Print and Bake: Mum & Gran Doodle + Cake

Mum & Gran Doodle by Gaby de la O © 2013.

 Dear readers, you must be warned. This is not going to be the post of a spectacular pouf but rather a simple project it came to mind just a few days ago. We do not celebrate Mother's Day in Mexico until May. However, and unafraid as I am to put my hands on new cooking ventures,  I wanted to take this opportunity and take my mum by surprise.

Before we go on, may I suggest to click here and continue reading...

This drawing is based on my mum and gran and how they communicate with each other. As you can see, they are not holding hands. They are just there, standing together. Below it reads in Spanish "This is the love I think my mum has for my grandmother".  In equal basic principle, I decided to bake an easy Madeira cake, my first cake ever.  It all started one day before on Saturday 9th, gathering all ingredients which are pretty basic: eggs, flour, bake power, lemon, butter and thyme. That same night I finished colouring the card on illustrator and finally bake the cake this very morning.

Here's a small graphic that illustrates both cooking and illustration processes:

Recipe:

Lemon & Thyme Madeira Cake 

You will need:

For the cake:

• 175g unsalted butter
• 175 caster sugar
• 3 free range eggs
• 200g self-raising flour (or plain with 1 tsp baking powder)
• 2-3 tbsp milk
• 1 lemon (unwaxed)
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tbsp honey

For the syrup: 

• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves

Make it!
The cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 900g / 2lb loaf tin. 
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and very fluffy. 
3. Beat the eggs and pour a third into the butter mix, along with a tablespoon of the flour to stop the mixture from curdling. Stir well. Repeat with the other two thirds. 
4. Slowly sift in the rest of the flour and stir lightly until just combined. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time to keep the mixture smooth (it should have a dropping consistency).   
5. Zest the lemon into a separate bowl together with the thyme leaves and honey, and pound together into a paste.
6. Stir gently into the cake mixture. 
7. Spoon into the loaf tin and smooth the top flat. 
8. Bake for around 40 minutes until golden brown and a skewer or toothpick comes out clean. 

The syrup: 

1. Place the honey, lemon juice and thyme leaves in a bowl with a splash of boiling water and stir well to combine.
2. While the cake is still warm, poke holes in the surface with a skewer and spoon over the syrup, so that it soaks in. 
3. Decorate with a sprig of thyme and a more than generous drizzling of honey.

The card:

 Outcome:

Success! Cake was nearly gone in seconds but most importantly, mum was delighted.

I must send a big thank you to Laura at Domestic Sluttery for her post. It work wonders!

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