I have no compulsion to bake in summer. None. Zero. You may have noticed, if you're a fan of my banal chitchat, that there hasn't been so much of that lately. That's because Melbourne became hotter than Hades. Think eggs fried on bonnets of cars, lungs singed, poets crying and women gnashing their teeth. Mainly me.
Not a fan of the heat. At all. That's WHY I live I live in Melbourne actually. Melbourne is not known for it's temperate climate, instead it's known for freezing winds, unpredictable rain and coffee loving inhabitants. When I visited Seattle I felt right at home.
So, no baking. Screw that. It was 45 (113) outside and approximately 32 (90) indoors and I was only putting the oven on if I was climbing into it, and things didn't get that bad. Whilst American swirled in their Polar Vortex (which sounds like an evil nemesis) we sweltered in Satan's Underpants. But not anymore.
Here we are in lovely March, the month that used to be the hottest month but has now ceded that honour to January and February, may they rot in hell.
I made a lemon slice and it was lemony and cakey and has a nice crunchy sugar topping. We are all enjoying it very much. Our babysitter Jo liked it so much she photographed the recipe - because that's how the younger folk do it. The recipe is from The Book. the one that I promised to work my way through - and I am still doing that... very slowly.
Crunchy Topped Lemon Slab
250g butter softened
1 Tblsp lemon zest
250g caster sugar
4 free range eggs
275g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 ml buttermilk (or regular milk with a squeeze lemon)
juice of 1 lemon
Topping
125g granulated sugar
juice of 1 lemon.
Preheat the oven to 180 cel because you can, because it is a pleasant 20 cel outside. Grease a 20 x 30cm baking tin, grease the tin and line it with paper.
Put everything into a large bowl and mix it up. Don't over mix it as it will become tough - like that top dog female prisoner who runs the block. Spoon that gentle natured batter into the tin and smooth the top. Cook it for about 30 mins, or until it's slightly browned and pulling away from the sides of the tin.
Let it cool slightly in the tin, not too cool - I think that we're talking Morgan Freeman cool and not Lenny Kravitz cool.
Mix up the topping and spoon it over the whole slice - don't let the sugar melt. Slice it and eat it.
This slice is more like a cake, and although I don't normally like slice/cake crossover I thought this was pretty delicious. It has a nice buttery crumb. I learned that type of talk from The Great Australian Bake-Off. A show that I can't get enough of. People bake the whole time! There is also a UK version which I caught a look at and HOLY MOLY not only do people bake but there is a very dashing silver fox who hosts.
He is a great reason to learn about baking, or just to watch that show. I don't know how well my dough would rise with those piercing blue eyes on me though. Shiver.
Not a fan of the heat. At all. That's WHY I live I live in Melbourne actually. Melbourne is not known for it's temperate climate, instead it's known for freezing winds, unpredictable rain and coffee loving inhabitants. When I visited Seattle I felt right at home.
So, no baking. Screw that. It was 45 (113) outside and approximately 32 (90) indoors and I was only putting the oven on if I was climbing into it, and things didn't get that bad. Whilst American swirled in their Polar Vortex (which sounds like an evil nemesis) we sweltered in Satan's Underpants. But not anymore.
Here we are in lovely March, the month that used to be the hottest month but has now ceded that honour to January and February, may they rot in hell.
I made a lemon slice and it was lemony and cakey and has a nice crunchy sugar topping. We are all enjoying it very much. Our babysitter Jo liked it so much she photographed the recipe - because that's how the younger folk do it. The recipe is from The Book. the one that I promised to work my way through - and I am still doing that... very slowly.
Crunchy Topped Lemon Slab
250g butter softened
1 Tblsp lemon zest
250g caster sugar
4 free range eggs
275g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 ml buttermilk (or regular milk with a squeeze lemon)
juice of 1 lemon
Topping
125g granulated sugar
juice of 1 lemon.
Preheat the oven to 180 cel because you can, because it is a pleasant 20 cel outside. Grease a 20 x 30cm baking tin, grease the tin and line it with paper.
Put everything into a large bowl and mix it up. Don't over mix it as it will become tough - like that top dog female prisoner who runs the block. Spoon that gentle natured batter into the tin and smooth the top. Cook it for about 30 mins, or until it's slightly browned and pulling away from the sides of the tin.
Let it cool slightly in the tin, not too cool - I think that we're talking Morgan Freeman cool and not Lenny Kravitz cool.
Mix up the topping and spoon it over the whole slice - don't let the sugar melt. Slice it and eat it.
This slice is more like a cake, and although I don't normally like slice/cake crossover I thought this was pretty delicious. It has a nice buttery crumb. I learned that type of talk from The Great Australian Bake-Off. A show that I can't get enough of. People bake the whole time! There is also a UK version which I caught a look at and HOLY MOLY not only do people bake but there is a very dashing silver fox who hosts.
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| Paul Hollywood. Yes, really. |
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