Squidgy Lemon-Ginger Cake

My brother and sister-in-law got us a subscription to BBC Good Food for Christmas - great present - please repeat this year! In the April issue there is a fantastic Brilliant Bakes supplement and I found the recipe for this cake in there.  This cake is just divine - the fresh ginger really cuts through the sticky sweetness of the sugar and dates.  I made it as a cake but I think I would also try making it in individual loaves and serving it as a pudding, warm with ice-cream or creme fraiche.  The recipe can be found here on the BBC Good Food website. 

Lemon Polenta Cake

I have to say the thought of baking this afternoon and heating up an already overheated flat further with the oven didn't really appeal. However 75 degrees + or not I made the pact to bake something every weekend I was at home. So it got me to thinking that I wanted to bake something that smells of summer - or should I say an Italian summer. This cake, even in its raw mixture form, evokes freshly picked Sicilian lemons. I think it originated at The River Cafe but this recipe is a variation that I found in a weekend supplement. Anyway I soon found this afternoon that with a glass of something cold and white in hand and some chill out tunes on, sunny baking can be lovely....

The Recipe:

175g unsalted butter, softened (another bonus of baking on a hot day - butter softens v quickly....)

225g caster sugar

200g ground almonds

3 eggs

zest of 4 unwaxed lemons and juice of 1 of these

115g polenta

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 160c/gas mark 3.

2. Line a 20cm tin with baking parchment.

3. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz to a smooth batter.

4. Spoon into the lined tin and bake for 45-50 mins. Cool in the tin.

Raspberry & Lemon Torta

Recipe

This is a Tana Ramsay recipe - I've never tried any of hers before but this came out really well. It was easy to make - it's quite 'pudding like' in that is is quite dense and moist so would be nice served warm as a dessert. Haven't tried it yet cool as I've just had some after it came out of the oven.

115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

450g raspberries (I used frozen ones defrosted. I used about 350g though and thought that already seemed like quite a lot)

juice 1/2 lemon

225g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

250g plain flour

2 tsps baking powder

finely grated zest 1 unwaxed lemon

1. Preheat oven to 160c/140c fan/325f/gas 3. Butter a 20cm round tin and line base with greaseproof paper.

2. Place raspberries and lemon juice in a bowl and put to one side. In another bowl whisk the sugar and eggs until pale and thick. Carefully fold in the flour, baking powder and lemon zest then stir in the melted butter.

3. Put the batter in the tin and then add the raspberries including juice on top. Sprinkle the top with sugar.

4. Bake for 70 mins (I had to bake mine for more like 90-110 mins). Cool in tin and then on rack.