Mary Berry's lemon cake tray bake with a lemon cream cheese frosting

Recently I worked in a school for a few weeks to cover a teacher who was on paternity leave. Year 5 was my assigned class and they were a boy heavy, smaller than average class.....little did I know they had a higher than average talent for talking! Having said that they were a really fun class and helped reignite my passion for teaching. To thank them, I decided to have a little party at the end of my time with them. One girl in the class is allergic to chocolate (poor thing!) so I did one chocolate tray bake with vanilla frosting (see blog for recipe) and one lemon tray bake, using a cream cheese topping. These cakes were extremely easy to make and deliciously moist. There was some left over (miraculously) which I put in the staff room. Not 10 minutes later I went back in and it had all vanished! Obviously a hit with both children and grown-ups.

For the cake:
One roasting tin measuring 30cm x 23cm
275g self-raising flour
225g softened butter
2 level teaspoons baking powder
225g caster sugar
grated rind of 2 lemons
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk

For the topping:
400-500g cream cheese
4 teaspoons clear honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
sprinkles!
chopped pecans

Grease and line your tin and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Measure all the cake ingredients into the large bowl and beat until well blended. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level out. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the sponge springs back when gently pressed and the sides have shrunken back from the tin. Leave to cool slightly in the tin then turn onto a wire rack.

To make the topping, mix together the cheese, honey and lemon juice, adding if necessary more lemon juice and honey. Spread evenly over the cake and sprinkle over your chosen decoration. Cut the cake into squares and watch it vanish! 


 

Mary Berry's chocolate tray bake with a vanilla frosting

Following on from the lemon tray bake, here is the chocolate one! I used Mary's tray bake recipe for the cake and used a vanilla frosting from The Hummingbird Bakery. The chocolate cake went down VERY well with the children and was again really easy to make. You can use any frosting you like or just sprinkle icing sugar over the top. I used some coloured sprinkles and chocolate drops to decorate.

For the cake:
Roasting tin 30cm x 23cm
275g self-raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
4 level tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons hot water
225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk

For the frosting:
160g butter
500g icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
50ml whole milk

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line your tin.
Blend together the cocoa and hot water the allow to cool slightly. Measure all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat until well blended.
Turn the mixture into the tin and level out. Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes until the cake has shrunk a little from the sides and the sponge springs back when pressed gently in the centre. Leave to cool a little in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack.


To make the frosting, whisk the icing sugar with the butter in a large bowl (this can get a bit messy!). When it reaches a sandy consistency, add the vanilla essence and milk, then continue whisking until smooth and fluffy.

Smooth onto the cake. You can decorate it however you like, I added some sprinkles and choccy drops. Trim the edges if you like, then cut into squares. Serves about 25.

Creamy, garlic dauphinoise potatoes

Dauphinoise potatoes. Not for diet days! So indulgent and oh-so-worth-it. They go well with any kind of roast and are straight forward to make.

You will need (enough for 4-6):

1Kg Maris Piper potatoes

500ml double cream

2 large garlic cloves, crushed

salt

pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees C (fan-assisted). Peel your potatoes and thinly slice them. Put a layer into an oven proof dish then add some garlice and salt and pepper. Carry on until you have layered all the potatoes up with the garlic and seasoning. Push down firmly. Pour over the cream and put into the oven. Bake for about 1 and a half hours but check them after an hour. The worst thing you could do is under cook this dish. I have done this once before and it was a disaster! 

Perfect on a drizzly day (which seems to be the norm in Devon at the moment)....not so great for bikini bodies.

 

 

 

Slow roast chicken cooked with lemons and thyme butter

This is the most deliciously scrumptious way to cook a roast chicken. Really. It may sound a lot of effort for just roast chicken but it does make something quite average into a real treat. You will need to overcome a fear of touching raw meat (if you have one) and be prepared to get your hands mucky. The butter is mashed up with the thyme and salt and pepper and slipped under the skin of the chicken breasts, and some is put inside along with two lemon halves. Any remaining butter can be smeared on the skin all over the chicken to give it a lovely crispy skin. The chicken will slow cook for about 1 and half hours to 2, depending on the size. The high temperature at the start ensures the skin is crispy at the end. Cooking it in a little wine and some chicken stock means the meat stays moist and you can baste it occassionally throughout the cooking time. I usually make some dauphinoise potatoes (see blog for a how-to), roasted veg and something like brocolli. You can make a sumptuous lemony gravy with the juices at the end whilst the chicken is resting.

You will need:
1 chicken
50g softened butter
as many thyme leaves as you like!
salt
pepper
1 glass of white wine
1 pint chicken stock (I use Knorr stock pots)
1 lemon, cut in half
2 teaspoons of cornflour for the gravy

Pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees C. Place your chicken into a large roasting tin. Make 2 small inscisions at the base of the breasts. Mash the butter in a boal with some salt and pepper and the thyme leaves. It doesn't matter if some stalks get thrown in too. Take some small amounts of the butter and gently place under the skin of the chicken breasts. Smooth it along to the end and carry on until there is a good layer of the thyme butter under the skin. Put a small amount in the cavity of the chicken along with the two halves of the lemon. Rub any remaining butter over the skin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Heat up any stock you have or, make up your stock with a cube or jelly. You'll need about a pint, maybe a bit more or less. Pour this into the roasting tin along with a glass of wine.
Put into the hot oven for 15 minutes at this temperature then turn right down to 160 for a further 1 hour and a half. This is for a fan assisted oven so increase temperatures by 20 degrees if you have a non fan assisted oven.
Ever half hour or so spoon the juices over the chicken and into the cavity. When done the chicken can be placed onto a board for carving in about 10 minutes. The juices from the chicken MUST run clear. Put it bake in if you think it needs more time. The meat should be falling off the bone and the skin will be crispy.

To make the gravy juice, first pour off any excess fat by gently tipping the pan and pouring the top layer of fat off into a bowl. You can through this away when it is cool or use a little to dress the greens. Squeeze the lemon halves into the roasting dish (careful, they will be very hot!). Strain into a pan and set over the hob to heat to boiling. Add 2 teaspoons of cornflour or plain flour and quickly stir in until the juice thickens up. If it goes a bit lumpy, strain again. Pour into a jug, it is now ready!

Carve your chicken and add whatever accompaying veg you like and trickle over your lemon gravy. Dig in!