Lemon Almond stream liner.

Well this post is from a while back to be honest..... This was the first cake I baked from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson. And I can tell you now it was amazing enough that it was baked twice in a row! Once in the guise of a birthday cake and then in its more classic form.
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This cake was just magic, rich but not too dense but with a beautiful texture lavished in heavenly lemon custard. (I'm literly drooling remembering this one........ Gotta put ground almonds and extra lemons on the shopping list soon!)
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So this also had a few firsts for me....... Custard for starters and almond paste!
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So lemon custard eh? First I was sure I'd curdle the milk with the lemon or scramble the mix when I added the eggs but it all worked perfectly! No curdles no scrambles just a smooth creamy custard which was popped into the fridge with a big grin on my face!
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Now the recepie calls for almond paste, not marzipan, almond paste. So where in Ireland would I but almond paste? Simple answer I hadn't the foggiest so on the phone to mum for her paste recepie!
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For this cake that meant:
<p>75g ground almonds,
<p>50g caster sugar
<p>125g icing sugar
<p>1/2 tsp lemon juice
<p>1/2 egg (yeah I know beat it and estimate half. I put the other half into the cake)
<p>3 drops almond essence.
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So thanks to mum I had almond paste ready to go and it was sooooo worth making it.
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The cake was fab, the filling was a dream and the first version lasted barely 3 days. The second version was given as a pick me up gift to friends recovering from a nasty cold and that didn't even last 3 days! (Very healthy cake appetites)
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Suffice to say I was now eager to try some of the other cakes from vintage cakes and to help me decide it was over to "The Cake Slice" bakers to help me decide. Since I entered their baking year from "Vintage Cakes" more than half way through I started baking their back catalogue and I'll share some of those with you all soon as well as some others from outside the 'back cat'
<p>Be back soon!
<p> Happy Baking!

The pink cake.

Living in the suburbs we have a little garden (great for our kids to play in) and while I love gardening and worked for a B&Q garden center for several years my garden is a lot of function not frivolity. So we enjoy fresh herbs, blueberries, redcurrants, gooseberries, rhubarb, strawberries and of course raspberries! After a couple of weeks of great weather and a diligent water-er in the form of my husband we had a mountain of fruit this year. So rather than waste delicious fresh raspberries I decided to give Julie Richardson's "Pink cake" from her book Vintage cakes a whirl!
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Now this is not my recepie nor is it one I've adapted so I'm afraid I can't share it with you but I would encourage you to buy the book even if only for this cake!
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Raspberry and chocolate is such a classic combination, and this cake is just incredible!
<p>Flavorful delightful moist chocolate cake smothered in smooth fluffy swiss meringue buttercream its like a dream...... I don't know if I could have imagined a more fantastic combination.
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As I'm putting together this three tier creation I'm thinking we're never gonna manage to eat all this......... what have I done!
<p>Then comes the magic moment of "Jules, I've got to drop this back to mike....."
<p> My husband to my rescue! I can now take this cake visiting and share both the awesomeness and the calories! LOL!
<p>So my pink cake got all dressed up in raspberries and fresh cream with a few sprigs of mint and made 4 of us very happy over a cup of tea!