Lemon & Lime Cupcakes

Over the last few weeks, I have become my parents personal baker and am frequently set the task of making them cakes to take into work so they can show off to their co-workers. I got a text this morning from Mum asking for 24 cupcakes to take to some kind of sports day event at work. So despite it being my day off and having loads of applications and essays to write I made these lemon and lime cupcakes - they are really easy to make and they are really fresh and summery. As usual I did manage to get icing sugar everywhere, including all over my iPad which is now so sticky I can't use the touch screen...whoops!

Ingredients for the Cakes:
250g Unsalted Butter (Softened)
250g Self Raising Flour
250g Caster Sugar
4 tbsp Lemon Juice
4 Large Eggs (Beaten)
Grated Zest of 2 Lemons

Set the oven to 180 Degrees, make sure it reaches the correct temperature before baking anything!

Mix together the butter and the sugar. Slowly add the flour, eggs and lemon juice and zest until everything is combined. Lay out 24 cupcake cases into a tin and fill with 2 tbsp of the mixture. Bake in the oven for approximately 10/15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Once done remove from the tin and leave to cool thoroughly before icing.

Ingredients for the Icing:
100g Unsalted Butter (Softened)
500g Icing Sugar
Zest of 1 Lime
4 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Beat the butter and icing sugar until smooth, then add the lime zest and lemon juice and mix together until the consistency is thick and creamy. If you prefer the icing to be more lemony, feel free to add another tablespoon of lemon juice. Pipe the icing onto the cool cupcakes and you're done!

This recipe can very easily be halved to make 12 cupcakes, they will last a few days in the fridge, but I doubt they will last long if your family is anything like mine - Dad has already pinched one!

Goats Cheese & Butternut Squash Ravioli

After getting a phone call from Masterchef last week, inviting me to an interview, I thought I had better start practising my cooking again. My pasta skills in particular, need work - I have had a few disasters in the past, ended up with some horrible rubbery pasta which went straight in the bin. But this one worked pretty well so I thought I would share!

Ingredients for Butternut Squash Purée:
1 Whole Butternut Squash (Peeled, Seeds Removed and Roughly Chopped)
1 Whole Clove of Garlic (Peeled and Crushed)
1 Handful Thyme (Remove woody stalks)
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Roast all the ingredients in the oven (180 Degrees) for 20/30 minutes, remove and blend together. After blending thoroughly, pass it through a sieve to make sure it is smooth.

I used the same pasta recipe as the one on me 'Welcome Back' post from May only halved (300g Pasta Flour & 3 Eggs, combined and kneaded for at least 10/15 minutes).
Roll the pasta out until it is as thin as possible; lay it out on top of some flour or polenta to stop it sticking.

Goats Cheese Ravioli:
250g Soft Goats Cheese
30ml  Double Cream
Salt & Pepper

Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. Scoop a heaped teaspoon of the goats cheese on to the pasta sheet, smoothing it out so it is a rounded shape. Repeat this until half the pasta has filling on approximately 20cm apart. Lay the other half of the pasta over the top and push down gently around the goats cheese to remove any air. Use a ravioli or a cookie cutter approximately 10/15cm in diameter to cut around the pasta with the filling in the middle.


To keep the pasta from sticking to surfaces or each other, sprinkle polenta over the table and the ravioli (it will come off when cooking).

Boil a pan of salted water, and place the ravioli in for 2 minutes until cooked Al Dente. Serve with the Butternut Squash purée, garnish with a sprinkle of oil (I used truffle oil, but extra virgin olive oil would do the trick) and sprinkle on some thyme leaves.