Gluten free lemon curd cake

I stumbled upon this cake recipe on a thermomix recipe forum when looking for an easy cake my girls could make for my birthday in the thermomix.  It is so delicious, and so easy, I have made it three times in the last fortnight.  If you don't have a thermomix, you can still make this yummy cake, I discovered it was originally posted on this blog. 

Lemon curd cake

Cake mixture
150 grams gluten free SR Flour
60 grams butter
110 grams sugar
1 egg
Lemon curd
60 grams lemon juice
60 grams butter
110 grams sugar
1 egg
  

To make cake mixture, place all ingredients into TM bowl and beat for 30 seconds on speed 5. Remove from bowl and set aside.

To make lemon curd, place all ingredients into TM bowl and cook at 100 degrees for 5 minutes on speed 4.

Grease and line a round cake tin.
Spread half the cake mixture into the base of the tin [the cake mixture will be quite thick].
Pour lemon curd over cake mixture [the lemon curd mixture will be quite runny].
Dollop 1/2 teaspoonfuls of remaining cake mixture over the top of the lemon curd [sometimes I roll it into balls to make it 'neater'].
Bake at 180C for half an hour.
Eat warm or cold.

edible front garden update

Here is the mango seedling we are hoping to plant in a few months' time.  Our dear friends grew it from a seed from their mango tree for us.  They also gave us a seed to try to grow, but so far it hasn't even sprouted.  We are not natural gardeners yet.

We also planted a few other plants lately, this is a tropical nectarine:

 This is a plum, I am not confident it will fruit here, as we are unlikely to have enough cool nights to set fruit. It is throwing out heaps of new growth, so at least it is happy.

These are two new tropical peach trees : an Anzac peach and a China flat. So far they seem happy with their new home.

Unlike the peach we put in recently, which grew a little, and now looks very sad:

We have also popped a cherry in, again we aren't confident it will fruit, but they are lovely looking trees, and it will be a feature near out letterbox we hope: 

Recently Miss 4 asked if these are carrots [growing on our chilli bush, no less!!].

 And the poor quince, is now a twig, dry and broken.  I'm not sure if it's worth trying again.  But I SO want to produce my own quince, so I can make my own quince paste!

My favourite savoury muffin recipe

This recipe is so easy I keep it in my head [it's the only one I can confidently say is in there].  SO easy and SO yummy.

QUICK 2 CUP CHEESE MUFFINS

Place in a bowl:
2 cups SR flour [can be gluten free or regular]
2 cups grated cheese
2 tablespoons chopped ham/cooked bacon

In a jug:
2 eggs
make up to 2 cups with milk
whisk in 2 tablespoons oil

Gently add the wet ingredients to the dry, DO NOT OVERMIX.  
Bake in a moderate oven 180C for 10-12 minutes for mini muffins, 18-20 minutes for regular muffins, 25 or so minutes for Texas maxi muffins.

GLUTEN FREE COOKIES

My standard cookie/biscuit recipe is super-easy.  They always work, and this recipe makes 60-90 biscuits depending on the size, so I can bake once and freeze some and have home made gluten free goodies for ages.

Gluten free cookies

500g butter

1 x 395g tin condensed milk

1 cup sugar

5 cups gluten free flour mix

5 teaspoons baking powder [sometimes I forget this and they still work ok]

Preheat oven to 180.  Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.  Beat in condensed milk.  Add the flour & baking powder and mix on low speed until smooth.   

Roll about 2 teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on baking paper-lined trays.  Press a couple of chocolate chunks into the top. 

Bake for 12-15 mins or until lightly golden.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on the trays.  Store in airtight containers.

my new strawberry patch

This is my new strawberry patch.  We are hoping to have a lovely crop over the coming months.  Two different varieties will hopefully extend our harvest... but we will need to net them to keep the birds [and little hands] away.  The last time I tried to grow strawberries Miss 2 [who was 1 at the time] and the chickens both kept eating the fruit while it was still green.  This patch is fenced from the chooks [and the toddler] so I am hopeful we will eat the fruit of our labour this attempt!