Blueberry & Lemon Loaf

It was my Mother-in-Law's birthday this weekend during lockdown and I knew my Father-in-Law wouldn't have been able to get out and get her a birthday cake and I most certainly knew he wouldn't have made her one! So I decided to make her one to drop off (social distancing style) outside her house. She always says that my Blueberry & Lemon Loaf is her favourite cake so it was a no brainer that I would make this one for her and my boys absolutely love making this one.This recipe is from my "Bread Machine Bible" book by Anne Sheasby and I have adapted it to bake in the oven. My Mother-in-Law is not a fan of icing at all and so I decided to stick to the lemon drizzle icing but I did write "Happy Birthday" across some white chocolate buttons and pop them on the top along with a ribbon. I forgot to take a picture of what the cake traditionally looks like without my garnishes. This cake is one of my go-to recipes, it comes out perfect every time and tastes delicious - kind of like a giant blueberry muffin! 

Ingredients

225g Self Raising Flour
115g Butter
115g Caster Sugar
40g Ground Almonds
1 Lemon
2 Eggs
4 tbsp Milk
200g Fresh Blueberries
55g Icing Sugar

How To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 170'c and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of flour over the blueberries and coat them well. (This stops them sinking to the bottom of the cake during baking)
2. Rub together the butter and flour and then stir in the caster sugar, ground almonds and then grate in the zest of the lemon. 
3. Beat in the eggs and the milk and then gently fold in the blueberries.Pour into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 45mins or until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean. 
4. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes or so and then turn out onto a baking tray to finish cooling. 
5. Once the cake is cool, mix the the icing sugar with some of the juice of the lemon to make a fairly thin glace icing. Use a fork to drizzle the icing back and forth all over the loaf and then leave to set. 

Blueberry Muffins

I was given some surplus Blueberries by one of my friends and she said for me to "make something with them" and so, at the request of my Husband, I made Blueberry Muffins! Simple, easy and very tasty! I used the following recipe from Mary Berry's "Ultimate Cake Book" as its very simple and I had most of the ingredients to hand, apart from she adds lemon zest to hers and I didn't have a lemon to hand so instead I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract. They came out like a breakfast muffin I think, especially as they are low on sugar and they were lovely and light. Hubby ate 2 with an hour of them leaving the oven, so I assume they went down well with him! I also gave half of the batch back to my friend, who is a nurse, for her to share with her family or work colleagues. Recipe makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients

9oz Self Raising Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
2oz Margarine
3oz Caster Sugar
6oz Blueberries
1 lemon (I used a teaspoon of vanilla extract)
2 Large Eggs
8 fl oz Milk

How To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 200'c and line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases. 

2. Measure the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and then rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, blueberries and grate in the zest of the lemon.

3. Mix together the eggs and milk and pour into the dry mixture. Mix quickly to blend, the mixture should have a lumpy consistency. Divide between the 12 cases and then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until risen, golden and firm to touch. 

4. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes and then lift out onto a cooling rack to finish.