Tag: Lemon

Ricotta lemon cake

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Beautifully moist sunshine cake. Not at all fancy, but all the better for that. Serve with tart poached fruit. Cherries are AMAZING. Also try plums, apricots, gooseberries, raspberries, greengages, blueberries….

  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 180g caster sugar
  • 100g ricotta
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 65g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 130g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin
  3. Beat the egg, yolks and sugar together until pale and fluffy
  4. Drizzle in the cooled melted butter, whisking while you do it
  5. Then whisk in the ricotta and the lemon zest
  6. Gently fold in the flour, baking powder and salt
  7. Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth it out on top
  8. Bake for 20-25 mins until golden (and until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean)
  9. Cool in the tin and then serve with poached fruit

Tahini and lemon cookies

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

This is a slightly tweaked recipe from my date-night favourite restaurant Honey & Co. Seriously, the chefs are complete magicians, the food is always mind-blowingly delicous and their cheesecake is EXTRAORDINARY.

These cookies are fragrantly lemony, delectably chewy and the warm, slightly bitter sesame comes in at the end.

  • 200g sugar
  • 140g unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 110g tahini (I love this one)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp bicarb
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 250g flour
  • 2 tbsp marmalade
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Skin of 4 preserved lemons, chopped
  • Sesame seeds
  1. Cream the butter with the sugar and the egg
  2. Then beat in the tahini, followed by all the rest of the ingredients
  3. Mix well to form a smooth dough. Pop it in the fridge for 20 mins to set
  4. Heat the oven to 180C fan (200C)
  5. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll into walnut-sized balls gently between the palms of your hands
  6. Tip about 3 tbsp sesame seeds onto a plate and dap each cookie blob into the sesame before placing on a lined baking tray, sesame-side up
  7. Space the cookies out so they have room to spread, maybe use 2 baking trays or do 2 batches
  8. Bake for 8 mins, rotate the tray and bake for a further 5 mins until the cookies are golden
  9. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray before eating.

New potatoes with lemon and almonds

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

A warm potato salad with a delectable combination of flavours and textures.

  • 500g new potatoes, left whole unless they’re big in which case cut into halves or thirds
  • 1 preserved lemon, skin only finely chopped (pith and flesh discarded)
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 50g flaked almonds, toasted (just give them a couple of minutes in a dry pan over a low-medium heat until golden brown)
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Small handful parsley, chopped
  • Small handful mint, chopped
  • ½ tsp salt
  1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the new potatoes for 12-18 mins (depending how big they are) until tender
  2. While they’re cooking, mix the other ingredients together in a small bowl
  3. When the potatoes are cooked, drain them and tip them back into the pan
  4. Pour the dressing over them, gently mix through and leave to stand for a minute or two before serving

Serve as a side dish at a barbecue, alongside a lovely medium-rare grilled steak or simply with hummous and a crunchy green salad.

Lemon and garlic chicken and chips

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A family favourite, full of flavour but ever so simple to make, using oven chips as a shortcut, with harissa yoghurt to dunk into. More yummy than you’d ever imagine, given the simplicity of the ingredients. Literally winner winner chicken dinner. Feeds 4.

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • Generous sprig of fresh oregano
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 100g greek yoghurt
  • 1 heaped tbsp harissa paste
  • 1 kg chunky oven chips
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • Salt and pepper
  1. About an hour before you cook, mix the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, fresh oregano (twisted and pinched a bit to release the flavour), salt and pepper. Pour this mixture over the chicken breasts in a dish. Cover and refrigerate, turning once, until you need them
  2. Mix the yoghurt, lemon zest, harissa paste and a pinch of salt to a pleasing pale pink
  3. Pre-heat the oven to 200C fan (220C)
  4. Put the chips on an baking tray and stick in the oven. They’ll need about 30 mins (for some reason they always take at least 5 mins longer than the package says) so the timing should all come out about right
  5. While the chips are cooking, heat a large, oven-proof frying pan over a medium heat
  6. Remove the chicken from the marinade, shake off and place in the pan
  7. Cook without moving them for 10 mins until deep brown on the underside, then flip them over and put the pan into the oven for 15 mins. (If your pan isn’t ovenproof, just transfer to an oven dish)
  8. Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest while you put the chips in a big bowl and sprinkle with the paprika, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Gently toss the spices through lightly and you’re ready to go

Serve with something green (broccoli is usually our green of choice) and spoon the chicken juices over the top. Dunk everything in harissa yoghurt and feel happily full of delicous food.

Lemon sour cream cookies

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I never finish off a tub of sour cream. This is the perfect buttery, lemony way to use up the leftovers.

  • 250g plain flour
  • ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Pinch salt
  • 60g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 120g sour cream
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  1. Mix flour, bicarb and salt in large bowl
  2. Grate in the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (takes about 5 mins)
  4. Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice and zest
  5. Then stir in the flour mixture until just combined
  6. Bring together to a soft dough, then wrap the ball in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 mins
  7. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  8. Pinch and gently roll walnut-sized pieces, spacing them out on a lined lined baking tray
  9. Bake for 12-15 mins until lightly browned round the edges
  10. Cool on a rack and try not to eat all of them at once, but save some for your mum