Almond, lemon and orange cake

Despite being chocolate-free this is one of my favourite ever cakes. Or is it a pudding? The original recipe is one I harvested as a youngster, about ten years ago. It came on a recipe card from the Observer and was by Sophie Grigson, who described it as being Tunisian. I'm not sure about the North African origins, but this is a fantastically light and moist cake which is first baked and then left to soak in a lightly spiced syrup. Although it's quite sweet, the generous amounts of citrus balances this out and results in a fresh and fragrant taste.
It's also great for people on gluten-free diets as the breadcrumbs can be replaced with crumbs from gluten-free bread. As it's a minor ingredient this substitution doesn't affect the flavour or texture of the finished cake.

Recipe (for one large-ish cake):
45g fresh breadcrumbs
200g caster sugar
100g ground almonds
1.5 tsp baking powder
200ml vegetable or sunflower oil
4 medium eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
Finely grated zest of half a lemon

For the syrup:
Juice of 1 large orange
Juice of half a lemon
85g caster sugar
3-4 cloves
1 stick cinammon

Mix all the cake ingredients well and pour into a shallow-ish cake tin (I use a rectangular one that's approximately 25x15cm) lined with grease-proof paper. The cake mix will be more liquid than normal due to the oil in it (and it's therefore easier to cook it in a shallow dish). Bake at gas mark 5 for around 50mins. If it looks like the top is colouring too quickly cover with some foil. The cake definitely needs to be cooked through, so a skewer or fork poked into the middle should come out clean if a bit sticky.
As the cake cooks, make the syrup by gently heating all the ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved (which should also be enough time for the spices to infuse) and then put to one side.
Once cooked let the cake cool for 5-10minutes, but while it's still warm turn it out onto a plate and spike it with a fork. Slowly pour the syrup over the cake, allowing it to sink in before pouring on more. Ideally leave the cake for a few more hours for the flavours to develop. Serve on it's own or with some mascarpone cheese, sweetened with icing sugar, and mixed with whipped cream or yoghurt. It's what a dessert fork was made for.

Blueberry and lemon muffins

It's blog confession time- I am not a baker. I have made loaves which could probably have been used as offensive weapons such was their weight, and pizza bases which somehow remained raw in the middle despite hours of cooking. I think this is probably because baking is quite a precise art and I am not a natural recipe follower.
However one of the few baked things that I can usually manage reasonably well is cakes (phew). This muffin recipe is from 500 Cupcakes and Muffins by Fergal Connolly, and the reason for their somewhat non-muffin like appearance is due to the fact that I cooked them in a cupcake tray and nothing to do with the recipe itself.

Recipe for one dozen large muffins (or a lot of cupcakes):

125g caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
265g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 beaten eggs
225ml milk
115g unsalted butter, melted
225g blueberries

Beat the melted butter (make sure it's cooled a bit), milk and eggs together until smooth, add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the blueberries and then spoon the batter into cases. Bake in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 6 for around twenty minutes or until golden on top.
I used half the above recipe to make around 15 cupcakes, and used up some blueberries that had been hanging about in the fridge for a little to long. The combination of berries and lemon kept things tasting nice and fruity and vaguely like something that might be consumed at breakfast. And surely cake for breakfast can only be a good thing?