Lemon cakes
Ingredients
butter for greasing the tin
5 eggs
300 g castor sugar
140 ml cream
finely grated zest of 3 lemons
25 ml dark rum
pinch of salt
80 g unsalted butter, melted
240 g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
For the glaze
50 g apricot jam, warmed
finely grated zest of 1 lemon and 3 tablespoons juice
150 g icing sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 180° C. Lightly grease the loaf tin (26 x 9cm) with butter and line with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cream, lemon zest, rum, salt and melted butter. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then whisk into the egg mixture until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and gently level the surface. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, turning the tin around halfway through cooking. Test the cake by inserting a small knife or skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean, then the cake is cooked. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Lightly brush the cake all over with the warm apricot jam. Leave for 5 minutes. Mix the lemon zest and juice with the icing sugar in a small pan and heat until lukewarm and smooth. Brush the lemon glaze evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Leave for a few minutes to set.
Place the cake on a baking tray in the oven, turn off the heat and leave for 3 - 5 minutes to dry the glaze - it will become translucent. Allow to cool before slicing.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours
Curious to taste these delicious lemon cakes? Like & share the Amsterdam Flavours facebookpage and maybe you will be the lucky winner of two lemon cakes. THE WINNERS ARE: Jan Kleijn, Jaqueline Kalma en Marianne Bitter. Congrats and enjoy! You can send your home adres to: info@amsterdamflavours.com
Summer apricot cake
Ingredients
250 g brown sugar
125 g unsalted butter, softened
8-12 apricots, halved and pits removed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
85 ml cream
creme fraiche, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 175° C. Combine 150 g of the brown sugar with 60 g of the butter in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until well combined and smooth. Remove from the heat and pour into a well-greased, round, 23 cm cake tin, spreading it out evenly. Place the apricot halves on top, cut-side down.
Beat the remaining 65 g butter and 100 g sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in the vanilla extract. Sift the flour and baking powder to combine with a pinch of salt. Fold into the butter mixture, add the cream and mix well. Spoon the batter over the apricots and bake for about 40 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out on to a plate.
Serve with creme fraiche. The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Note: Other stone fruit such as plums or small peached and nectarines also work well.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours
Shortbread
Ingredients
250 g flour
75 g castor sugar
150 g unsalted butter
pinch of salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 170° C.
Place the flour, sugar, butter and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and starts binding together.
Remove the dough from the food processor and knead lightly until the mixture comes together. Divide the pastry into 2 equal portions and form into 2 discs on a baking tray. Crimp the edges and prick with a fork to prevent the shortbread from rising in the oven.
Bake for about 35 minutes until pale golden. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with castor sugar. Allow to cool for about 3 minutes and then cut into 8 wedges. Allow to cool completely before serving.
Shortbread keeps well for a couple weeks if stored in an airtight container. But if you're as greedy as we are, it will probably only last a couple of days!
If you don't have a food processor, shortbread and also be made by hand.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours