Lemon Syrup Coconut Cake

I baked this cake some time last year when I had an abundance of lemons. I took it to work for morning tea. The fact that I couldn't even get a second slice at 11 am was proof of how good it was. 

Ingredients

125g butter

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 cup self-raising flour

½  cup desiccated coconut

grated zest of 1 lemon

1/3 cup natural yoghurt
10ml of lemon juice

Lemon syrup

Juice of 2-3 lemons (1/2 cup)

1/3 cup caster sugar

Method

1.          Preheat oven to 180°C.

2.          Cream butter and sugar.

3.          Add eggs one at a time.

4.          Fold in flour, desiccated coconut, lemon zest and yoghurt.

5.          Bake for 30-35 mins in 180°C oven.

6.          To make the lemon syrup, boil the lemon juice with sugar until sugar is melted, and the syrup has thickened.

7.          Pour syrup over hot cake. You can prick vertical holes in the cake before pouring.

Petite Treats

I have a little secret to share with you. When I go on my yearly pilgrimage to have a mammogram (thanks mum for the bad genes!), I will stop by to get a little treat from this little bakery on Wickham Terrace. They specialise in artisan bread, little cakes and slices, Danishes and croissants and specialty chocolates. I noticed today they have little quiches, salads and soup on offer for lunch as well. For those of you in Brisbane, the address is Silverton Place, 8/101 Wickham Terrace.

Here are the little treats I bought today.

Chocolate chip caramel slice.

Petite four

Apple Streusel Muffins

These muffins received rave reviews from my in-house taste testers. On second thoughts, they've decided that the jam donut muffins still get the first rank, the apple streusels get a close second. The recipe is from Women's Weekly Little Pies & Cakes cookbook.

Women's Weekly Little Pies and Cakes Cookbook

Ingredients

40g butter

3 apples, peeled, cut into 1cm pieces

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice (I used ground cinnamon)

2/3 cup caster sugar

80g butter, melted (I used vegetable oil)

¾ cup buttermilk (I used plain yoghurt and a bit of milk)

1 egg

Streusel topping

1/3 cup self-raising flour

1/3 cup plain flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

80g cold butter, cubed

Method

1.          Make streusel topping by scrunching everything together with fingertips or process them all in a food processor.  Freeze for about 15 mins.

2.          Cook apples in a pan with 40g of butter for about 5 mins then add the brown sugar, cook for another 5 mins, then allow to cool.

3.          Preheat oven to 180°C.

4.          Combine all the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients.

5.          Stir in 3/4 of the apples, do no overmix.

6.          Scoop into muffin pan and top each with a spoonful of apples and grate/crumble the streusel over them.

7.          Bake 20 mins in 180°C oven.