Lemonade & Flea Market Finds - 1 - $ - V

I have been enjoying my long weekend immensely! It has been a non-stop procession of fine wine, fine food and the finest company.
I've also had the luxury of some downtime which means I've had a chance to read the paper on the day it came out (unheard of usually), spend some time in the kitchen and potter around a few op-shops. The last two activities now bring you my Flea Market Finds for this week and some lemonade: trumpets please!

I picked up these teeny, tiny, little crystal vases at the Sacred Heart Mission op shop in St Kilda for $2. The round one has a small chip on the rim but I am fairly sure that the people who visit my house aren't going to examine my glassware for faults, so it matters not. I also think the diamond shaped one was probably a perfume bottle originally.

The lemonade takes all of 10 minutes to prepare and even though it does have a lot of sugar, at least there's no preservatives. Lolly water lovers, you're better off making your own. My hot tip for this is not to use brown sugar - like I did the first time - because it will look like a dark ale and no one will believe you when you swear you're not drinking a beer for morning tea.


Ingredients - makes approximately 1/2 litre

400ml lemon juice (about 6 large lemons)
300gm sugar
100gm honey

Juice your lemons and then take a moment to admire your newly formed biceps.
Heat the sugar and honey in a pot over medium heat until it melts together. You will need to give it a good, swift stir to get it to blend together.
Pour in the lemon juice and bring it to a simmer. Let it bubble away for about 5 minutes and very carefully have a taste, as it will be hot. Adjust to taste, ie more honey or juice.
Allow to cool and store in the refrigerator.
Serve over ice.

Enjoy!

Lemon Syrup Cake - 2 - $ - V

It has been a crazy week, backed up by an even crazier and busier weekend!
And I inadvertantly messed up my chance to attend the Eat. Drink. Blog. Conference. Boo with a capital B! Apologies to the organisers, I hope everybody that did attend had a wonderful time.

I have not stepped near my kitchen for days, so thank goodness the lovely Sandra emailed this recipe to share with everyone! You certainly saved my blogging bacon Lady S. Three cheers for Sandra (and cake) - hip, hip, hooray!

Ingredients

Cake:

250g butter

1 tbs grated lemon rind

1 cup caster sugar

3 eggs, separated

2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup buttermilk (or substitute skim milk, but it’s not as fluffy and light)

Preheat oven to 190C and lightly grease 20cm cake pan.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric beaters until fluffy, keep mixing and add lemon rind. Add egg yolks one at a time until all combined. Just kept on beating on a really low setting.
Add half of sifted flour and half of the buttermilk, beat on low until combined.
Add the other half flour and buttermilk, beat on low until combined.

Beat egg whites in small bowl until soft peaks form. Fold lightly into other mixture with a metal spoon – best if you do this half at a time.

Spread mixture into pan and bake for about 55 minutes or until skewer comes out of the centre clean. (Depends on the pan – I used a wider one and it took about 45 minutes.)

Syrup:

This only takes about 5 minutes to cook, so start preparing it when the cake only has about 5 minutes left in the oven.

1/3 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup water
1 cup caster sugar

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and then removed from heat.

Creating the magic:

When the cake is cooked, leave it in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring it onto a plate (NOT a wire rack).

Pour the hot syrup over the hot cake evenly – the best way to do this is to rub it all over the crust of the cake a little with the back of a spoon first so that when you spoon it on it will soak in properly. Technically it should keep for two days, but who’s going to be able to resist eating it for that long?

Enjoy!

Cookbook Challenge - Citrus - 1 - $

The fabulous Rilsta over at My Food Trail, has come up with The Cookbook Challenge!
52 weeks in a year, means 52 different recipes to try. You don't have to have a blog to get involved, just play along at home. Leave comments below to share what you've been making.


I joined up a week late and have also been a wee bit poorly - due the appearance of a wisdom tooth - that has not made me one bit smarter, but has made me a whole lot cranky and hungry because it's difficult to eat.

I'm catching up on my challenge commitments and week 1 was citrus, so I am made Avgolemono from Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion.


This soup is simple and quick, so give it a try if you need some comfort food, or make it for someone who does (it is a bit of an acquired taste though).

Avgolemono - Greek Egg and Lemon Soup

1.5 litres good chicken stock (see over here how to make some)
1/2 cup long-grain rice
3 large eggs
juice of 2 lemons
salt and pepper to season

Bring stock to simmering point. Adjust seasoning and drop in rice. Simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Beat eggs and lemon juice until frothy. Add a ladleful of hot stock to egg mixture and continue to whisk. Remove stock from heat and all to cool for 2-3 minutes. Quickly tip in egg mixture, stirring to mix well. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve at once.

Thanks Dame Stephanie.

Enjoy!