Category: Baking Recipes

Follow the links for lots of simple baking recipes for biscuits (cookies), cakes, muffins and scones.  Or have a look at the Recipe Index for lots of other brilliant easy recipes!

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Cakes
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Earl Grey Cake

Earl Grey Cake with Orange

This Earl Grey Cake with Orange is easy to make and combines the citrus notes of Earl Grey tea with zesty orange. The tea adds a subtle fragrance to what would otherwise be a basic orange loaf cake. I have added an orange drizzle, using orange juice and icing sugar, to make the cake extra moist and flavoursome. It is topped with a tangy orange-flavoured cream cheese icing which has a mouth-filling richness to complement the fresh tasting cake.

Earl Grey tea is flavoured with the oil of bergamot, a citrus fruit which is thought to be a hybrid of lemon and bitter orange. It is likely that the Earl Grey blend is named after the 2nd Lord Grey who was British Prime Minister in the 1830s and who reputedly received a gift of tea flavoured with bergamot oil.

Last year, we went on a family holiday to Northumberland and visited the Grey family’s beautiful ancestral home, Howick Hall. The Grey family’s story is that Earl Grey tea was specially blended to suit the water at Howick Hall as the use of bergamot offset the taste of the local water which is very alkaline. If you visit the Howick Hall gardens, you can have a cup of Earl Grey tea in the lovely Earl Grey teahouse!

I sometimes make this cake using the less well-known Lady Grey tea, rather than Early Grey tea. Lady Grey tea is a modern invention, created by Twinings in the early 1990s to appeal to those who found Earl Grey tea too strong in flavour. Lady Grey differs from Earl Grey in that it has a stronger citrus taste as it contains additional lemon and orange peel as well as bergamot oil.

This Earl Grey Cake is one of many loaf cake recipes that I cook regularly. They are so quick and easy to make and you can get really creative with the flavours! On other pages of this blog you can find recipes for
Salted Caramel Latte Cake, Lemon Drizzle, Blood Orange, Lime and Coconut, Rum and Banana and Ginger and Pear.

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Earl Grey Cake with Orange

Earl Grey Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 1 loaf cake 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

This easy loaf cake combines the citrus notes of Earl Grey or Lady Grey tea with orange.

Ingredients

Scale

For the cake:

  • 50 ml boiling water
  • 1 Earl Grey or Lady Grey teabag
  • 125 g butter
  • 175 g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 175 g self-raising flour
  • Zest of half an orange
  • 100 g icing sugar
  • Juice of 1 orange

For the icing:

 

  • 150 g butter
  • 50 g icing sugar
  • 200 g cream cheese
  • Zest of half an orange

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.
  2. Put the boiling water into a small jug or cup and add the Earl Grey or Lady Grey teabag.  Allow the teabag to steep in the water for 5 minutes and then remove it.  The tea will be stronger than you would like to drink!
  3. Grease a 450 g loaf tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.
  4. Cream the butter with the sugar.  (I usually soften the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave first as it makes it much easier!)
  5. Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture.  If it looks as if it is going to curdle, add some of the self-raising flour.
  6. Once the eggs have been incorporated add the rest of the self-raising flour.
  7. Add the Earl Grey or Lady tea and half the grated zest of your orange.
  8. Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared loaf tin.
  9. Put the tin in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
  10. While the cake is baking, combine the juice from your orange with 100 g of icing sugar to form a thick syrup.
  11. Remove the cake from the oven and immediately pour the syrup over the top.
  12. Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely before removing.   If you try and take it out while it is still warm it may fall apart as it will be very moist due to the syrup.
  13. Make the icing by creaming together the butter and icing sugar.  Then mix in the cream cheese and the other half of your orange zest and stir until smooth and combined.    You can keep a little of the orange zest back to decorate the cake.
  14. When the cake is completely cool, spread the icing on top of it and, if you wish, decorate it with the retained grated orange zest.

Keywords: cake, loaf cake, Earl Grey, Lady Grey, orange, cream cheese icing

This recipe is linked to Cook Blog Share hosted by Everyday Healthy Recipes.

Cook Blog Share

Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Blood orange cake

Blood Orange Cake

Ginger and Pear Cake

Sticky Ginger and Pear Cake

Rum Banana Bread

Rum Banana Bread

Ginger and Pear Cake

Sticky Ginger and Pear Cake

This Ginger and Pear Cake brings together two flavours that are the best of friends. The spicy heat of ginger is the perfect counterpoint to the luscious sweetness of the pear. The syrup from the jar of stem ginger adds an additional hit of sugar which brings the flavours together and ensures that the cake is moist.

Another aspect of this cake which I really like is that it includes a secret pear! A whole fresh pear is added to the cake mix just before baking and ends up embedded in the cake. You don’t know about it until you cut into the cake. There is something really appealing to me, both in terms of flavour and texture, and also as it is a nice surprise, in including the pear in this way.

I was won over to stem ginger relatively recently. I have childhood memories of my parents being given jars of it at Christmas which sat in the cupboard until well past their use by date as no one really knew what to do with it! Years later, I saw a jar in the supermarket and made an impulse buy and decided to try and use it in a cake. The result was fantastic, with the stem ginger giving a complex gingery flavour unlike that provided by ground ginger. A few bakes later, I decided to add pear into the mix and this recipe is the result.

For me, one of the best aspects of baking is experimenting with different flavour combinations. If you like this Ginger and Pear Cake, you might also like Rum and Banana Bread and Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut.

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Ginger and Pear Cake

Ginger and Pear Cake

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 1 loaf cake 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: British
Print Recipe

Description

This sticky Ginger and Pear Cake brings together two flavours that are best friends!  Using stem ginger brings a complexity of flavour and luscious moistness to this easy cake recipe.

Ingredients

Scale

For cake:  

  • 125 g butter
  • 175 g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 175 g self-raising flour
  • 3 pieces of stem ginger
  • 4 tablespoons syrup from a jar of stem ginger
  • 1 large, ripe pear

For topping:

  • 1 piece of stem ginger
  • 1 tablespoon of syrup from a jar of stem ginger

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.
  2. Grease a 450 g loaf tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.
  3. Cream the butter with the sugar in a large bowl.  (I usually soften the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave first as it makes it much easier!)
  4. Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture.  If it looks as if it is going to curdle, add some of the self-raising flour.
  5. Once the eggs have been incorporated add the rest of the self-raising flour.
  6. Finely chop your pieces of stem ginger and add them to the cake mixture along with the syrup from the jar of stem ginger.
  7. Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared loaf tin.
  8. Take the skin off your pear.  I find the easiest way to do this is with a vegetable peeler.   Cut the pear in half lengthwise and, using a small knife, remove the core and any pips.   Place the two halves of the pear on top of the cake mixture.
  9. Put the tin in the oven and bake the cake for 45 minutes.
  10. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. 
  11. When the cake is cool, remove it from the tin.   
  12. To decorate the cake, using a pastry brush, paint the top  with the ginger syrup.  Cut up the piece of stem ginger and scatter the pieces over the top of the cake.

Ginger and Pear Cake

Keywords: cake, ginger, pear

Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Rum Banana Bread

Rum and Banana Bread

Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut

Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut

Easy Poached Pears with Marsala

Easy Poached Pears

Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut

Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut – Easy home-baking recipe

Lime Drizzle Cake. Like Lemon Drizzle Cake but with with an added tropical coconut twist. This is a very easy cake to make. It uses a basic sponge recipe which is taken to the next level by the lime and coconut flavour combination. As with all Drizzle Cakes, the icing is a simple combination of zesty fruit juice and icing sugar, so no need for fancy icing techniques. You just mix it together and pour it onto the warm cake so it adds an additional sweet and zingy punch of flavour.

Lovely limes…

I love limes. They have all the sharp citrus notes of lemons but with a more complex spicy background flavour which combines brilliantly with the richness of coconut. As well as cakes, I often use it with seafood, such as my Crab and Prawn Tart with Chilli, Lime and Coriander. It is also adds a fantastic zip of sharpness to sweet tropical fruits, such as mango, as in Mango and Lime Ice Cream.

…and creamy coconut

I use a combination of Coconut Cream and Desiccated Coconut to flavour this cake. Coconut Cream is one of my favourite ingredients for both sweet and savoury recipes. It comes in a block from which you can break off as much as you need. Once opened, you can keep it in the fridge for several weeks and use whenever you want to add a coconut hit to one of your recipes. It has a rich, creamy flavour which is great in cakes and puddings but also in Thai-style curries. If you don’t have a tin of coconut milk handy, you can just add some coconut cream to water and use that instead.

I have recently been won over to Desiccated Coconut having been put off by childhood memories of it as a dry, flavourless coating on rather unappetising shop-bought cakes. However, if you soak it in water before using, it becomes soft and flavourful and is a great addition to recipes. I guess the clue is in the name – it has had its moisture removed so you need to add it back again!

If you are inspired to explore the wonderful world of Drizzle Cakes by this recipe, you might like our recipes for Lemon Drizzle Cake and Blood Orange Drizzle Cake.

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Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut

Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 1 loaf cake 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
Print Recipe

Description

This Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut is really easy and quick to make and provides a tropical twist on a traditional Lemon Drizzle Cake.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 25 g coconut cream (grated)
  • 50 g desiccated coconut
  • 250 ml boiling water
  • 125 g butter
  • 175 g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 175 g self-raising flour
  • 2 limes
  • 100 g icing sugar
  • A little desiccated coconut or grated coconut cream to decorate.

Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut

Instructions

  • Set your oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.
  • Grease a 450 g loaf tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.
  • In a small bowl, combine the grated coconut cream, desiccated coconut and boiling water.  Leave to cool slightly while you get on with the rest of the cake preparations.  The coconut cream will melt and the desiccated coconut will soften and expand in the hot water.
  • Cream the butter with the sugar in a large bowl.  (I usually soften the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave first as it makes it much easier!)
  • Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture.  If it looks as if it is going to curdle, add some of the self-raising flour.
  • Once the eggs have been incorporated add the rest of the self-raising flour.
  • Add the contents of the small bowl – water, melted coconut cream and desiccated coconut – to the cake mixture together with the grated zest of your limes.
  • Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared loaf tin.
  • Put the tin in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
  • While the cake is baking, combine the juice from your limes with 100 g of icing sugar to form a thick syrup.
  • Remove the cake from the oven and immediately pour the syrup over the top.
  • Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely before removing.   If you try and take it out while it is still warm it may fall apart as it will be very moist due to the syrup.
  • You can decorate the top of the cake with a little desiccated coconut or grated coconut cream.

Keywords: Lime, Drizzle Cake, Lime Cake, Coconut Cake

 

Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Ginger and Pear Cake

Sticky Ginger and Pear Cake

Blood Orange Cake

Blood Orange Drizzle Cake

Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Blood Orange Cake

Blood Orange Cake

Easy, zesty Blood Orange Cake

This Blood Orange Cake makes the most of the unique flavour of Blood Oranges. These oranges are only in season for a short time but they brighten up the dull winter months of January and February. They are the most flamboyant citrus fruit, with skin coloured purple and orange like an Athena poster sunset and a deep red flesh. Even their pink juice is pretty!

There are a number of different varieties of Blood Orange but, in general, they have a stronger and sharper taste than ordinary oranges which makes them a fantastic flavouring in cakes and puddings. This Blood Orange cake is a twist on a traditional Lemon Drizzle Cake and makes the most of the fruit’s intense, orange sharpness. I have decorated my cake with dark red Candied Blood Orange Slices which add an intense marmalade flavour.

Due to their pigments, Blood Oranges also contain greater amounts of anti-oxidants than other oranges. I think that they are best used in dishes where they can add colour as well as flavour. Traditionally, they are used in winter salads in Sicily, combined with fennel, and also to make ruby coloured orange sorbet. Blood Orange juice is also a great addition to cocktails giving them a pretty pink colour combined with a citrus kick of flavour.

If you cannot get hold of blood oranges, you can use ordinary oranges as a substitute.

Blood Orange Cake

Blood Oranges

Other loaf cakes

I love baking and have lots of easy baking recipes for cakes, biscuits (cookies) and muffins. I especially like making loaf cakes. They are quick, easy, versatile and do not require any extra icing or decoration (unless you want to do it). If you want a basic everyday cake, look no further than a loaf cake. They are also a great base for experimenting with flavours which is a big reason for me to love them. Here are some of my favourites.

Blood Orange Cake

Blood Orange Cake recipe

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Blood orange cake

Blood Orange Cake

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 1 loaf cake 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
Print Recipe

Description

This Blood Orange Cake is very simple to make and uses seasonal Blood Oranges which have an intense flavour and beautiful purple and orange colour.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 125 g butter
  • 175 g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 175 g self-raising flour
  • 4 tablespoons of milk
  • 1 blood orange
  • 100 g icing sugar

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.

  2. Grease a 450 g loaf tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.

  3. Cream the butter with the sugar.  (I usually soften the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave first as it makes it much easier!)

  4. Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture.  If it looks as if it is going to curdle, add some of the self-raising flour.

  5. Once the eggs have been incorporated add the rest of the self-raising flour.

  6. Add the milk and the grated zest of your blood orange.

  7. Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared loaf tin.

  8. Put the tin in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

  9. While the cake is baking, combine the juice from your blood orange with 100 g of icing sugar to form a thick syrup.

  10. Remove the cake from the oven and immediately pour the syrup over the top.

  11. Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely before removing.   If you try and take it out while it is still warm it may fall apart as it will be very moist due to the syrup.

  12. You can just leave it there – and I usually do!  However, if you want to decorate the cake further, you can add some Candied Blood Orange Slices.

Notes

Blood Oranges are in season in January and February.  If you cannot find any in the shops, you can use ordinary oranges.

Keywords: blood orange, cake,

Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake

Lemon drizzle cake

My favourite easy Lemon Drizzle Cake

This easy Lemon Drizzle Cake is one of my favourite cake recipes.   It is very simple and straight-forward and the resulting cake is a fantastic demonstration of how home-made cakes are better than shop-bought cakes.  It is just a lemon-flavoured sponge but, freshly-made with zingy lemon and real butter and eggs, it is a real treat.

I have decorated my cake with Candied Lemon Slices but it tastes just as good just with the drizzle!

Lemon drizzle cake

What you need to know about my easy Lemon Drizzle cake

  • First off, it is very quick and easy. After all, the clue is in the title. It is a simple loaf cake which means that it is cooked in 45 minutes. Having a drizzle, which is added immediately the cake is out of the oven, rather than an icing makes it really simple to make.
  • You need to either use unwaxed lemons or, if you are using waxed lemons (most of them are unless they specifically say that they are not) you need to wash them thoroughly before using. Otherwise, when you grate the lemon zest into the cake, you will also be adding the wax coating.
  • You can keep the cake for two or three days, wrapped in foil, but like all home-made sponge cakes it is best within a day or so. You can freeze it, wrapped in foil and then placed in a freezer bag, for up to three months.
  • I think of this as a typical cake to eat with your morning coffee or afternoon tea. It is good for parties as it is easy to slice it into portions.

Lemon drizzle cake

Other loaf cakes

I love baking and have lots of easy baking recipes for cakes, biscuits (cookies) and muffins. I especially like making loaf cakes. They are quick, easy, versatile and do not require any extra icing or decoration (unless you want to do it). If you want a basic everyday cake, look no further than a loaf cake. They are also a great base for experimenting with flavours which is a big reason for me to love them. Here are some of my favourites.

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Other lemon flavoured recipes

I love lemon in both sweet and savoury recipes. One of my favourite preserve recipes is my easy Lemon Curd. It brings a hit of zesty fresh lemon to lots of other dishes such as my Lemon Curd Ice Cream or my Lemon Pavlova.

Lemon is a great baking ingredient and I use it in lots of my cake and biscuit (cookie) recipes. My Lemon Biscuits (Cookies) are quick, easy and delicious. I combine lemon with elderflower in my Lemon Sponge Cake with Edible Flowers and in my Elderflower and Lemon cupcakes. My St Clement’s Cake has a double hit of citrus as it includes both oranges and lemons!

In savoury dishes, lemon is a great flavour partner to chicken. I make a classic Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon and Thyme and also a Morroccan-inspired stew of Lemon Chicken with Olives.

Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe

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Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake

Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 1 loaf cake 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
Print Recipe

Description

Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake – a British classic and for good reason!  It is easy to make and tastes fantastic with zingy lemon flavouring a fresh buttery sponge.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 125 g (5 oz) butter
  • 175 g (7 oz) caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 175 g (7 oz) self-raising flour
  • 4 tablespoons of milk
  • 1 lemon
  • 100 g (4 oz) icing sugar

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.
  2. Grease a 450 g loaf tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.
  3. Cream the butter with the sugar.  (I usually soften the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave first as it makes it much easier!)
  4. Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture.  If it looks as if it is going to curdle, add some of the self-raising flour.
  5. Once the eggs have been incorporated add the rest of the self-raising flour.
  6. Add the milk and the grated zest of your lemon.
  7. Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared loaf tin.
  8. Put the tin in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
  9. While the cake is baking, combine the juice from your lemon with 100 g of icing sugar to form a thick syrup.
  10. Remove the cake from the oven and immediately pour the syrup over the top.
  11. Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely before removing.   If you try and take it out while it is still warm it may fall apart as it will be very moist due to the syrup.
  12. You can just leave it there – and I usually do!  However, if you want to decorate the cake further, you can add some Candied Lemon Slices

Keywords: lemon drizzle cake