COOKBOOKS GALORE

There are several very similar recipes for this cake - Nigella has one, Claudia Roden has one and I'm sure there are many more. This one comes from Diana Henry in her lovely book 'Crazy Water Pickled Lemons.' I love Moroccan food and there are some great recipes in this book. A good tip I've learnt from a cyber friend is that instead of boiling the orange for an hour as stipulated in the recipe, you can cook it in the microwave and speed up the whole process. You prick the skin of the orange and microwave it on high for about 8 minutes, turning the orange around after a few minutes, just as you would a potato. Saves a lot of time and energy. cake: 1 orange 3 eggs 250g caster sugar 55g plain flour 1tsp baking powder 200g ground almonds icing sugar for dusting for the cream: 55g fine-shred orange marmalade 125g  mascarpone cheese 30ml (2 tbsp) Greek yoghurt icing sugar to taste 5ml (1 tsp) orange flower water Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F) Gas Mark 4...

 Yet another loaf cake to add to my collection! This is basically a pound cake or Sandkuchen with the addition of ground hazelnuts. 250g unsalted butter at room temperature 250g caster sugar 4 large eggs 250g plain flour 2 tspns baking powder 100g ground hazelnuts Preheat oven to 180°C/ gas 4 Grease a 900g loaf tin. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer or 5 with a hand-held. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually add the sieved flour and baking powder, a third at a time, until each third is well incorporated. Finally add the ground hazelnuts and mix them in well.  Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for about 60 minutes until it is well risen and firm to the touch. If it starts to brown too much cover the top with foil. When it's cooked, cool on a wire rack. You can ring the changes by adding two chopped apples instead for an apple cake, 150g chopped...

I love to drink cappuccino, and these little cakes are my cake version. They're a Victoria sponge mixture really, so are very easy to make using the all-in-one method. 3 tspn instant coffee 2 tspn boiling water 175g soft butter or margarine 175g muscovado sugar 175g sr flour 1/2 tspn baking powder 3 eggs To decorate 300ml thick creme fraiche [or double cream if you want to be more decadent] 75g pieces of dark chocolate Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a 12-hole muffin tin. Dissolve the coffee in the water. Beat the rest of the ingredients together in a mixer till it's smooth and add the coffee. Put the mixture into the muffin tin and smooth the tops. Bake for about 12-14 mins till well risen. Cool on a wire rack. Whip the creme fraiche till it has little peaks. Cut the cakes in half and fill with some of the creme. Decorate the top with a little more creme and add some chocolate pieces to decorate. I like these cakes because they're not too swee...