Just like Bakerella, my cooking-for-pleasure tends to be chocolate heavy but recently i have begun to indulge a lemon leaning. It is not enough that i have the easiest lemon maderia, or a perfect damp Lemon & Almond but my new ultimate has to be these Lemon Slices. Reminiscent of dense lemon curd under a sweet, fragile crust of sugar on a barely-there pastry they will satisfy any citrus craving, at least until you need another bite.

I am rewriting the recipe here with UK measurements, but the original recipe, additional notes and delicious photos can be found here.

225g cold unsalted butter
200g plain flour
130g icing sugar



Add the butter, cut into small chunks, to the flour, sifted with the icing sugar. Using the back of a fork, a pastry cutter or the tips of your fingers (cool under a cold tap first) rub butter into the dry ingredients until you have a soft gravel. Press into a greased and floured tin. I used 2 small ones, but, after the success of this batch, i went and bought a 9"x13" specifically for the next time (soon). I have also read a tip to add finely grated lemon zest to the crumb, for extra zing.



Bake at 180ºC for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Meanwhile:

345g caster sugar
30g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 slightly beaten eggs
1/2 cup of lemon juice



Put the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix briefly. Add the beaten eggs and lemon juice and combine well. Easy. Pour into the just-baked pastry case and put back into the hot oven for 25 minutes until puffed and golden.



Leave to cool completely and refrigerate to store. Once cold, shower with a little extra icing sugar. Best eaten 10 minutes out of the fridge - still cold and exceeding unctuous.

Blueberry Muffins; buttery and moist with the added intrigue of cinnamon to the sweet berries.

Stir together 315g plain flour, 155g caster sugar (i used vanilla sugar), 2½ teaspoons of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder.

In another bowl whisk 250ml milk, 125g melted, unsalted butter and 2 large eggs.



Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix with a large metal spoon until barely blended. Add a generous cup (125g) frozen blueberries and stir to distribute. Divide between 12 muffin cases and bake in a preheated oven at 200ºC for 20 minutes until risen and golden. Enjoy fresh.

I took my children to a spired city today, to seek fossils. They skipped through the end-of-day commuters with skinny skeins of arms waving in the ochre light, their ubiquitous plastic sandals telegraphing their displacement despite their urban camouflage of check shirts and flapping shorts.

Even a small, green city such as this seems alien to me now. I wonder whether i am burying us, living in this tiny village.

I first saw these cute litle gems on the delightful Bakerella blog and could not resist making a version. They are less about the baking, which is very simple, and all about the building. Start with lots of queen cakes (see previous post) and a couple of chocolate brownie tray bakes (seriously, use a decent packet mix, no-one will notice).

Make the brownies the day before, allow to cool. When ready to assemble, cut out circles using a cutter to match the diameter of your queen cakes.





Bake the queen cakes in paper cases (to keep the sides pale and bun-coloured), leave to cool and carefully peel of the paper wrappings.

I used a standard 12 bun tray with fairy cake cases but i should have used a muffin tray with large muffin cases which would allow for square-sided buns and a better profile. Next time.

I cut the narrow bottoms off my fairy cakes and used one cake for the bottom bun, one for top. With a less angular cake, cut them in half to make the top and bottom. However, as a bonus, i did end up with a big pile of delicious sponge circles, which i have frozen and will use for trifles.



The fun part: colour a batch of butter icing (or tinned frosting .. one tin of Betty Crocker frosting will be sufficient for 40 sauced burgers, with another tin for the yellow cheese) with a little poppy red food colouring and a tiny touch of purple colour to make a deep ketchup red. Scoop into a plastic food bag, snip off one corner and pipe a circle of red on the base bun. The weight of the brownie will spread the ketchup outwards in an authentic squidge.



The combination of dense chewy chocolate cake and light, sweet fluffy sponge is irresistable.



I used Marigold colour with another batch of frosting to make a subtle cheesy imitation, which i piped in a looser squiggle around the top of the burger pattie. Do you think it needs green lettuce? It has been done.





For the final touch, with a small brush dipped into water dampen the top of each bun. Scatter across a dusting of poppy seeds (or sesame for the non-allergic) - the seeds will stick attractively.