Mother’s Day is fast approaching and what better a gift to make your mum than some homemade cakes. One of my mum’s favourites is a lemon cake so I know she will love these oozy lemon and poppy seed cakes, plus everyone else in the family can have one too.
My mum and I love a good day out shopping and make a day of it, our last trip we went to the Bullring in Birmingham so I could get Dean some birthday presents. I treated her to a cup of tea and a cake and she chose the lemon drizzle cake. If your mum is like mine and hard to buy for then I always think a homemade present is the best as you will have put a lot of thought into it. I wanted to put a bit of a twist on it for my mum so that’s why I went for the poppy seeds and the oozy lemon curd.
Two of my favourite things in food are freshness and texture. These cakes are light, fresh and full of flavour with a tiny crunch from the poppy seeds. It works so well with the oozyness of the lemon curd. Great for a light snack with a cup of tea or after an evening meal if you have a sweet tooth. Or if you like entertaining for friends add these to your selection of afternoon tea cakes.
Mini Lemon and Poppy Seed Cakes
Ingredients
- 200 g caster sugar
- 200 g margarine/unsalted butter
- 4 eggs beaten
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- poppy seeds enough to cover the mixture
Lemon curd
- 4 unwaxed lemons zest and juice
- 200 g unrefined caster sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter cut in to cubes
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
Instructions
- Put the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and the butter into a heatproof bowl. Sit the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Stir the mixture every now and again until all of the butter has melted.
- Lightly whisk the eggs and egg yolk and stir them into the lemon mixture. Whisk until all of the ingredients are well combined, then leave to cook for 10-13 minutes, stirring every now and again, until the mixture is creamy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the lemon curd from the heat and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally as it cools. Once cooled, spoon the lemon curd into sterilised jars and seal. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
- Heat the oven to 190°C / fan 170°C / gas 5. Butter a 12 hole muffin tin.
- Cream together the butter, sugar and zest in with electric whisk (I use a Kitchen Aid).
- Add the eggs and mix.
- Add the flour, baking powder and continue to whisk together.
- Once the mixture is combined add the lemon extract, milk and the poppy seeds and mix.
- When everything is evenly combined place into the muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and transfer to a metal rack. Once cooled cut each cake in half, spread a good amount of lemon curd and sandwich together then dust with icing sugar.
- Serve and enjoy!
Tip
Lemon curd makes a great gift if you don’t want to keep all the jars give them to friends they will love it on toast.
Leave a Reply