Spoon your prepared buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice and pipe onto your now cooled cupcakes. I used my 2D Flower nozzle to create these swirls as it always works wonders with my shaky, still somewhat amateur piping hands.
12- Once all of your cupcakes have been decorated, gently place your mini eggs in the centre to create a small cluster. You can use four or even five but I used only three to keep it looking cleaner and simpler but still ridiculously tasty.
13- Leave to set and then enjoy. I can guarantee these will be a hit with family, friends and work colleagues.

Recipe: Rhubarb And Custard Cupcakes

As I write this, the world is a slightly surreal and sometimes intense place. I for one have been struggling to remain positive everyday and there have been days when I've wanted to curl up in bed, have a good cry and binge Disney+ but I know that I'd only feel worse for it so I've thrown myself into something I absolutely adore doing but haven't had the chance to really do so far this year. And that's obviously baking, for me it's become therapeutic and helps to settle my mind when anxiety and uncertainty raise their ugly heads. I've been collecting quite a selection of recipes that need to written up and shared and as I know a lot of you are probably also baking to kill the time, I thought it was time to finally jump back on the blogging bandwagon and hopefully give you some baking inspiration.

Ingredients 
For The Cupcakes
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 100g Stork
- 100g Self Raising Flour
- 2Tsp Vanilla Custard Extract
- 2 Eggs

For The Buttercream 
- 200g Butter, softened
- 320g Icing Sugar
- Dr Oetker Pink Gel Food Colouring
- 2Tsp Rhubarb Extract
- A Splash Of Milk
- Dr Oetker Wafer Daisies (little & large)

Method 
1- Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a twelve hole cupcake tin with paper cases or line a standard oven tray with 12 baking cups like I did.
2- Into a bowl place the caster sugar and stork. Using a spatula, wooden spoon or stand mixer, cream together until pale in colour and fluffy in texture.
3- Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour and mix until combined.
4- Repeat with a second egg and another tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined, making sure to scrape the edges of the bowl so that nothing is left sitting on the sides.
5- Add the rest of the flour to the bowl alongside the vanilla custard extract and gently fold in to the mixture. If you don't have vanilla custard extract you can fold in two teaspoons of custard powder to get the same flavour.
6- Once everything is combined, spoon into your paper cases or baking cups and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed.
7- Leave to cool for five minutes in the tin and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
8- Now it's onto the buttercream, place your softened butter into a bowl and beat until soft, creamy and pale in colour. I advise using a stand mixer or a hand mixer for this as it can take while and it's a lot easier on the arms.
9- Sieve half of your icing sugar into the bowl and beat until fully combined.
10- Then sieve the other half of your icing sugar and beat again until combined.
11- Add your Rhubarb extract and pink food colouring and beat until combined. I chose a gel food colouring to keep the consistency of the buttercream as liquid colourings tend to loosen the mixture a little too much. Your buttercream can be as pale or as bright as you want it to be, I just chose a lighter shade of pink to conincide with the original sweets.
12- Now it's time to spoon your mixture into a piping bag, if you find your buttercream is a little stiff, beat in a little mix to loosen it up and you'll have the perfect piping consistency. I used a 2D Star piping nozzle to give it a nice swirl.
13- Pipe your buttercream onto your now cooled cupcakes and decorate with an array of the big and small wafer flowers/daisies.
14- Now you can leave these to set for a while before you dive in but this are also perfect to eat straightaway which pretty much happens anytime I bake at home.

Recipe: Triple Choc Chunk Shortbread

I love shortbread, I just don’t like making shortbread. Yet all I’ve been craving lately is shortbread, specifically the triple chocolate shortbread my local bakery sells. But at nearly two quid a pop for the same size portion as I cut mine, I thought it was time to bite the bullet and make my own because not only does homemade shortbread taste better, it’s going to save me a ton of lunch money.

Ingredients 
- 115g Butter
- 175g Plain Flour
- 55g Caster Sugar
- A Pinch Of Salt
- 100g Chocolate Chips (White, Milk & Dark)

Method 
1- Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a tin of your choosing with greaseproof paper, I chose a round tin so I could get that more classic triangular shape to my shortbread.
2- Into a bowl place your plain flour, caster sugar and salt.
3- Add your butter and rub together with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. This is a bit of an arduous job but is practically the only way to make a delicious short, melt in the mouth shortbread.
4- Now it’s time to add your chocolate chips. Now I think I went a little overboard but I have to admit it works. Initially I put 100g of all three in but then sprinkled extra in because it didn’t look enough to me. If you don’t want to have as much chocolate in there as I have you can cater the amount of chips you put in.
5- Keep rubbing and kneading the mix together until it starts to form a dough. You may need a little water to help bring it together but that’s normal.
6- Now you can easily roll this out and cut into whatever shapes you like but I decided to just press my dough into the tin as it saved me time and I find it bakes a bit better if it’s handled less. If you’re not cutting your dough into shapes just press your dough into your tin of choice and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
7- Once cooked leave to cool in the tin. The middle may still be a little soft when you take it out but cooling it completely in the tin allows for that to firm and cool evenly.
8- Then all that’s left to do is cut into triangles or squares or whatever shape you baked them into and enjoy.