Lemon and Lime Cake

This is one of my favourite cakes to bake - the lime gives it a little extra 'zestyness' :) Preheat the oven to 180◦C and grease your tins and line the bottoms. (It’s easier to use two – less cooking time, and if you have a divider http://www.kitchencookware.ie/baking/cake-decoration/cake-leveler/ you can divide it in four, you can get them cheap in ikea too)

Sponge

250g unsalted butter, soft

250g caster sugar

4 eggs

250g self-raising flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1-2 tbsp. Milk

1 tbsp. Lemon juice (heat them in the microwave before juicing)

1 tbsp. Lime juice

The zest of a lemon

The zest of a lime

• Put the butter, caster sugar and zest into an electric mixer and cream together for 7 minutes.
• Add the eggs, one by one and mix for 2 minutes at a time.
• Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add it to the mix until it’s all incorporated.
• Add the milk and juices and mix for a further minute.
• Divide between your baking pans and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes (may take longer depending on oven/how wet the mixture is).
• Remove when ready and leave to cool a while before taking them out of the tins to cool fully.

Lemon and Lime Syrup

50g golden caster sugar

50ml water 

¼ tsp. Lemon juice 

¼ tsp. Lime juice

• For the syrup, heat the sugar and water in a pan. Bring to the boil slowly, stirring well until the sugars dissolved. Remove from heat, cool and then add the juice.
• Pierce the cake with a skewer and pour over the syrup (use a little teaspoon).

Icing

125g unsalted butter, the softer it is the easier it is to make

350g icing sugar

50ml between remainder lemon and lime juice 

•  For the icing, cream the butter and juices together for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
•  Add the icing sugar and blend for a further 2 minutes.
• When icing the cake put a really thin layer on first to stop the crumbs ruining your icing, then decorate.

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Sweet & Salty Chocolate Cake

The Hummingbird Bakery sweet and salty chocolate cake - the perfect 'celebration' chocolate cake! I have only made it once and it felt like there was a gazillion steps... however, it was worth it! I may attempt to make this again in September for my graduation. Hopefully it will be cooler then too, the icing kept melting as I iced the cake haha. :)

10 Minutes Later....

Salty Caramel (make me first)

200g caster sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

60ml water

120ml double cream

60ml soured cream 

1 tsp sea salt

• Bring the sugar, golden syrup and water to the boil - boil for 10 minutes until its a golden colour. 
• In a separate pan, bring the double cream, soured cream and salt - remove from the heat.
• When the caramel is ready, pour the cream mixture into the caramel and stir away while it bubbles. Set it aside in a clean bowl. 

Chocolate Frosting (make me second) 

200g caster sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

60ml water 

360ml double cream

450g dark chocolate

450g butter 

• Bring the sugar, golden syrup and water to the boil - boil for 10 minutes until its a golden colour. 
• In a separate pan, bring the double cream, soured cream and salt to the boil -  remove from the heat.
• When the caramel is ready, pour the cream mixture into the caramel and stir away while it bubbles. Set aside to cool.
• Once cooled, add the chocolate and stir to melt. Using a mixer, whisk the frosting for 10 minutes  and then add the butter and whisk until it looks nice and whipped.
• Set aside while you heat the oven and make the actual cake.

Sponge (last but not least..)

300g butter

300g caster sugar

140g soft light brown sugar

3 eggs

100g cocoa powder

160ml buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla essence

60ml water

330g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt 

• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, and then add the eggs one at a time.
• In a jug stir the cocoa powder, buttermilk, water and vanilla essence into a thick paste. 
• Sift together the remaining ingredients and add this in batches to the butter and sugar, alternating with the cocoa paste until everything is fully incorporated.
• Divide the mixture between the three tins and bake for 25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
• Once the cakes are baked and cooled - decorate!
• Top each layer with the salted caramel, follow with the chocolate frosting and add a thin layer of frosting before doing the final layer.

Oven temperature - 170 ^°C

PS - I used lots of frosting on the cake and I still had half left over, so I put it in the freezer for future use. 

PPS - The leftover salted caramel is delicious over ice-cream!