RECIPE: Madeira loaf, lemon curd and blueberry trifle pots

A recipe for lemon curd and blueberry trifles made with low-fat quark cream cheese

Madeira loaf, lemon curd and
blueberry trifle pots

The Queen is 90 this year - three cheers for Her Majesty! I'll tell you who else has turned 90 this year, Sir David Attenborough. As wildlife and nature are my biggest passions after food and eating, David has been one of my all time heroes since I was a kid. And so, I'd like to dedicate this bake to both of these elderly but mighty great British institutions. 

The Queen is celebrating with a big bash today - The Patron's Lunch. The Mall in St James’s Park has been transformed for its largest ever street party, to celebrate Her Majesty's patronage of over 600 charities and organisations.

There'll be many more parties happening up and down the country, and Stork intend to provide the best baking inspiration for them.

As part of that, they got in touch with a few bakers to come up with fitting recipes for the occasion, to share on the Stork website. My brief, trifle! 

Now I'll be honest, I've never been much of a trifle fan. I don't like things with too much cream, and I really don't like jelly. So I took this as a great opportunity to come up with something that would appeal to all, even those who think they might not like trifle. 

Meaning “curd” in Slavic, quark is a soft, white and un-aged cheese made from whey. It has a much lower fat content than other cream cheeses (99.8% fat-free) and is popular in Scandanavia and Eastern Europe. Where a dish requires a voluptuous creaminess, I often use quark in place of higher fat alternatives, such as in this beetroot and quark dip. It both cooks well and is also excellent used in desserts. Best of all, you'll find it in all the standard supermarkets.

Quark sweetened with lemon curd makes up the white layer, and the rest is Madeira cake, more lemon curd, and blueberries. What you end up with is a clean, light, and refreshing trifle, that contains a lot less fat than its classic counterparts. 

This really is a great recipe, even if I do say so. I looked so forward to scoffing these every evening until my portions ran out. I'll definitely be rustling these up again.

stages of making the Madeira loaf, lemon curd and  blueberry trifle pots
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What I've done is use Stork with Butter to make the Madeira loaf, and used cut up slices of that as the layers between the quark mix and lemon curd. This is the link to the step-by-step recipe on the Stork website for you to follow at home. I've been a long time fan of using Stork when baking sponges - it's a versatile ingredient, and the fact it can be used straight from the fridge is always a bonus. 

Here's the link to my Madeira loaf, lemon curd and blueberry trifle recipe for you to try at home. If you do, the lovely folk over at Stork would love to see how it went. You can share your trifles on Instagram tagging @bakewithstork, Twitter tagging @bakewithstork, or Facebook tagging the /bakewithstork page. And tag me as well please - I'd love to see too. And feel free to leave a comment below, letting us know how it went - I'd love to know what you think!

This is a sponsored post, in partnership with Stork, as part of a street party campaign to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday and The Patron's Lunch. I hope you get to try this recipe - it's a corker! 

Related links
RECIPE: 'The Elvis' sandwich peanut butter, banana and bacon mini cakes
RECIPE: Easter Chick Cupcakes with Stork

RECIPE: 'The Elvis' sandwich peanut butter, banana and bacon mini cakes

A recipe for mini cakes based on 'The Elvis' sandwich

'The Elvis' sandwich peanut butter,
banana and bacon mini cakes

All hail America and their weird and wonderful flavour combinations. Bacon with maple syrup, chicken and waffles, peanut butter and jelly (or jam, as we in Blighty like to call it).

And from America, we have none other than The King himself to thank - Elvis Presley - for introducing the world to the awesome combination of peanut butter, banana and bacon. It's no secret most things are improved with bacon, and this particularly holds true when peanut butter is involved.

The history behind this infamous sandwich, now universally referred to simply as 'The Elvis', is that old snake hips himself was well acquainted with fanciful food cravings. There have been many articles written about his creative culinary tastes, and his love of peanut butter and banana sandwiches with crisp bacon is well reported, even by his mother, Gladys Presley.

So when Stork approached me to come up with a cake recipe that included bananas to coincide with the London Marathon (bananas for energy, see), and wanting to steer away from well worn banana breads, The Elvis came to mind.

In this recipe I've created a mash-up between The Elvis sandwich, and peanut butter jelly sandwiches, but in cake form. Which means there's also a slick of jam in between the two halves of each mini cake. You get a lovely and hearty end product, and they look pretty good too.

making 'The Elvis' sandwich peanut butter, banana and bacon mini cakes

ingredients to make 'The Elvis' sandwich peanut butter, banana and bacon mini cakes
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There are a few steps to this recipe, but it's nice and simple and will help you get acquainted with the baker within.

What I've done is used Stork with Butter to make these Elvis mini banana sandwich cakes - that link is the step-by-step recipe on the Stork website for you to follow at home. I've been a long time fan of using Stork when baking sponges, and I've realised Stork with Butter works very well in the peanut butter frosting in this recipe too - it's a versatile ingredient, and the fact it can be used straight from the fridge is always a bonus. 

Here's the link to my 'The Elvis' sandwich peanut butter, banana and bacon mini cakes recipe for you to try at home. If you do, the lovely folk over at Stork would love to see how it went. You can share your 'The Elvis Sandwich' cake bakes on Instagram tagging @bakewithstork, Twitter tagging @bakewithstork, or Facebook tagging the /bakewithstork page. And tag me as well please - I'd love to see too. And feel free to leave a comment below, letting us know how it went - I'd love to know what you think!

'The Elvis' sandwich peanut butter, banana and bacon mini cakes

This is a sponsored post, in partnership with Stork, as part of a campaign to help the occasional baker be creative in the kitchen, giving you the tools you need to make show-stopping, crowd-pleasing, tasty bakes in a simple way. I hope you get to try this one - it's a corker! With thanks to Elvis.

Related posts
RECIPE: Easter Chick Cupcakes with Stork

RECIPE: Easter Chick Cupcakes with Stork

Baking Easter cupcakes with Stork

Easter chick cupcakes - cute, huh

I have a confession: I can't remember the last time I knocked up a cake. Writing that down makes me realise just how long it's been. A combination of eating out a lot these days means I have less time to cook at home and when I do, I try to be good; I don't always win at that game. 

But there are probably few better excuses for getting flour in your hair than a public holiday, and Easter is prime for baking opportunities. My favourite are these pillowy hot cross buns, a recipe from Paul Hollywood, that I try to specifically set aside time for each Easter. 

So when the nice people over at Stork told me about this campaign, I jumped at an excuse to spend some much overdue time back in the kitchen and try out this Easter cupcake recipe. And hands up, I have always used Stork when I've baked sponge cakes in the past. You can see an example of that in these chocolate fondants, where I specifically reference them. And that's a recipe from 2012! 

I'm a long time Stork user. I think I first tried it because the other half, who's a big fan of sponge cakes, recommended it when I got into baking - he cooks more than me, and is better at it too. The results always impressed - it gives a lovely rise and a fluffy sponge - so I've sort of used it ever since. And now they've gone and released a new product called Stork with Butter (which - you guessed it - has actual butter in it too), and that can only be a good thing.

What I've done is used Stork with Butter to make these Stork Easter chicks cupcakes - that link is the step-by-step recipe for you to follow at home, along with a very nicely done video showing the full process - and shared some pictures of it in this post.

Cupcake ingredients. Also note - gold cupcake holders.
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I have in fact already baked this Easter cupcake recipe twice, and eaten a minimum of three in each sitting, because they're bloody lovely. Mainly thanks to the lemon frosting - there are few food stuffs that can't be improved by lemon (that's the Turkish in me), so I was most pleased to see it in the recipe. 

And probably also because this is the first time I've baked in ages, so I've been rewarding my efforts by scoffing more of them than I probably should be. Plus, the other half asked if I could make a second batch too - turns out he's also a fan.

Trying out the Stork Easter chick cupcake recipe. It works.
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So that's it folks. Go forth and bake the Stork Easter chick cupcakes - they're really easy, fresh and light, and I'm happy to give them my stamp of approval. They're also pretty cute, and I'm guessing you'll enjoy giving each one a slightly different character in their little chick faces. Don't get too attached though - remember you're eating them. 

Here's the link to the Stork Easter chicks cupcake recipe for you to try at home. If you do, the lovely folk over at Stork would love to see how it went. You can share your Easter cupcake bakes on Instagram tagging @bakewithstork, Twitter tagging @bakewithstork, or Facebook tagging the /bakewithstork page. And tag me too - I'd love to see them. Don't forget to use the #StorkChick hashtag. And feel free to leave a comment below too, letting us know how it went. 

Happy Easter folks!

This is a sponsored post, in partnership with Stork, as part of their Bake with Stork Easter Chicks campaign. I was asked to rustle up this Stork Easter chicks cupcake recipe in order to encourage you guys to give it a go yourself. I hope you get to!

Easter chick cupcakes - this guy is my favourite