Summer Magic Mango Pudding

Growing up every summer break us kids were packed off to visit both our grandmothers in Kerala.

My mom's mother Ammachi is a real force of nature, a true matriarch and the center of her large and growing family. She is 85 and by the grace of God, has survived cancer, a fall that left her needing a back surgery and various other ailments, only to emerge stronger every time. I treasure letters she wrote to me in her very neat handwriting, while I was in college where she would keep me up to date about what most of my 32 cousins were up to. Summers at her house meant endless games of hide and seek with my numerous cousins, going fishing, and trips to the "thottams" with my uncles who pointed out interesting plants and trees, and loading the back of the gypsy with pineapples.

My dad's mom Ammama is gentle and soft spoken, and summers with her meant following her around her small farm, feeding cows and petting calves on their wobbly legs. I aways get a smile on my face when I picture her in her spotless white sari, a line of white geese following her everywhere as they have since they were goslings, much like we kids did. She has an amazing green thumb and many plants and trees like mango, mongustan, coconut, nutmeg, gooseberry, papaya flourish under her care. For me the most vivid memory of summer is a house filled with the aroma of mangoes. Mangoes everywhere, under the stairs, in every corner, like plump green babies swaddled in straw, to ripen into the glorious, golden lusciousness that is a magic mango.

Mangoes are made even more magical in this wonderful 3 layered mango pudding.When the summer heat gets to you, I highly HIGHLY recommend that you eat a large spoonful of this cool and refreshing dessert.

The wonderful part about this pudding is that it is very easy to make but looks quite complex and you could also make this with almost any other fruit or even store bought fruit juice! I challenge you to make this with orange, raspberries, pineapple, strawberries..your imagination is the limit!

Ingredients

(Substitute milk with soy milk and omit the butter or use earth balance butter substitute instead to make this vegan and dairy-free)

• 10 Marie Biscuits / 5 graham crackers
• 1 1/4 stick unsalted butter (140 grams)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon Cornstarch 
• 2 tbsp Custard Powder or Vanilla pudding powder
• 1 cup Mango puree or use other fruit juice like orange, strawberry etc. Store bought juice like Tropicana works too

Method

Layer 1: Biscuit/ Graham cracker layer

1. Crush the biscuits using a rolling pin until coarsely powdered (not too finely must have the texture of breadcrumbs). Put it in a glass microwaveable dish/ baking dish preferably glass so you can see the pretty layers! 
2. Mix well with  2 ounces of butter ( 4 tablespoons of butter or 1/2 a stick ) and 4 tablespoons milk until it becomes of mould able consistency.
3. Spread & pat well into a thin, even layer at the bottom of the pan
4. Microwave on high power and heating & baking combination or bake in oven on a slow flame for 5-10 minutes.

Layer 2: Custard Layer ( you could also use boxed vanilla pudding mix instead)

1. Heat 1 cup milk in a sauce pan.
2. Stir 1 heaped tablespoon custard powder & 1 heaped tablespoon cornflour with 1/4 cup water till smooth.
3. Add this to the hot milk stirring continuously over slow flame until it thickens.
4. Add 3 Ounces ( 3 heaped tablespoons) of sugar
5. Add 2 Ounces ( 1/2 a stick or 4 tablespoons) of butter
6. Mix well until butter & sugar has melted into the thickened milk.
7. Allow to cool, then spread over the biscuit layer and chill in refrigerator for about an hour or until it sets

Layer 3: Fruit Layer

1. Mix 1 tablespoon custard powder & 1 tablespoon cornflour well to 1 Cup Mango puree /other fruit juice.Sweeten according to taste depending on fruit used.
2. Bring to a boil stirring continuously. Add 1 ounce butter ( 1/4 stick or 2 tablespoons)
3. Cool and spread over custard layer once it has set.
4. Put your feet up, take a bite and wish that summer never ends!

Verdict

Ease:  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Taste: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This dessert recipe has been in my family for years and was served at my parents wedding and other special occasions from baptisms to potlucks.It is a favourite with every generation. It is usually made with orange juice and I created this with mango puree instead to make it even more magical.

If you like this you should totally check out my other favourite cupcake & cake recipes here

All my dessert recipes are here

All my favourite Vegan recipes are here

I am sending a plate of my Magic Mango pudding to What's for lunch honey?'s monthly mingle "Special Sweet Treats" hosted at theapartmentkitchen.net

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Orange Cupcakes from Vegancupcakes take over the world

I have been obsessed with vegan baking as you can tell and "Vegan cupcakes take over the world" in particular. Here is another recipe adapted from this wonderful book for wonderful tasting, dairy and egg-free cupcakes that are also good to our animal friends, and again it is in my current favourite flavour- Orange :)

Orange Cupcakes
Recipe source: These cupcakes are adapted from Vegan Cupcakes take over the world and are from here

Wet Ingredients

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup plain soy milk/rice milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice (I used minute maid though freshly squeezed would be best)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp orange zest grated finely ( I don't like biting into pieces of orange skin so I grated very finely)

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 350 F
• Take the wet ingredients including the sugar, plus 1tbsp of flour in a bowl and mix until well combined. You could use a blender for this.
• In separate bowl sift remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in three batches, mixing well after each addition, until the batter is smooth
• Fold in the orange zest and mix well to distribute it throughout the batter.
• Fill greased cupcake tins/cupcake liner 2/3 of the way. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The tops should feel spring y when touched.
• Cool completely before frosting else the frosting may get runny

Orange frosting (I haven't tried this)

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
• 1 tbsp finely grated orange zest (recipe suggests lemon zest)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream shortening and margarine until well combined.
Add confectioner's sugar in 1/2 cup additions.
After each addition of sugar, add a little orange juice and beat well with a handheld mixer on medium speed.
Add vanilla and beat for another 3-5 minutes until smooth, creamy and fluffy. Add zest at end and fold in.

Unfortunately I didn't have shortening and only had some butter which I wanted to use up as well since we can't have any due to my son's dairy allergy, so I used the following recipe instead:

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 4 tsb powdered sugar (Just put regular sugar in a blender and blend until fine and powdery)
• 3 tbs orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest
• Beat the above with a hand held mixer until creamy.If it seems too runny or liquidy, add more sugar and beat again.

Verdict

The cupcakes were sent to my friend who recently went back to work after delivering a cutie pie baby only a few weeks before jellybean's arrival. She is an awesome baker so I was a little nervous especially since I was using a vegan recipe here, but she really liked them! She also said they were really moist which is probably because these are made with canola oil instead of butter and I've noticed oil based cakes have a wonderful texture.
I cut the top off a cereal box and covered it with pastel paper to put the cupcakes in. I put the frosting in a zip lock bag so that baby T's mom could just snip the end and pipe the frosting as needed. Next time I gift pack I will be more sophisticated but on short notice this was the only way I could think of to transport it without a mess.

Oh and if you're thinking why so many citrus recipes? Well, for one I love the flavour of citrus in baked goods and the other reason I must confess was to use up a huge box of clementines that I had bought a while back and which remind me to do something with them every time I open my fridge! Thankfully they are almost over but then I made a trip to Costco recently and on an impulse bought a huge bag of frozen berries. Prepare to see what I do with them soon!
These cupcakes are going to be sent off as an entry to the blogger bites challenge on One hot stove hosted by the one hot Nupur :)

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Orange Cuptail Cupcakes- Easy & Vegan ( Dairy-free, Eggless)

Summer's here and so is the glue that bonds girls from New York to New Delhi- Sex and the City 2!!! So when you get together with your best gal pals to watch back-to-back episodes in preparation, why not bake up some of these delightful & summery Orange cocktail-in-a-cupcake or “Cup-tails”.

These cuties have got to be my favourite summer treats. Why? Because

1) What is better than cocktails and cupcakes ? cocktails in a cupcake :)

2) Because which fruit reminds you more of the blazing summer sun than the orange? I for one can’t think of any. I live next door to an orange orchard and love to walk by and see the trees full of fruit every February, signalling the end of winter and the promise of sunny days ahead. “Spring is almost here, Summer will soon follow!” each plump orange seems to say.

The fresh citrusy taste of this juicy fruit is totally captured in this vegan orange cupcake made mostly from orange juice and zest.

No eggs, no milk, nothing to weaken the bold, orangey awesomeness. So it’s tasty and healthy and cruelty-free too. I'm not a vegan but have amazing respect for those who are, especially the wonderful vegan food bloggers who have helped me see that vegan baked goods are yummalicious, often easier to make and call for less ingredients. Vegan baking is also great for those with allergies to dairy and eggs.

I like these orange cupcakes best after chilling a while in the fridge, so that it’s like biting into a tall glass of orange juice, especially after a hot, lazy day at the beach or swim in the pool.

Add some orange liqueur, vodka or grand mariner, some orange butter-cream frosting if you want, and there you have it, the Orange Cup-tail!

This recipe is from the brilliant Vaishali of earthvegan and I only made a few changes to it because it was already so good.

I didn't have orange liqueur so I used Grand Mariner instead and it was awesome, although it would be awesomer with the orange liqueur or maybe even some orange extract. Want to try it with vodka soon since vodka-orange is my favourite cocktail combination!

Orange Cuptail Cupcakes

Recipe Source: Vaishali of earthvegan from here

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• finely grated zest from one orange ( Organic oranges would be best. You could omit this although I like it better with the zest. It tastes well, zestier :)

Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix in the zest.

In another bowl, beat together until well-mixed:

• 1 cup orange juice ( I used store bought minute maid but fresh would be best)
• 2 tbsp orange liqueur like Cointreau or Triple Sec (I used grand mariner)
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Method

• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a whisk just until you have a smooth batter. Do not overmix or overbeat.
• Pour the batter into greased silicone cupcake molds or muffin tins. Or you could use an ice cream scoop to pour out the batter with less fuss
• Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven about 30-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Orange-flavored Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 8 tbsp (1 stick) vegan butter like Earth Balance
• 4 tbsp vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp orange liqueur
• 1 tbsp orange zest (optional)
• 2 to 3 cups confectioners' sugar (use more or less depending on how thick you want your frosting, and how sweet).
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together the butter and shortening until they are fluffy, about 1 minute.

Now add the orange juice, zest, liqueur and vanilla and half the sugar. Beat until mixed, then add the remaining sugar and beat until mixed for about 2 mins.

Frost the cupcakes after they've cooled completely otherwise the frosting may melt and get runny.

Verdict

To tell the truth, I

wasn't expecting too much from a cupcake made mostly out of orange juice and not much else. But the cupcakes have turned out soft and fluffy and absolutely lovely!

Warning: I also tried to bake a cake using lemon juice instead of orange, but didn't like it as much. Might want to use another recipe for vegan lemon cakes (will post one soon)

I also love my silicone cupcake molds which are so easy to unmold and they are so cute I don't even need separate cupcake liners, I can simply bake, and serve in them! Have put a link below if you want to check them out. I think they would make great gifts for the bakers in your family. Just be a little careful while peeling them off though. I was very rash and tore one :(

Oh and if you like this recipe you should totally check out Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

, which has 75 different cupcake recipes including a margarita cupcake! And they are all dairy and egg-free and most recipes use ingredients you probably already have lying around in your kitchen. This is an awesome cook book and even non vegans (like me) will agree!

I am sending these cup-tails off to What's for lunch honey?'s monthly mingle "Special Sweet Treats" hosted at theapartmentkitchen.net

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Coconut Orange Bundt Cake

I have been really excited about trying my new silicone bundt pan and I've been reading some awesome vegan food blogs and wanting to try out tonnes of recipes.

So I chose this recipe from Veganyumyum where she made it with the pinkish blood orange juice in mini bundt cake tins. I made it with regular store bought minute maid orange juice in my new silicone bundt pan and the cake came out beautifully-don't you think?

Unfortunately in my excitement I took the pan straight out of the dishwasher and the cake ended up tasting of soap :(

Coconut Orange Bundt Cakes

Makes 1 small bundt cake, six mini (1 Cup) bundt cakes, or 12 cupcakes

Recipe Source: Slightly adapted from Veganyumyum here

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups Flour ( I used all purpose flour)
• 3/4 Cups Sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/3 Cup Coconut Cream (refrigerate a can of coconut milk until the cream floats to the top and solidifies)
• 2 Tbs Blood Orange Juice (I used regular store bought minute maid orange juice though fresh squeezed would definitely taste better. But hey when there's a short cut I will take it!)
• 3/4 Cup Soy Milk ( Next time I would like to use rice or almond milk for a fluffier texture)
• 2 Tbs Water
• 1-2 tsp Vanilla Extract ( Next time I will use orange extract instead)
• Zest from one Orange ( Although the recipe didn't call for this I would highly recommend it)

Method

• Preheat oven to 400º F.
• Grease a regular bundt pan, mini bundt cake pan or cupcake molds.
• Whisk dry ingredients together.
• Beat wet ingredients together in a separate bowl until well combined.
• Add the orange zest.
• Gently fold wet ingredients into dry until just combined, don't overbeat.
• Fill your pan but not all the way, leave some room for the cake to rise.
• Bake a regular bundt for about 40 minutes, a mini bundt for 25-30 minutes, or cupcakes for about 20- 25 mins or until lightly browned on top and a skewer inserted in the top comes out clean without any batter sticking to it.
• Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Veganyumyum suggests cooling under plastic wrap to keep the outsides nice and soft.

Meanwhile prepare the orange syrup.

(Makes about 1 Cup)

• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/4 Cup Blood Orange Juice, strained ( I used regular minute maid orange juice though fresh squeezed would definitely taste better)

Combine sugar and water boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in juice. To make a thicker syrup, boil again until the sugar begins to expand greatly in volume (230º F, thread stage) then remove from heat.

Soak the cakes in the thin version of the syrup for a moister cake. As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, poke them with a fork and pour 1/2 of the syrup evenly over the tops. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before unmolding. Then thicken the leftover syrup for decoration.

Verdict:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the silicone pan. It is a dream to use and the cake was beyond easy to unmold. I just pulled the flexible sides a little and then placed a plate over the top, held the plate and pan together and turned them over to unmold.The cake was a beaut even if I say so myself :)

However, since this cake uses no oil or eggs it was a little harder and less moist than regular cakes. I was also a little disappointed that the taste of the coconut didn't come through at all. I would definitely soak the cakes in the syrup next time I try this. And yes, definitely, definitely rinse off my pan next time too!

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I HEART Silicone Bakeware Udate: Not so much :(

This post has been updated: Turns out I don't heart silicone all that much :( 


I've been wanting a bundt pan for the longest time but bundt pans have so many grooves which you have to coat very well with cooking spray, butter or oil to prevent the cake from sticking to it. With my less than stellar now pretty awesome baking skills ;) I was envisioning having to pull out a misshappen bundt in bits and pieces from the traditional metal bundt pan.

So I did some research and found out that they have non stick ones now and I was very tempted by these cute non stick mini bundt pans that a lot of food bloggers have been using lately and these adorable Norpro Nonstick Mini Donut Pans There are also Springform Pan with 2 interchangeable bundt and plain bottoms where you can have the convenience of two- pans-in -one which is great especially if you have a small apartment kitchen like me. Also since it's spring form that means that they are easy to unmould too.

But then I heard about Silicone bakeware which is flexible and easy to unmould and comes in a wide variety of shapes and cute colours too! To top it off they are also freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe. I was a little hesitant at first - would they bake properly? Would they last as long as a tin or metal one? so I read some reviews and most people who had used them raved about how easy to use and clean they were. Also most come with life time warranties and are guaranteed to withstand extreme temperatures. Pretty cool right?

So I snagged these silicone goodies- Silicone Bundt Pan from Wilton in this gorgeous red colour which just makes me smile every time I see it, some super cute Silicone Cupcake molds in pretty pastel colours. Here are the results of my vigorous testing:


Pros:

• Easy to unmold and no need for cupcake liners!I can bake in silicone cupcake pans, unmold or even serve the cupcakes in them too!
• They come in all sorts of fun shapes- hearts, flowers, stars, animals... there are even these hilarious cuppy-cake molds with feet so it look like your cupcakes are standing up!
• I love how versatile silicone ware is. I can use them to bake in, or use them as molds for ice, jelly, or even chocolate. There are loads of ways to decorate cupcakes to make them really stand out. Wilton's Cupcake decoration books which talk about everything you can do with these silicone molds are a real inspiration and just super fun to browse through.
• Lightweight, easy to transport and store

Cons

• They don't brown as well as metal pans and the cakes remain a pale yellow colour instead of golden brown
• Cookies baked on silicone baking sheets tend to be chewey and soft rather than crunchy so they are good for meringues and macarons but not for butter cookies
• They absorb odours especially soap, so be sure to rinse them well to avoid cake that tastes of soap. ( yuck!)
• They can tear or rip so be careful and sure to keep them away from sharp objects

Update: 
While I still continue to use my silicone cupcake molds, and love the easy release, and no need for liners, I have begun to favour my Calphalon non stick Bundt pan. The cake tends to brown more in a metal pan and since it's nonstick, it releases beautifully, plus it doesn't absorb soap odors like the silicone one did. So I guess I still heart silicone bakeware but with some reservations!
I have also tried out glass bakeware ( when baking in glass reduce oven temp by 25 degrees and bake for a longer time,increasing by 10 mins until done) However, I have found that I prefer metal- look for the dull colored and not dark black ones which makes cakes burn more easily. Aluminium cake pans have worked the best so far. 

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BBQ Cookoff

Last Saturday Geek and I bundled Jelly Bean into the car seat for a half hour ride to Morgan Hill for the "No Bull" BBQ cook off. Well that sounded much easier than it is. First the sleep deprived newbie parents need to wake up, then there are various tasks including sterilizing milk bottles, boiling water and then cooling it in an ice bath, measuring out formula into little containers, finding the pacifier that always disappears just when you need it and re-appears in some random spot when baby is cooing and chuckling and has no need for it, and so on and so forth and hence it was 5 pm by the time we got there and sadly the cook-off was long done :(

We still had a good time- there were some craft stalls, AWESOME strawberry shortcake, lots of beer so the Geek was happy, and a local band, kids somersaulting on the grass in the open air amphitheater and the festive fair feel that just makes everyone all happy.

Oh and we still had those ribs we were craving at a cozy BBQ place that had taken part in the cook off called Trail Dust. Maybe because we were extra hungry, everything including the soft crusty bread, beans with slow cooked pieces of pork and the baked potato that came with our order was divine.The highlight of the day however was the yummalicious blackberry-blueberry-strawberry-apple cobbler served in a little bowl with a flaky pastry top that had just a hint of lime and cinnamon, and crunchy sugar on top. I scraped the bowl clean and now I HAVE to make it. Watch this space :)

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Instant Comfort- Rice Pudding (Vegan)

I have a very sweet tooth. You could never tell right? ;) Well, when I'm craving something sweet I want it RIGHT NOW! that's why I always keep a secret stash of lil' dreamers. Ssh! don't tell! But this one time last week I was craving my sugar fix, and ransacked my fridge to find cooked rice left over from lunch and a carton of soymilk, and other assorted fridge dwellers but no lil dreamers.

So I made this quick and easy rice pudding that was incredibly satisfying and much lower in calories than the ice cream I was craving.

Oh by the way, Silk's Very Vanilla soy milk? YUM!It's got a stronger vanilla flavour than their regular vanilla soy milk and its just like drinking vanilla ice cream.

Vegan Rice Pudding

Recipe source: My own

Ingredients

• Cooked Rice 1 cup (I used a long grain called Sona Masoori, you could also use Basmati)
• Ground Clove powder 1/4 tsp
• Cardamom/Elachi- a few
• Soy Milk/other or regular dairy Milk - 2 cups
• Sugar- 3 tbs
• Salt-a pinch
• Vanilla essence- 1 tsp (if you use vanilla soy milk, you don't really need this)

Method

• Take all the ingredients except the vanilla essence in a saucepan and put on medium heat over the stove
• Bring it to a boil stirring occasionally
• Let it simmer till the mixture has thickened slightly
• Add the vanilla essence and stir
• Let it cool
• Serve warm or chilled

You could also add strands of saffron, slivers of almond or raisins and cashew. Sorry the picture isn't very great. Just took one while it was still cooking in the pan. Didn't really get to pretty-fy it since I just wanted to eat it as soon as it was done. Scalded my mouth a little too but it was so worth it!

Am sending this to Priya's Celebrate Sweets with Rice event 

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Light and lemony dairy-free mother's day cake!

Mother's day is this Sunday as I have been told repeatedly by corny ads on tv and discount catalogs flooding my mail box and while I don't really fall for the marketing hype for these things (ok so maybe I do just a little) this is my first as a new mom.

My little monkey is four months old and so far it's been a roller coaster ride with sweet toothless smiles following projectile spit-up, red faced colicy screaming that no amount of rocking, singing or my own crying can calm  but also joyous squealing and giggles at the slightest hint of a funny face.

It's meant a bit of giving up and growing up and being responsible for this tiny teeny little dictator who loudly demands my attention at the most inopportune times-so I have to run out of the shower sopping wet or leave my cooking to burn on the stove or change diapers at a bleary 3 am. But then I did say sweet toothless smiles right? and yummy baby smells, and tiny teeny fingers that curl around my thumb...

So how am I going to celebrate? I don't know yet but there will be lots of funny faces and of course there will be cake. Like this one. And if my mom wasn't so far away I would bake this cake for her.

Since the little monkey may have a dairy allergy I have been looking for dairy free desserts and other food-allergy friendly eats. I found this easy and delicious sounding recipe for a lemon cake made with canola oil instead of butter and I substituted milk with soy milk and slightly adapted to make more 'lemony' by adding more zest and the juice as well.

The batter itself was so delish, I licked the spatula clean- always a good sign. The wonderful smell of lemons enveloped the house while it was baking and I kept peering at glass front of the oven door because I just couldn't take the suspense. I am so bad at waiting for my cakes to be done and almost always open the oven door too soon and everyone knows what happens then- the cake may look like its risen but then, it falls as flat as a pancake.

Well that wasn't happening this time! I baked it for 50 mins at 375 C until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean and the center part felt all bouncy and springy.

Light & Lemony dairy-free cake

Recipe source: Susie T's Spanish Lemon cake from Recipezaar here

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk or alternatives like rice milk or almond- I used Soy Milk
• 3/4cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup lemon juice ( juice from 2 lemons)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Grated zest of 2 lemons

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F 
• Combine sugar and eggs and beat well with an electric beater or in the bowl of a stand mixer till foamy
• Add lemon zest, then the oil. Do not beat, just stir it lightly with a spatula.( you don't want the mixture to turn into mayonnaise!)
• Fold in the flour alternatively with the milk and lemon juice. Beat on low for about a minute.
• Bake in a 23cm round or similar size square cake tin ( I used my 8 inch round spring-form)  for about 40 minutes or until skewer/toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (Or make this in double quantity and bake it in a large rectangular pan about 30cm x 25cm.)
• Check after 40 minutes and see if it needs longer if the batter sticks to the skewer/toothpick.
• I served it with a dusting of powdered sugar for which I cut out a heart stencil out of a piece of paper to make the heart shape. You could also top it with lemon glaze

To make Lemon Glaze (optional) :

Mix the juice of 1 lemon and 1 cup fine granulated sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and microwave it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.

Verdict

I HEART this light and lemony cake that is wonderfully fluffy yet moist, and has such a tantalizing summery citrus y taste! Going to try it with orange juice and orange zest sometime soon too.

I have been searching for a citrus y, dairy-free cake and my attempt at Cenk's Clementine and Olive Oil cake was a bit too olive oil-y and dense for me ( mostly because I don't think I followed the instructions too well) .

I think this simple recipe is a winner and I especially love how versatile a good Lemon cake recipe can be. Amy suggests variations for lemon cakes: "add savory herbs (thyme, lavender), sweet spices (nutmeg, cloves, cardamom), ground nuts (almonds, hazelnuts), liqueurs (Grand Marnier, Amaretto)" 

All you Mommas, wish you all an early happy mothers day from me :) Kick back, take a bite out of this tangy summery cake and relax a little!

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