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Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon Slices

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Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade….”

Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon

Things aren’t going pretty good. And I am trying to cope hard with that, I try to boost up my can-do attitude towards all the adversity and misfortune and take all bad things positively. And in this pursuit, I sometimes stand strong and sometimes give up. But that is how life is.

Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon

“Life handed him a lemon, As Life sometimes will do.
His friends looked on in pity, Assuming he was through.
They came upon him later, Reclining in the shade
In calm contentment, drinking A glass of lemonade.”

~ Clarence Edwin

Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon

Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon

I had some lemons in my fridge. Timing was perfect, right when I needed a big slice of homemade cake to cheer up my mood. I made this pretty and delicious lemon yogurt cake and crowned it with sour and slightly bitter candied lemon slices. It came out to be a really moist sweet and buttery lemon cake with a sour and acidic lemon slices and syrup, which cut through the sweetness of cake and balanced out the flavors so well.

Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon

I am ecstatic as I am going on a trip to mountains in north for next five days, all away from the current madness and I hope to soak up as much of calmness as I could. So see you until then!

Lemon Yogurt Cake With Candied Lemon

Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients

For Cake

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup whole milk plain yogurt
1/2 cup melted butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons

For Candied Lemon Slices

3/4 cup caster(superfine) sugar
1/3 cup water
2 lemons, thinly sliced

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C and grease a 12 cup bundt cake pan.
  2. Use a whisk to mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 1/2 cups sugar, yogurt, oil, eggs, lemon juice, and zest until smooth.
  4. Mix about one-third of the dry ingredients into the yogurt mixture, then stir the rest in, in two batches, just until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated. Do not overmix.
  5. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  6. Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes in pan and then invert onto wire rack.
  7. While the cake is cooling, to make the candied lemon slices, place the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar.
  8. Add the lemon and bring to the boil. Cook for 12–15 minutes or until the syrup has thickened and the lemons are translucent.
  9. Pour the syrup over the cake and top with the lemon.

Mango & Pistachio Frozen Yogurt

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Mango & Pistachio Frozen Yogurt

I just can’t imagine summers without mangoes, a quintessential summer fruit. So how could this place be left without a single mention of this wonderful sweet, juicy, fleshy and vibrantly saffron colored fruit, which is considered the king of all fruits. And the King has to be paid reverence.

Mango & Pistachio Frozen Yogurt 2

During the season, you’ll find mangoes all over the markets. And that is the time, when they are at best of their age, like all seasonal fruits. You could do wonders with this yummiest fruit on earth or you could enjoy them plain in desserts after a meal, which is a perfect summery and light dessert.

Mango & Pistachio Frozen Yogurt 3

Whip them into a cold milk shake or smoothie and you have a wonderful filling breakfast option. Blend them with some low fat yogurt and you are ready with a glass of Mango Lassi, a cool and refreshing Indian summer drink. Chop them into bite sized pieces, a dash of lime juice and some more seasonal fruits, and you are ready with a yet another refreshing summer salad bowl. Turn them into luscious creamy desserts such as cheesecakes, panna cotta, cream cakes and you are all set to rock your dinner party. So, like I said, opportunities are endless with this wonderful fruit. You just have to explore them and I am sure Mangoes wouldn’t fail you ever.

Mango & Pistachio Frozen Yogurt 4

This time, I made this very simple frozen yogurt with mangoes with some chopped pistachios blended in. Lots of mango pulp, some hung yogurt and a couple spoonful of honey. What a yummy, light and refreshing dessert. Even perfect for breakfast. See, that’s the good thing about mangoes. It’s a no-brainer flavor packed dessert, you all must give a shot!

Mango & Pistachio Frozen Yogurt 1

Ingredients

650 gm ripe mango pulp
250 gm hung yogurt {or Greek yogurt}
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup white sugar {adjust sugar depending upon sweetness of the mangoes}
1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts

Instructions

  1. In a blender, blend all the ingredients into a smooth puree, except pistachios.
  2. Chill the mango and yogurt puree in refrigerator.
  3. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker, as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Mix in chopped nuts and serve with some freshly cut mango cubes. Otherwise, store in freezer.
  4. If making, without an ice cream maker, freeze the mixture without folding the nuts initially in freezer for 5-6 hours, with blending the mixture in a blender every 2 hours, so as to break the ice crystals. And fold the nuts after final blending of mixture.

Apple Pie Muffins

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Apple Pie Muffins

The warm and earthy aroma of cinnamon is just right for this chilly weather. These days I wouldn’t mind a generous sprinkle of this gorgeous sweet spice on my french toast in breakfast, a mug of latte in afternoon or a glass of hot chocolate just before the bedtime. I am in love with it’s soothingly sweet aroma.

Apple Pie Muffins 2

I had a sudden craving for a classic apple pie on this Friday evening. And it was sudden that I could not wait for the shortcrust pastry to chill in fridge, rather I wanted something very quick. I didn’t want to step out either, the cold winds were threatening me to stay inside.

Apple Pie Muffins 1

But the craving needed to be satiated soon. And then my mind started working on it’s own, thinking about the substitutes too. Hmm…how about an apple cake? Nah…that would take some time either. How about turning that into tiny cakes. Yeah…that works. Quick, simple and satisfying. And the best part…I could enjoy them again in breakfast next morning. Yay!!!…let’s whip up some buttery moist apple muffins. A quick search led me to this recipe on AllRecipes. Going by the reviews, I zeroed on to this one.

Apple Pie Muffins 3

I modified the recipe a bit, replaced some of the plain flour with whole wheat flour, and powdered oats for the crumble topping. The result was buttery, moist muffins with big enough apple chunks to bite into and with the most desirous sweet aroma of cinnamon. And did I tell you that I also ran out of paper cups, so snipped some brown paper out of my craft box and made these easy and rustic looking handmade paper cups. And in case, you are interested in that too, cut any paper of your choice into 8 cm x 8 cm square, tuck that roughly inside the muffin tray holes with the help of a glass and pour the batter right into. And later you could also tie them up with some thread or ribbon too.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups diced apples
1/2 tsp salt {skip, if using salted butter}

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup quick oats, powdered
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius. Line a muffin tray with 12 paper cups.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together 1 1/4 cup plain flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, 1/2 cup melted butter, vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar until sugar has dissolved.
  4. Pour into the flour mixture and sprinkle the diced apple into the bowl as well. Stir just until everything is blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups to the top.
  5. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup powdered oats and cinnamon. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of melted butter while tossing with a fork until well blended. Sprinkle this over the tops of the muffins.
  6. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed.