Lemon And Lime Cookies With Poppy Seeds Recipe

My citrus lemon and lime cookie recipe with poppy seeds

Lemon and Lime zest cookies with poppy seeds

There's an amazing smell in the kitchen right now. There's a waft of lemon and lime throughout the house which is giving a fantastic citrus aroma. The bonus to that is that I really love the sour sweet taste of lemon. I'd rather have something lemony for dessert than chocolate and that seems really strange to friends and colleagues but that's just me!

Ingredients for making my Lemon and Lime Cookies

125 grammes of softened unsalted butter

175 grammes of caster sugar

The zest and juice from 1 lemon

The zest and juice from 1 Lime
250 grammes of plain flour
20 grammes of poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Grating a lemon to add it's zest to my cookies

Making my lemon and lime cookies with poppy seeds

1. I started by melting the butter and sugar together in a large bowl perched over the top of a small bowl of hot water to allow the steam to warm the base of the bowl and slowly melt the butter. I find it's a great way to stop it being heated too quickly and curdling.

2. I then grated the zest from a lemon and a lime, adding it to the mixture as well as a healthy squeeze of the juices from both fruits.

Lemon and Lime zest ready to use in my biscuits

4. I then sifted the flour, baking powder and poppy seeds into the mixture before stirring together with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to form a dough. I then continued mixing together with my hands to really knead the dough together as it will feel rather soft and putty-like.
5. I split the mixture in two, then rolled it into balls and covered with cling-film and placed in the fridge for an hour to harden.

Tow balls of cookie dough in the fridge ready to roll out

6. After removing the dough from the fridge I further rolled it out into long round tubes and placed back in the refrigerator for a further hour

Two long tubes of lemon and lime cookie dough ready to go back into the refrigerator for an hour

7. Upon removal from the fridge I thinly sliced the tubes of dough to create rounds around 5 millimetres deep and then placed them on baking trays covered with greaseproof baking paper. The rounds will spread out slightly so it's best to leave around 2 centimetres to an inch between rounds prior to baking.
8. I then baked my lemon and lime cookies for 12 minutes at 170 Celsius (325 Fahrenheit or Gas Mark 3)

My lemon and lime zest cookies with poppy seed straight from the oven

Once baked, turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before enjoying.

Lemon and Lime biscuits and a cuppa- Nothing better for a relaxing afternoon

My Sesame and Poppy Seed Savoury Muffin Recipe

A great savoury muffin recipe that's crying out for a nice cream cheese dip

My Sesame and Poppy Seed Savoury Muffins

I think people are going to start calling me "The Muffin Man" soon as I seem to make them quite regularly. Ironically for someone with a sweet tooth I have been more inclined to work on some recipes for savoury muffins of late. Today's muffin idea was to use the packs of sesame seeds and poppy seeds that were left in our cupboards.

My £1.99 B + M Bargains silicon muffin mould has been getting some serious use recently. I'm definitely getting my money's worth from it.

Ingredients I used for My Sesame and Poppy Seed Muffins

(Will make 10-12 medium savoury muffins)

250 grammes of self-raising flour

100 grammes of sesame seeds

80 grammes of poppy seeds

250 ml milk

3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 large free-range eggs

You will also need a muffin tray (silicon are good)

My Lemon And Lime Curd Muffin Recipe

Zesty Lemon And Lime Curd Muffins- 

So light they'd be ideal for breakfast.

My amazing Lemon and Lime Curd Muffins

The Lone Male Loves Lemon

Lemon is one of my favourite flavours in the whole world. I'd rather have a slice of lemon drizzle cake over a big slab of something chocolaty. I love that slightly sour zest that comes from fresh lemon and this week received a gift of some lovely lemon and lime curd from a friend which seemed destined to go into a cake of some kind.

I love a good muffin although recently have only really made some savoury varieties so here's my first attempts at making some lemon and lime curd muffins. I used a slight variation on my recipe for cheesy Double-Gloucester Savoury Muffins and it worked well.

I didn't fancy complicating things by having a big dollop of fruity curd in the middle of my muffins. Instead I went for a light and fluffy lemon curd muffin with a gentle zesty taste of lemon and lime throughout. They were almost more like those like Madelaine style breakfast cakes you sometimes get on a continental breakfast buffet while away in countries like Spain.

Picnic Panache- Cheesy Savoury Muffins With Double Gloucester

We've been lucky this summer as July has been a fantastic month and August is usually fairly warm too. This weekend is also forecast to be nice so I thought I'd make some picnic basket filling cheesy Double Gloucester savoury muffins in case the opportunity arises to savour them in the sunshine. The British summer is usually so short that we learn to really make the most of it.

Double Gloucester cheese savoury muffins- Ready for a summer picnic

Getting My Simple Scone Recipe Right This Time

Unfinished scone business- All it takes is the right flour 

My simple scone recipe

I believe this is how a home-made simple scone is supposed to look

Last week I made an epic scone fail by getting our plain flour mixed up with our self raising flour. This ruined my simple scone recipe and therefore I had some unfinished business to attend to this weekend in getting it right.

An Epic Scone Fail Tip- Use The Right Flour!

At home we have two containers with flour inside which are identical. Previously I've taken from the excess bags which have been left aside and are already labelled 'Plain' or 'Self-raising'. However this week I fancied baking some simple scones. Thanks to our unlabelled canisters I got it completely wrong- Epic scone fail.
Sometimes a recipe doesn't work for some reason or another. Some blogs show you perfection- I'm showing your honesty.

Simple tip- If a recipe states "Self-raising flour" you really need to use it!

My epic scone recipe fail- Plain flour instead of self raising.

What came out the oven was more like small bread buns than scones.

Victoria Sponge With Jemma's Homemade Damson Jam

Continuing with my love of all things sweet- I've continued with a baking theme and here's my first attempts at making my first ever Victoria Sponge. A British classic and a real favourite with my grandparents.

My friend Jemma has a love for fruit and what she can do with it. Whether it's homemade fruit wines or jam's and preserve she always has a great idea for something that's either in season or coming into season. I recently announced my plans to make a Victoria sponge and she almost instantly provided a jar of her home-made damson jam on the pretext that she tasted the finished article.

My Victoria Sponge with Jemma's Home-made Damson Jam.

My Victoria Sponge with whipped double cream and damson jam

My simple Victoria Sponge cake recipe

I used a 20 cm sandwich tin although anything between 18-24 cm sandwich tins are ideal. 

Ingredients for the sponge cake

200 g Self-raising flour

200 g Caster Sugar

200 g Unsalted butter

4 Medium-large free-range eggs. 

1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla coffee syrup

For serving

Whipped double cream

Jemma's (or your own!) damson jam

Icing sugar for dusting the cake top

Ready for tea- my Victoria Sponge with Jemma's damson jam.

Recipe instructions- How I made my Victoria sponge

1. I preheated my oven to 190 Celsius (Gas mark 5 or 375 Fahrenheit).
2. Lightly greased two 20 cm sandwich tins. Then cut out greaseproof paper the size of the circular bases to fit inside. 
3. In a large bowl I beat together the sugar and butter until well creamed together before adding the vanilla extract.
4. I then beat together the four eggs in a separate small bowl before bit-by-bit combining them with the creamed mixture before stirring in the flour.
5. The resultant mixture was split between my two sandwich tins and spread to fall flat along the base of the tins.
6. The tins were then baked for 25 minutes until the tops were a golden brown
7. After allowing to cool I snapped open the sandwich tins before turning out onto a wire rack to further cool. 
8. I then spread a generous layer of Jemma's damson jam over the flat side of one of the sponges (After having removed the greaseproof paper) and a generous layer of whipped cream over the other half up to about 1 cm from the edge of the round to allow it to push outwards before placing the sponges together.
9. I then sprinkled a generous amount of icing sugar over the top for decorative effect.
10. Store in the fridge due to your fresh cream

Make sure you store your Victoria sponge in the fridge due to the whipped fresh cream.

My Victoria Sponge with damson jam in the fridge- For now!

My Aberlour Whisky Shortbread Recipe

My Aberlour whisky shortbread- A taste of Speyside

One of my passions when it comes to drinking is whisky. There's nothing better than a great single malt whisky. I had a brainwave this week and decided to add a wee dram to some of my shortcake to create a great new recipe for whisky shortbread.

The decision to add Aberlour whisky to my shortbread came from the recently acquired knowledge that not only does the town of Aberlour have it's own distillery, but a shortbread factory too. Made sense to combine two of my favourite symbols of Scottish food and drink. It's just a shame I don't have any tartan plates to serve it on.

My amazing whisky shortbread with Aberlour 10 year old Speyside whisky

Ingredients you'll need for my Aberlour whisky shortbread recipe

• 100g of unsalted butter
• 125g of plain flour
• 50g of cornflour
• 50g of caster sugar
• One shot (25 ml) of Aberlour whisky. You can choose another if you wish but Aberlour is a personal favourite choice.
• A round sandwich tin for baking (it can be square too if you choose)
• Parchment paper to line your sandwich tin.

Instructions for making my Shortbread

• Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius, 325 degrees Fahrenheit, or Gas mark 3
• Throw all of the ingredients except the whisky into a blender or food processor and pulse until your mixture comes together to form a soft dough.
• Stir in the whisky to your mixture
• Line a sandwich tine with baking parchment.
• Press out the dough into your sandwich tin and ensure the top is flattened off as no one wants wonky shortbread.
• Bake for 35 minutes at 170 Celsius.
• Your kicthen will have an amazing warming, almost yeasty smell from the warmed whisky which will smell like heaven for many, or hell for others. 
• Upon removing from the oven sprinkle a little extra caster sugar over the top of your shortbread or alternately you could add a little cinnamon. 
• Cut your Aberlour whisky shortbread into pieces. Then leave to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Whisky shortbread with Aberlour 10 year old Speyside whisky

Sesame and Linseed Biscuits- Seedy Pleasure

This week I thought I would try something new. I've never made biscuits which focus on the flavours of seeds but a quick browsing through the home baking aisle in Sainsbury's showed just how cost effective it is to buy packs of seeds instead of using nuts or good quality chocolate. I'm always looking for something that will save me a little money when preparing foods. Yes, ready made from the supermarket is often cheaper but there's nothing like baking your own. 

Sesame and Linseed Biscuits- Seed goodness in a sweet form

Ingredients for baking my seedy pleasures- sesame and linseed biscuits

Makes 25+ biscuits

100 g of sesame seeds
100 g of linseed
150 g of caster sugar

2 eggs (or one large double-yolk egg)

1 tsp vanilla extract or flavouring

2 tbsp plain flour

Making my linseed and sesame cookies was pretty simple

Biscuits and a teddy bear- sesame and linseed cookies

My recipe instructions..

1. Oven was preheated to 160 Celsius, (315 Fahrenheit or Gas Mark 2-3)
2. I Beat together a very large double yolk egg, the vanilla extract and the caster sugar until they were all combined into one wet paste.
3. I added the two tablespoons of flour to the mixture, turning it into the paste
4. Then I turned the sesame seeds and linseed into the mixture. It will feel a little runny but this isn't an issue. 
5. I set aside four baking trays covered with greaseproof baking paper although you could do two batches if you choose. If you do worry about sticking to the paper you could use shot of sunflower oil fry light (one calorie per shot) 
6. I placed 6 teaspoons of the mixture onto the covered baking paper as the mixture feels pretty runny. I've made the mistake of putting too much mixture too close in the past. It will run outwards over time so don't place it too close!
7. I baked each tray of biscuits for 15 minutes in the preheated oven.
8. After allowing each tray to cool I moved the paper sheets of biscuits onto a wire rack for further cooling. 

Nothing better- coffee and cake with my home-made sesame seed and linseed biscuits

Why use sesame seeds?

There are a large number of health benefits of sesame seeds

• Sesame seeds are rich in antioxidants which can help towards fighting cancers.
• High levels of minerals like iron and calcium give them a significant nutritional value.
• They're high in polyunsaturated fats which are the healthy fats.
• Sesame seeds are mentioned in many Ayurveda texts for their health benefits. 

Almond Crisp Biscuit Recipe- Go Nuts!

Simple and easy baking on a Saturday morning- 

My Almond Crisp Biscuits

My gorgeous almond crisp biscuits- These won't last for long!

It was pouring with rain this morning. Ideally I'd have been out training on the bike but having raced a couple of nights ago in abysmal conditions and been absolutely soaked I decided a better idea would be to do an easy hour on the cycling rollers and then head into the kitchen as I'd promised to bake some cookies for a friend.

I had a look through a few of my recipe books and decided on some Walnut crisps from a book a friend bought me as a birthday present knowing my love of sweet treats. Cookies- A fine selection of sweet treats (as featured to the right) from Murdoch Books.
Sadly I didn't have any walnuts at home so I have made mine with almonds instead.

Ingredients for baking my gorgeous almond crisp biscuits, 

170g of flaked almonds (Or ground almonds if you choose)

115g of caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract or flavouring

2 tbsp plain flour

Not sure I can resist eating these almond crisps for long!

How I made my biscuits

1. Oven was preheated to 160 Celsius, (315 Fahrenheit or Gas Mark 2-3)
2. I Beat together one whole egg, one egg yolk, the vanilla extract and the caster sugar until they were all combined into one wet paste.
3. I added the two tablespoons of flour to the mixture, turning it into the paste
4. Before turning the flaked almonds into the mixture. It will feel a little runny but this isn't an issue and is nothing to worry about.
5. I set aside two baking trays covered with greaseproof baking paper
6. I placed 6 teaspoons of the mixture onto the covered baking paper as the mixture feels pretty runny. I've made the mistake of putting too much mixture too close in the past.
7. I baked for 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven. The biscuits had a golden glow at this point.
8. The recipe in the book then said I should allow the tray to cool and transfer to a wire rack. At present I don't have a wire rack so I might need to treat myself to one of these next payday. Instead I just allowed them to cool on the trays before removing.

How long did they last- well my dad saw them and took a great big handful. I think there might be some left in the 'hands-off' bell jar I've placed them within for the moment. I never expect any biscuits to last long at home though. 

Man Cake Recipe: Baking Yorkshire Parkin

A winter warming cake recipe from Yorkshire, England that makes a great Bonfire Night treat. 

It's a little known fact that us cyclists love cake. Coffee and cake is a cycling institution from winter training to Cyclocross race meetings.

As a cyclist I don't just enjoy eating cake. I also like to bake my own. I've been a little adventurous over the years but I always come back to what I consider to be the ultimate sponge cake- Yorkshire Parkin.

This Yorkshire Parkin recipe is simple and easy to do for almost anyone and will make a great winter treat.

What is Parkin?

Yorkshire Parkin- moist and mourish

Yorkshire Parkin cake is a rich, moist, sponge cake with elements of ginger and golden syrup to make nit a real winter warmer when straight out of the oven. Or alternately it's great to leave it for a few days in a sealed tin which actually makes it moister and even easier to devour. Traditionally the cake recipe includes golden syrup, however for North American viewers you can use corn syrup if you choose, 

Yorkshire Parkin cake is a rich, moist, sponge cake with elements of ginger and golden syrup to make nit a real winter warmer when straight out of the oven. Or alternately it's great to leave it for a few days in a sealed tin which actually makes it moister and even easier to devour. Traditionally the cake recipe includes golden syrup, however for North American viewers you can use corn syrup if you choose, 

How Long To Prepare And Bake Your Yorkshire Parkin
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 hour
Ready in: 1 hour 10 min
Yields: Mixture will make a cake with 15-20 piece

Ingredients To Make A Great Yorkshire Parkin

·         200 gram Self Raising Flour

·         100 gram Caster Sugar

·         2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger, Or spice of choice (Nutmeg works well)

·         1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

·         50 gram Butter (Unsweetened)

·         100 gram Lyles Golden Syrup, Or Corn Syrup

·         1x Free Range Egg

·         200 ml Milk, Made with skimmed milk but it's your choice

Directions To Make Your Own Yorkshire Parkin Cake

1.     Preheat your oven so it's up and running at Gas Mark 2/ 150 celcius/ 300 Fahrenheit.

2.     Place your self raising flour, caster sugar, bicarb and tablespoons of ginger in a bowl and mix together making sure you get lots of air into the mixture

3.     Add your Golden Syrup (or Corn Syrup) and butter too a pan and lace on a low heat, stirring together

4.     In a separate bowl beat together your egg and the 200ml of milk.

5.     Slowly pour your butter and golden syrup into the flour mixture while stirring together. Then continue, adding the egg and milk until you have a thick, yet slightly runny mixture

6.     Place greaseproof paper in a medium sized baking tin and pour in your Yorkshire Parkin cake misture

7.     Place on the middle shelf in your pre-heated over for 60 minutes

8.     Take out of the oven and enjoy your sponge cake.

How To Serve Your Yorkshire Parkin Sponge Cake

One piece of Parkin cake in all it's syrupy glory.

Straight from the oven leave your sponge a few minutes to cool sligtly before removing it from the baking dish and then peeling back the greaseproof paper.

I find it best to cut your Parkin into squares around 3-4 cm in diameter although one single square will never be enough.

It's a great winter warming cake with the spice element and can be served warm with cream or custard if you choose although I feel the taste itself is best on it's own.

It's also a great post winter cyclocross or summer road racing treat after a cold, hard hour in the saddle to add some sugar back into your bloodstream.

Simple Baking- Shortbread Biscuits

I love to bake. Although as a man (read 'bloke') it seems that a lot of women I know find it rather peculiar for a guy to like to bake cakes. I find it rather peculiar that traditionally bakers were predominantly male yet a man baking at home is often seen as something slightly effeminate.

A Simple Shortbread Biscuit Recipe

My amazing looking first attempt at shortbread biscuits- I'm pretty pleased

Ingredients you'll need for my simple, yet gorgeous shortbread recipe

• 100g of unsalted butter

• 100g of plain flour

• 50g of cornflour

• 50g of caster sugar

• A 18-24 cm round sandwich tin for baking (it can be square too if you choose)

• A sheet of baking paper to line your sandwich tin.

Instructions for making my Shortbread

• Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius, 325 degrees Fahrenheit, or Gas mark 3

• Throw all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor and pulse until your mixture comes together to form a slightly soft dough.

• Line your sandwich tine with baking paper. Make sure you have the shinier side facing upwards to where you're going to put your dough- I've made this mistake!

• Press out the dough into your sandwich tin and ensure the top is flattened off as no one wants wonky shortbread.

• Bake for 30 minutes on the middle shelf in your oven.

• Upon removing from the oven sprinkle a little extra caster sugar over the top of your shortbread or alternately you could add a little cinnamon. 

• Cut your shortbread into eighths and leave to cool for 15 minutes before serving

My shortbread biscuit round recipe is a personal favourite

What I do have, for my sins is a very sweet tooth.

There's something manly about shortbread. I'm not quite sure if it's the burly Scotsmen in their kilts on the front of some of the supermarket packets or the majestic castles on the front of the tins you get at Christmas. A biscuit for real men has to have some crunch while retaining a degree of simplicity that shouts-"Eat Me!"