If You Make One Thing This Week...TEATIME!

Hi everyone, this is Adilah.m here! The past few days have been really hectic. I had promised to post some recipes last week and I've finally managed to catch my breath and get down to it! I have two recipes for you today, a Lemon,Almond and Thyme Cake and a Walnut, Orange Streusel Cake.

So,without further ado, here goes...

Lemon, Almond Thyme Madeira Cake

 125 grams butter, softened
3/4 cup castor sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
About 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup flaked almonds
2 tablespoons castor super, for topping

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Grease a large loaf tin and line the base with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the thyme, lemon rind and juice. Fold in the flour alternately with the milk. Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of castor sugar over. Sprinkle the almonds and the remaining castor sugar over. Garnish with a few thyme leaves and bake for 30 minutes. You may have to place a sheet of foil over the cake if it browns too quickly. Keep an eye on it! The cake is done when a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
Remove from the tin and cool completely.
Please note, that I have used just 1 tablespoon of thyme as I was just experimenting...You may adjust the thyme to suit your tastes.

Walnut Orange Cake

For the streusel:
40 grams butter
30 grams soft brown sugar
75 grams cake flour
5 ml cinnamon powder
75 grams roughly chopped walnuts
Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Melt the butter, then add the remaining ingredients and mix to form a crumbly mixture. Set aside

Cake:
175 grams walnuts, coarsely ground
225 grams butter, softened
230 gram castor sugar
4 large eggs
125 grams cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 Zest and juice of 1 1/2 oranges

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Grease a large loaf tin with butter and line with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sprinkle the walnuts over then sift in the flour and baking powder. Mix in lightly. Stir in the rind and juice. Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.
Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly on top. Place in oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes , until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack.

For the icing:
Combine 1 cup of icing sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of orange juice, to make a thick, pourable mixture.
 Drizzle this over the cake.

Note:
You may replace the orange with mandarin or Clementine if desired. Walnuts are also interchangeable with almonds or pecans.
Ensure that all ingredients are at room temperature.
I have used cake flour in both the recipes.