Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe

A few weeks ago I decided to try making a Lemon Drizzle and I am glad I did because it turned out so well and was actually surprisingly easy. Much better than shop bought lemon drizzle!

First one with sugar topping, second one with icing sugar topping.

Ingredients:
225g butter/spread
225g caster sugar
275g of self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
4 tbsp milk
grated zest of 2 lemons

Topping - You can either do a sugar topping which is literally about 175g of sugar mixed with the juice of 2 lemons or you can do one made with icing sugar and the juice of the 2 lemons, I preferred the icing sugar one but both are good!

Method:
1. Pre - heat oven to 180 degrees and grease a square baking tin (I don't know the exact measurements but this makes quite a lot of mixture so I used a pretty big tin)
2. To a bowl, add the butter, sugar, self raising flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and grated zest, you don't need to add things one at a time and then mix, this is so simple and you can literally put it all in at once if you're using an electric whisk, this is definitely easier and takes no time at all! If you did just want to use a normal wooden spoon to mix i'd maybe add a few ingredients in at a time. 
3. When the mixture is smooth, you can add it to your prepared cake tin and bake for around 40 minutes, I check it after about 35 minutes and use a skewer to check if its done, it if it comes out clean then it means the cake is cooked and ready to come out, if there is any of the mixture still on it then it needs a bit longer.
4. Depending on which topping you go for, will depend on when you put the topping on! If you go for the sugar topping you will need to put this on while it is still warm and before it cools completely, it won't go on aswell if its cooled. Or if you go for the icing sugar topping, leave the cake to cool then add it, i literally drizzled this all over the cake and it was so nice, I got loads out of it too when I cut it into squares.

This was such an amazing cake and I'm so glad I finally attempted it! It was so soft and just perfect with icing sugar on top!

My Other Baking Recipes - Chocolate Loaf Cake, Cornflake Tart and Slutty Brownies.

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Slimming World Egg Fried Rice and Pork Stir Fry Recipe

I love Chinese food but it's not the healthiest thing and takeaways are expensive so I was really happy to find some good Chinese slimming world recipes recently. Stir fry isn't something we have loads but I always enjoy it when we do and egg fried rice is one of my favourites things and it is so easy to make so todays post is a recipe for both of them!

Stir Fry - To start I cooked pork loin steaks and then sliced into thin strips, I put aside on a plate while I cooked the vegetables. I just bought a stir fry pack from Aldi for less then a pound which had cabbage, carrots, peppers, onions and I fried this until it was soft and then added the pork back to the pan. If you wanted to add any beansprouts you could add them now or if you wanted to add noodles, they only take a few minutes to cook in boiling water so you could add these too at this point, I normally add some soy sauce while its cooking but this time I used a chow mein stir fry sauce from Aldi which if you follow Slimming World would be a few syns for each person. While i'm finishing the rice I leave this in the pan to all cook through and stay hot. 

Egg Fried Rice - I start some water boiling in 2 saucepans, when its boiled I use one pan for the rice and one for peas, cook them both as you normally would and then when cooked and drained mix together in a big bowl. You can now add a beaten egg, as the rice is so hot that will cook the egg, but if you don't want to do it that way you can just scramble a few eggs and then add to the rice, thats what I normally do. I add a bit of seasoning and then add soy sauce and mix. It's so simple to make and tastes so good.

The egg fried rice in particular is one of my favourite slimming world recipes, I could eat it all the time! Let me know if you make either of these! They are such good fakeaway recipes.

Other Slimming World Recipes - Overnight Oats and Keema Curry Pie.

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May Favourites - Me Before You, Yankee Candle and Spotlight...

This month's favourites includes a lot of things TV and film related! but there has been so much this month I wanted to mention and I've managed to get it down to just a few.

Me Before You Images, Spotlight, The Secret.

Spotlight - I hadn't even heard of this film until a few weeks ago when George suggested it, i'm so glad we watched it because it was so intense and one you can really get into. It's a true story about how the Boston Globe did an investigation into cases of widespread child abuse in the Boston area by numerous catholic priests. It was shocking to watch and learn about all these things that went on that people knew about and covered up for so long, the acting was amazing by Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams. I definitely recommend watching it if you haven't. 

The Secret - We got hooked on this a few weeks ago, there was only a few episodes but there was so much going on and every week just got better and better. It was about the murders carried out by Colin Howell and Hazel Buchanan of their partners to cover up their affair, it was a true story and so shocking to watch and know that it all actually happened. I love a good drama like this that you can really look forward to every week as it's so good and it makes it even more intriguing when you know its a true story. 

Lemon Drizzle Cake - I'll be putting a recipe up for this soon as it is is just so good! I made it a few weeks ago and we just loved it so I made it again last weekend when we had some family round and they also loved it which I was so pleased about! I even passed the recipe on so it must have been good. It's such a simple recipe and takes no time at all so a great one to make if people are coming round or you just want some cake that doesn't take too long to make. I find when I make something like chocolate cake there are so many steps to it and it takes me so much time, especially with toppings and everything, but with this I put it all in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer and bake. So nice, especially with an icing sugar topping. 

Me Before You - I had to mention this in my favourites even thought technically it came out on the third of June and we saw it on the 4th but I couldn't wait to mention it, I was so excited to see it and it didn't disappoint! I read the book ages ago so I knew the story and what was going to happen but as it was so long ago I had forgot about a few of the characters and a few things that happened so it was really nice to watch it without knowing everything about it. It is literally heart breaking, it's so sad, it can make you laugh and cry, and I cried a lot. I was sat sobbing at the end, I didn't think I was going to stop, it's a great one to go and see with your partner or a few friends, couldn't recommend it enough. 

Yankee Candle Summer Peach - I absolutely love this scent! I picked a small one up from Clintons a few weeks ago and it just smells amazing, Peach is my favourite ever scent so I was so happy to see this as i'd never seen it before, I also picked up a new candle holder that matches the living room which I also love, I just get obsessed with anything to do with candles, I could buy them all the time.

What have you been loving this month?

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Date Night Ideas

You'll have probably seen in my weekend posts that we try to go on regular date nights, normally at least once a month. I always appreciate when we do date night as we get to spend some proper time together, sometimes work and life can be so busy and stressful and it can be hard to switch off and get away from it, so we always try to do something where we can just relax and have a nice evening. Date Night doesn't have to mean going out though, here are a few of my ideas...

1. Cook for each other 

I love it when George cooks for me, its a very rare thing but I always appreciate it when he does and I know he's put some thought into it! I remember one time years ago he made me a menu and I got to choose a starter, main, dessert and drinks and he went out to get everything I chose and he made a lovely meal. I know he put so much thought and effort into it and it felt really special. I cook most nights so I have to admit I don't go all out and do romantic meals a lot of the time but it's definitely something i'm going to do more often. Even just lighting candles or sitting together at the table makes a difference. 

2. Movie Night 

I love a good movie night, where we pick a few films and just stay up and watch them while eating loads of treats! I like to get a load of chocolate and sweets, crisps and nice drinks and just chill on the sofa with candles on, so cosy and its always nice to get snuggled up together watching a film. 

3. Cinema 

I love going to the cinema and we've actually been quite a lot recently, its our go to date night idea and we always enjoy it. Our first date was actually at the cinema so its always a bit special whenever we go.

4. Go out for a meal 

 When we do date night, we normally go to the cinema and then onto a restaurant for a meal afterwards. We normally have a few drinks (prosecco for me) and we go all out with the food. We've been to Frankie and Benny's quite a few times but last time we went to Bella Italia which was so nice, they had lit a candle and it was a really nice atmosphere, we were in a lovely little booth too. I love going out for a meal, its always to just spend that time together and have a good talk. 

5. Date Day 

We've done a date day quite a few times, it normally involves shopping! and we'll normally go for a nice meal while we're out or for a coffee. I like it when we do something that involves the full day and then when we get home we can relax and watch a film or something like that. I really like the thought of going somewhere different for a date day, I really want to go to a zoo! We're just not really nearby any so its a bit of a difficult one but I would absolutely love it. Somewhere we like to for the day is Leeds as it's not far on the train and has a mix of everything. There are always places nearby worth considering!

What do you like to do for a date night?

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