21 | November | 2011 | Dairy Diary Chat

Daily Archives: 21 November 2011

First Sunday in Advent

This coming Sunday will be the first Sunday in Advent and the start of the proper countdown to Christmas.

Plaetzle - German Christmas treats

I must confess, being a bit of a Christmas-obsessive, I have been feeling festive for weeks!

I am an avid subscriber to Baked and Delicious magazine and back in early November when I saw the flyer for their Festive Special I was eager to don my pinny and make the gorgeous gingerbread house.

Festive foods
On a recent visit to see my German friend Gudi, she offered me some delicious little baked fruit treats, which got us talking about festive foods.

It is traditional in Germany to offer these
plaetzle to visitors in the run up to
Christmas as a gesture of hospitality.

It’s really interesting to see how festive foods change throughout the world. The Baked & Delicious Festive Special includes recipes for Roscón, a Spanish ring cake traditionally baked for Epiphany; Buche de Noel, a French yule log; and Semifreddo Natalizio, an Italian alternative to Christmas pudding. As well as our fabulous mince pies and Christmas cake of course!

Baked and Delicious The magazine plops onto my doormat once a fortnight complete with silicone bakeware – FREE with every issue! I am such a convert to this – it so easy to clean and the cakes virtually jump out of the pan when they are ready. A winner in the Davenport household.

Take a look at their Facebook page www.facebook.com/bakedanddelicious or order online http://www.baked-and-delicious.com/subscribe.aspx or just pop out to the shop and buy an issue!

Frosty Top Lemon Cake. Quick, easy and lemony lovely. A perfect match for silicone bakeware!

Recipe taken from Clever Cooking for One or Two
now available for just £7 from the Dairy Diary website.

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Frosty Top Lemon Cake

Quick, easy and lemony lovely

Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 35 minutes
Calories per slice 136 Kcal
Fat per slice 6g of which saturated 2.9g
Makes 10 slices
Suitable for vegetarians and freezing

For the cake
Butter 50g (2oz), at room temperature
Caster sugar 75g (3oz)
Self-raising flour 75g (3oz)
Ground almonds 25g (1oz)
Egg 1 Lemon ½, grated zest only

For the topping
Lemon ½, juice only
Granulated sugar 50g (2oz)

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4, then strip line and grease a 450g (1lb) loaf tin with non-stick baking paper or use silicone bakeware.

2 In a large bowl, mix together all the cake ingredients until smoothly blended. Spread the mixture in the tin and bake for 35 minutes until just firm to the touch.

3 For the topping, mix the lemon juice with the sugar and spoon it evenly over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Leave in the tin to cool for at least 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Slice for serving.

Cook’s tip
Leave out the lemon zest and topping but add 50g (2oz) dried fruit to the mixture and sprinkle the top with 25g (1oz) chopped hazelnuts before baking.

Recipe taken from
Clever Cooking for One or Two
now available for just £7
from the Dairy Diary website.

Become a fan