Lemon (and lime) drizzle cake - part 1!

My dear friend Sarah's 20th birthday was yesterday, and as part of her gift I decided to make her a birthday cake. I thought I'd  be a little adventurous, and so began my foray into the world of royal icing!

Candied limes (or any other fruit):

Ingredients:

•  Limes (or other fruit)      
• 1 cup water                      
• 1 cup white sugar            
• 2 tbsp caster sugar          

 Start out by slicing your fruit in thin discs or cubes. 

For citrus fruits, blanch them - drop them in boiling water for 30-45 seconds, then plunge them into ice cold water.

In a pan, boil enough water to cover all of your fruit. Add in 1 cup of sugar (or more if you're using a lot of fruit) and all of your fruit, then let it boil for 10-15 minutes until the pith (white bits) are starting to look a bit more translucent and the center is almost totally translucent.

Boil boil boil! Don't worry if it starts to bubble up - just ignore it, or take it off the heat for a few seconds if it starts to bubble over. Try not to disturb them too much; you don't want the sugar to crystallise.

Lay the fruit out on a wire rack to cool. Be careful -  hot sugar can cause nasty burns!

I don't have a picture of the next step, because my hands were absolutely covered in sugar, but essentially:

Get a small saucer, and add a few tablespoons of caster sugar. Pick up your fruit one at a time, coat them well in the sugar on both sides and lay it back down on the rack. You might need more than 2 tbsp, depending on how much sugar you feel like and the fruit you're using. 

Don't worry too much - just go crazy.

Wrap the rack up with cling and let everything cool and set in the fridge.

Tune in soon for the next post - making the lemon drizzle cake!

♥

Forest fruit strudels

It is no small secret that I love whipped cream. 

I also have a really bad habit of buying too much pastry because it's on offer...

So, today we are going to use some filo pastry to make some delicious fruit strudels!

You will need:

• Filo pastry (any multiple of 2 sheets)
• Fresh or frozen fruit - I used frozen forest fruits, but anything will work
• A few tablespoons of butter
• Brown sugar, Stevia or any other sweetener

 If you don't have any forest fruit berries to hand, you could always try...

Apple and sultana

Kiwi and blackberry

Peach and mango

Or whatever else you have lying around. If you have a fruit that browns, you'll also need some lemon juice.

Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a plastic container. I did one at a time, but I wasn't sure how much I'd need.

Lay out one sheet of pastry on your counter top, and brush it liberally with butter using a pastry brush.

Lay another sheet directly on top of it, and brush the top sheet with butter.

Cut your fruit into chunks, or if you're using berries, grab a handful. Make sure to toss browning fruit with lemon juice so it doesn't oxidize and go a funky colour.

Place a small handful of berries on your pastry, leaving a space at the bottom and sides. Coat with your sugar or sweetener - about a teaspoon should do.

Fold the two sides in on each other, and then fold the bottom up. Press gently to seal, and then...

Roll em up! Give them all a good brushing with butter on top and bottom, then dust with your sweetener and some cinnamon (my dusting skills leave much to be desired).

Pop them in a preheated oven at 200C until they're a nice golden brown - about 12 minutes, though it could take longer. Make sure you keep an eye on them in case they explode and leave a juicy mess everywhere.

And you're done! Let them cool on a wire rack, or eat one straight away with a healthy squirt of whipped cream. I was so excited, I didn't even take a whipped cream photo :(

You can have a photo of my dogs butt to compensate. 

♥