Easter Cake | Food

 

Easter is swiftly approaching and for me that means lemon drizzle cake. I have a pretty fail safe recipe, but today decided to stray from those boundaries and try the March Waitrose recipe card version. Though saying that I did adapt it a bit (who doesn't adapt recipes?!) so I thought I'd let you all know what I did! For example reducing the layer number and sprinkling with poppy seeds. 

This cake has a citrus lemon zing which counteracts the sponge, allowing for a refreshing nibble without much stodge. It is topped with ground almonds, crushed up pistachios and poppy seeds giving difference in texture too. There is also a layer of homemade marzipan in the middle as well making it the perfect treat for April afternoons! 

Prep time: 25+ minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

 Cooling time 1+ hour

Ingredients for Marzipan: 

100g pistachios

50g ground almonds 

75g golden caster sugar 

75g icing sugar

1 medium egg 

Ingredients for Cake:

175g butter

175g golden caster sugar

2 lemons, zested and juiced

3 medium eggs 

225g self-raising flour 

1 tsp baking powder

50g poppy seeds 

Lemon Sugar Icing:

1 lemon, juiced 

150g caster sugar

Topping:

50g pistachios

30g ground almonds 

10g poppy seeds

1. Firstly preheat the oven to 180◦c (fan assisted). Grease a 20" cake tin with a piece of kitchen roll lightly dampened with vegetable oil. 

2. To create the cake mix, place the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice, eggs, flour, poppy seeds and baking powder in a large mixing bowl and combine with a handheld whisk. It should look as above, pale and creamy with a batter-like consistency.

3. To create the marzipan process the pistachios until they reach an even and fine consistency, this can be done with a blender or food processor. Tip into a bowl and add the ground almond, caster and icing sugar, and egg and combine with a fork until a paste is formed. 

4. Spoon half of the cake batter into the cake tin and level the surface with a spatula. Flatten parts of the marzipan with your fingertips and lay them across the surface of the batter, until the surface is covered save an inch around the edge. Cover with the remaining cake batter and smooth once more. 

5. Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, the marzipan remains slightly gooey, so the cake prod method will not effectively test cooking here, instead press the middle, when firm the cake is complete.

6. While the cake is baking make the icing by juicing one lemon and adding the caster sugar, beat using a small whisk or fork until a slightly thickened runny consistency is formed. 

6.  Once out of the oven immediately pierce the cake in multiple places (around 20) with a cake prod or skewer and pour the pre-made icing all over. Don't worry if it pools slightly as it will seep into the cake. Straight after this top with the almonds, pistachios and poppy seeds as they will stick to the icing before it seeps in. 

 Tip: allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin, to help keep the structure and allow the icing to fully seep through. The cake may look a little gooey in the middle, but don't worry as this is the marzipan within. Serve on a sunny spring day and enjoy!

Happy cooking!
Cheerio x

Waitrose Pure Skin Care for Sensitive Skin | Makeup

Waitrose Pure products: Cleansing Wash, Eye Make Up Remover, Beauty Balm

Last year Waitrose brought out their own sensitive skin care range, being an avid purveyor of their essentials products range I certainly wanted to give them a go. I originally picked up one of the cleansing washes and enjoyed it very much! Then upon running out of that recently I popped back in today and was delighted by the 3 for 2 offer sign so grabbed some other bits and pieces. All the products range from £1.99-£2.99 which I feel is an incredibly reasonable price, both for Waitrose and for skincare products. Affordable and natural what could go wrong?

Firstly the Cleaning Wash. Being one of the £1.99 products when I first saw this I couldn't say no. Especially considering the product claimed such promising things for sufferers of sensitive skin. The cleanser is totally fragrance free (handy as that is what my skin seems to rebel against sometimes) and has 99% naturally derived ingredients. I wouldn't say it is completely fragrance free as it has a slight smell, I'm not entirely sure what of but there is something. It has a jelly like consistency when squeezed out and foams up nicely on a wet face. You can clearly see the product being removed and it seems to remove even tough mascaras and eyeliners like Benefit's They're Real (which is a tough task). When wiped away and dried off I found it didn't completely dry my skin out so didn't leave that horrible tight feeling some cleansers do as well, which is a further bonus in my book. I have to say I really do enjoy this, okay my face doesn't smell like flowers afterward but it works incredibly well at removing every last smear of foundation, unclogging pores, and even clearing up unwanted spots speedily. 

I also today picked up the Eye Make Up Remover, as when I have opted for a dramatic eye look I quite like to wick away the majority before attempting a cleanser attack. I find this irritates my eyes much less, as I have particularly sensitive skin around them so much so that Simple products burn sometimes. This product also retails at £1.99 and also seems to be rather effective! It follows the same rules as the previous pure product: 99% natural, for sensitive skin, and fragrance free. A liquid form, this is an eye make up remover to be dabbed onto a cotton pad and wiped over the eyes. I'm rather excited about this and expect good things!

And last but by no means least the Beauty Balm. This was the most expensive selection of mine today at £2.99, but still a very reasonable price. Immediately you can tell this balm is meant for problem areas of particularly dry skin. This is the kind of thing I would use on my elbows, fingertips, dry lips and either side of my nose as problem areas. Being a very waxy consistency this is certainly not something I would use all over my face, but I feel would really benefit people with target dry areas, then to be supplemented with their moisturiser or facial oils. 

It looks a tad odd, almost like crystallized ice, but when rubbed around and warmed through it becomes much more malleable. I can see this being something I throw in my handbag for emergency skin dryness on still chilly winter days. 

All in all I think Waitrose Pure is a great little range of cheap and effective products, delivering on the promise of being sensitive skin friendly. If you have skin troubles you should certainly pop in and have a look, and come on who can refuse the Waitrose free hot beverage? 

All the best,

Cheerio! x