Gluten Free – Dairy Free- Lemon and Lime Cake

Originally, I wanted to make a yoghurt icing for this cake but everywhere I read online was not impressed with 'dairy-free' margarine/butter. So, I decided to just use icing sugar and soya yoghurt knowing full well that it is full of water and probably wouldn't work!

Long story short - it didn't work, I strained the yoghurt - it ALL went through.. I used the 'thicker' stuff.. it did NOTHING when I added the icing.. except go a horrible grey colour.. I will figure it out. But for this, I stuck with simple, yet effective, lemon icing. :)

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two 8 inch baking tins with baking powder. 

Ingredients

250g dairy-free margarine

250g caster sugar

4 eggs

250g plain gluten free flour

½ tsp. gluten-free baking powder

2 tbsp. full fat soya milk

2 tbsp. lemon & lime juice

Zest of a lemon & lime

•        Add the margarine, sugar and zest to a bowl – beat it with a paddle mixer until the mix is well combined.

•        Add the eggs one by one, it may look a little curdled but don’t panic it will look better once the flour is added.

•        Sift in the flour and baking powder – mix on low to combine.

•        Then add the milk and juices.

•        Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.

Sugar Syrup

50g caster sugar

50ml water

1 tsp. lemon & lime juice

•        Boil the sugar and water on a low heat until all the sugar is dissolved.

•        Remove from the heat and stir in the juices.

•        While the cakes are still warm, skewer some holes into the cake and pour the sugar syrup over them.

Icing

250g icing sugar

Lemon juice

•        Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the lemon juice tsp. by tsp. until the mixture is a ‘droppable’ consistency.

•        Pour the icing into the centre of the cake and let it pour over the edges. 

•        If you made the cake in two tins, add some icing to sandwich the sponges together. 

♥ ♥

Wendy

XO

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March - Victoria Sponge Cake

Who doesn't love a good Victoria Sponge Cake? Fresh cream and jam (next time I'll make the jam too!) Preheat the oven to 180^°C and grease two 8 inch sandwich tins.

Just a little flat ;)

Sponge

225g butter

225g caster

4 large eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

225g self-raising flour

Filling

8 tbsp jam

200ml cream, softly whipped

• cream together the butter and sugar, until light and fluffy.
• beat in the eggs one by one and add the vanilla.
• fold in the flour with a large metal spoon
• bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
• once cooled, sandwich the cakes with jam and whipped cream.

February - Choc and Cheesecake Cupcakes

These went down a treat! They were a lovely balance between sweet and savoury. Preheat the oven to 150^°C and line a muffin tin with 12 bun cases, or make mini ones as per the magazine image. 

Chocolate Layer

125g plain flour
150g caster sugar
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
40g cocoa powder
25g vegetable oil
1.5 tsp white wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
125ml water
25g white chocolate, grated

•  add the flour, caster sugar, bicarb, cocoa powder, vegetable oil, vinegar, pinch of salt and water - mix until smooth and then stir in the chocolate. Add a tablespoon of the mixture to each bun case.

Cheesecake Layer

200g light cream cheese

50g caster sugar

1 large egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

25g dark chocolate, grated

• add the cream cheese, caster sugar, egg and vanilla extract - mix until smooth and stir in the chocolate. Add a tablespoon of the mixture to each bun case.
• bake for 10 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean - leave to cool then decorate.
• the magazine used Dr.Oetker Designer Icing - I just used icing sugar and some cream cheese :) 

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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