Greek Honey Yogurt Cake

While on my continuing journey to complete a series of cakes, I stumbled upon a recipe for Greek Yogurt and Honey Cake.  Since I didn't have most of the ingredients offhand, I created my own version of the cake.  I found the base of the cakes from the recipe book to be too dry -- I happen to only like cake when it's moist -- so the yogurt and lemon sauce work to create a delicious dessert, sure to please everyone at your table!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 TB baking powder
3/4 C Greek Honey yogurt
1/4 C honey
1/3 C brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Lemon sauce:
2 TB honey
2 TB lemon juice
2 TB unsalted butter

Preheat over 350 F (160 C).  Grease and line the bottom of a 9 in round cake pan.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and add the yogurt, honey, sugar eggs, and vanilla extract.  Beat until mixture is smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.  Bake in the oven 45-55 minutes or until firm and golden brown.

Let cool in the pan 2-3 min, then turn onto a serving plate.  For the sauce put the honey, lemon juice, and butter into a small pan and bring to a boil.  Boil for a few minutes to reduce, stirring until syrupy.  Serve the cake in slices with the lemon sauce poured over them.

Recipe adapted from: Greek Yogurt and Honey Cake from 1 Mix, 100 cakes

Blackberry Swirl Sponge Roll

Although I discovered while making this cake that I may be lacking some key fine motor skills, this cake I would suggest to even beginners.  The best part about it, is that you can eat it the day you make it, or just wrap it and save it for the next and it's just as good! Enjoy.

Blackberry Swirl Sponge Roll

Cake Ingredients:
*Oil/Butter for greasing
*1 1/3 C All-Purpose Flour
*1 1/2 tsp baking powder
*3/4 C unsalted butter
*1/2--3/4 C Caster Sugar, plus extra for sprinkling***
*3 eggs, beaten
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*2 Tb milk
*1/2 C blackberry jelly, warmed****


Frosting Ingredients:
*Powdered sugar
*Milk
*1 1/2 tsp blackberry jelly

***I used only 1/2 C and it tasted fine; Additionally you can substitute granulated sugar for the caster sugar if you don't have any available
****You can use any type of jelly or preserves, I just specifically chose blackberry




Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C).  Grease and line a 9x13 inch (or 10x15 inch) pan with the paper 1/2 inch above the rim.  Lay another sheet of parchment paper on the counter and sprinkle a fine layer of sugar on top.  Set aside.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, then add the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Beat well until the mixture is smooth, then beat in the milk.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth into the corners with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until risen, firm to the touch, and golden brown.

Once it is finished being baked, carefully turn out the cake onto the sugar parchment paper and spread with the jelly.  Roll the cake firmly from one short side to enclose the jelly. IT IS IMPORTANT TO keep the paper around the outside to hold the cake and roll in place.


Move the roll to a wire rack to cool.  You may remove the parchment paper when the cake is firm.  


I found that this cake mix can be a little bit dry, so once I removed the parchment paper I decided to use frosting over the top.  To create the frosting, simply put the desired amount of powdered sugar into a small bowl--for me, I used ~1/2 C.  Next mix in the milk.  When doing this, be sure to only add a little at a time--a little goes a long way.  Once you have created a thick paste like texture, add in the jelly.  Again, please note that you can use whatever kind of jelly, just keep it the same from what you used inside the cake for the frosting.  After it is mixed, gently spoon over the cake.  You may additionally add a touch of dusted powdered sugar on top for looks.  Slice and enjoy!

Triple Lemon Cake

Well, I was really craving this when I was searching through the endless pages of tastespotting.com (which is really an amazing site for finding recipes--I entice you all to go check it out!).  However, if you are like me and living in New Zealand during the winter time (or something like that) I found it rather difficult to find delicious lemons in my grocery store.  Instead, I simply used just regular lemon juice, and found that the flavour was still quite excellent.  So for all of you lemon sticklers, you can wait for the season, just let me know if you think it makes any difference! :) 

Cake:

1 1/2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 C milk

1 C sugar 

1/2 C canola oil

3 eggs

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon extract

Syrup:

1/3 C sugar

1/3 C lemon juice

Glaze:

1 TB lemon juice

1/2 C powdered (icing) sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

milk

Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).  To begin the cake base, sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.  In a separate large bowl, combine milk, sugar, and canola oil.  Add eggs one at a time.  Next add lemon zest, vanilla, and 1/4 tsp lemon extract (the amount of extract can be upped if you don't feel that it's lemon-y enough!).  Finally add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir.

Pour this mixture into a well-sprayed loaf pan (or a silicone one if you are so lucky to have one!) and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick can come out clean from the center.

During the last 5-10 minutes of baking, heat the sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly.  Set aside while you remove the cake from your oven.  Let the cake stand for 5 minutes, then drizzle with lemon syrup over the top and sides, allowing it to be soaked up by the cake.  This is will make the cake rich and moist!

Once the cake is finally cooled, mix the lemon juice, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Once you have reached a consistency that you like (if it's too thick try using some milk to thin it out), use a piping bag or fill a zip-lock bag with the mixture and cut a small hole on the corner for piping.  Drizzle the mixture lightly over the top of the cake to add a little zing! 

Enjoy! :)

Adapted recipe from: http://www.onelovelylife.com/?p=1846