Lime Syrup Drizzle Cakes

I am still learning the importance of a sense of order.

I don’t mean having everything in its place, although that really helps. It’s about making sure that I do things in the right sequence.

Every time I cook something I work out a better way…or rather I realise I have done something ‘arse about face’ and resolve to do it differently next time.

For example the golden syrup and citrus drizzle for these cakes; I juiced the lemon and lime, then I realised I wanted to zest them too.

Have you tried zesting an empty lime? It’s not easy.

It’s the same with photos. I am gradually working out the best process for taking a decent food photograph. The method is not to put the food on the plate, rush to set up a shot…then not be able to find my camera/tripod/spoon or all three.

I now set up the background, the lighting, the angles and reflectors and even place stand-in items for the food ready to swap out, all before I switch on the oven. It makes for a much less stressful shoot. It also means I have lots of photos of my lens cap sitting on an empty plate.

There’s nothing can be done about the process of the syrup drizzling onto the carpet though. That’s one of my specialties and goes with the territory.

These cakes were purely inspired by finding the mini loaf cake cases at the supermarket.  Then it was just a case of testing a few quantities and timings before it was ready to document. This is a useful recipe if you don’t want too many cakes knocking around for over indulgence reasons.

Makes 6 mini loaves

• 125g butter
• 125g golden caster sugar
• 125g self-raising flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 lemon and 1 lime
• 5 tablespoons of golden syrup

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light, then add the egg and flour and whisk really well until light and fluffy. Juice the lemon and the lime and add 2 tablespoons of the juice to the mix and whisk again. Share the mix out between 6 loaf cases or just 12 fairy cake cases.

Bake for 25 minutes (15-20 for fairy cakes) turning them around half way through.

Whilst they are baking put the rest of the juice, around 4-5 tablespoons, in a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes or so until it’s foamy and reduced a  little. Add 5 tablespoons of golden syrup and boil for another few minutes. Not too long or it turns to toffee. Allow it to cool a little then pour over the cakes when they come out of the oven.

Zest the lemon and the lime….damn it! See? Zest the lemon and the lime BEFORE you juice them, then sprinkle the zest over the syrupy cakes, or even better add some to the cake mix, about half an hour ago.

Cooking you see, it’s all about the planning.

Tagged: Baking, cake, citrus, Cooking, easy, Food, Lemon, lime, Loaf, loaves, quick, recipe, syrup

Posted in: Baking, Cake, Claire, Food, Fruity, Original Recipes, Sweet Stuff