COOKBOOKS GALORE

It was the big family get together for my in laws on Saturday. As there are now too many for my sil's house, she hired her church halls. We ate fish and chips as there was a chippie round the corner, and each branch of the family made a dessert or two. I bought rather a lot of apples last week, so decided to make a recipe which my lovely German dil had given me, for a Bavarian apple cake. It's nice to have a new recipe using apples, and this one is really delicious and easy to make. The cake is in layers - a cakey layer, then jam, then a cheesecake type layer, then apples and finally almonds. It does use a fair amount of sugar, 200g, so I used Bramley apples, but any tart apples would do. Preheat oven 220C/gas8 Grease the sides of a  20cm springform cake tin, but line the bottom with foil to prevent any mixture seeping out. Dil advised this as she's had a problem with a leaking cake! Cream 125g butter with 75g caster sugar and 1/2 tspn vanilla extract. Add 150g plai...

This is something for visiting children over Christmas. but I'm sure adults would like them too! I've made peppermint bark for several years, but recently, looking on Pinterest, I saw that you could make cookies with a bark topping. I had to try these, as I wanted to take something for my grandchildren when we visited them yesterday. I decided to make a shortbread type dough. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease a Swiss roll tin and line with a strip of parchment paper down the middle, leaving the ends overhanging to get the cookie out of the tin. Beat 220g butter till creamy and white, then gradually beat in 200g of caster sugar. Keep beating till it's nice and fluffy. Add 1 tspn vanilla extract and a large egg yolk and beat in. Add 240g plain flour plus a pinch of salt and slowly add to the batter till blended. I found it easier to drop spoonfuls of this into the tin as it's a stiff mixture, then using my fingertips I pressed the dough into the tin to make a ...

Couldn't think of a good name for this cheesecake, but as it has chocolate and coffee in it I thought this name would do. It's my normal cheesecake, but with an added something. It's a rich cheesecake, just right for an occasion, so am going to make another for Boxing Day.  It's for those who love dark chocolate and coffee. You need a 23cm springform tin. Preheat oven to oven 160C/gas3 Make sure that the cream cheese and eggs are at room temperature. Put 200g of chocolate digestive biscuits in a bag and crush with a rolling pin [or use a food processor]. Add 125g plus 2 tbspns of melted butter and 1/2 tspn almond essence and mix together. Press this firmly into the bottom of the tin. Put in the fridge to set. In a bowl mix together 140g granulated sugar and 1 tspn of espresso or any other strong coffee granules [more if you want a strong coffee flavour]. Melt 250g of 70% dark chocolate and 125g of 50% dark chocolate [or milk if you prefer] in the microwave...

I needed a simple recipe to use up some lemons I bought, and found many versions of this uncooked tray bake [I suppose it's not really a tray bake as it's not baked, but it's made in my Delia tray bake tin!]. I played around with several recipes till I made exactly what I wanted - a good lemony flavoured  slice with a decent amount of coconut and a lemon icing. It was perfect to make with my grandsons over the w/e. You put 125ml of condensed milk in a pan with 125g butter and stir till the butter has melted. In a food processor or using a plastic bag and a rolling pin, break a 250g packet of Nice biscuits into crumbs and put into a bowl with 1 tspn of grated lemon zest, 1 tspn lemon extract and 85g dessicated coconut. Add the butter mixture and stir together till well mixed. Line a baking tin 28x18cm with parchment paper and press the mixture in. Put in the fridge for about an hour. Make the icing - 250g icing sugar, 3 tbspn lemon juice and 15g butter - beat tog...

I love financiers - the little French almond flavoured cakes that look like little bricks. I wondered where they got their name, so after a bit of googling it seems that they were first made in the 19th century by a Parisian pastry chef near the Parisian stock exchange, and he made them look like little gold ingots. They became popular with the financiers, hence their name. Maybe this is the true story, or maybe not? Anyway we love them. I wanted to try a different flavour, and found this idea of using green tea on a French web site - they used it in muffins, so I thought I'd try it in financiers. The recipe makes about 24 cakes, but I only made half the mixture. 200g butter 200g icing sugar 6 egg whites 80g ground almonds 80g flour 2 level tspns of tea [I used green tea but other flavours could be used] butter for the moulds But butter in a solid based pan and bring slowly to the boil then cook gently on a low heat till nut brown [beurre noisette]. Take off the heat and...

Thought I'd do a savoury post for a change. Bought a bag of leeks cheaply in our local market, so decided to make a tart. I used creme fraiche as I had some left over in the fridge and I made it in a 20cm loose-bottomed flan tin; it was plenty for 2 of us, with seconds for OH. For the sc pastry, 110g flour, 25g lard, 25g butter or margarine, 1 tbspn water. Am not going to insult you by telling you how to make pastry! Chill pastry for 30 mins then bake blind - 15mins at 180C/gas4, take out beans or rice etc then bake for 5 mins more at reduced temperature 160C/gas3. Filling : about 200g leeks [2 medium sized], 2eggs, 200ml creme fraiche or double cream, 1 dspn chopped thyme, 80g grated strong Cheddar cheese, about 25g butter Melt butter in a sauté pan, or any pan with a lid, Add the finely sliced leeks, cover and cook till they're soft [about 5 mins] then season them. Beat the eggs, then add the creme fraiche and thyme and beat together. Put the leeks into the bottom of p...

Thought we'd have a change from chocolate cakes, so decided to make a traditional cider cake from Herefordshire. Doing a bit of research about cider cakes I found that this cake was baked for the annual Cider festival. Several other counties make cider, so I expect they have their own versions of the cake.Some friends brought us some local cider they'd bought there, so made use of some of it in this cake. It's a simple cake, easy to make. You could vary the spices to suit your taste, and I suppose that the type of cider you used would make a difference to the flavour. preheat oven 180C/gas4 grease a 20 or 21cm square cake tin and line the bottom. Cream together 125g butter and 125g caster sugar till nice and fluffy. Add 2 beaten eggs and mix well. Sift 225g sr flour with 1 tspn bicarb, 1 tspn cinnamon and 1/2 tspn ginger. Fold some of the flour into the batter then add 200ml cider. Mix together well. Fold in rest of flour and spoon into tin.  Bake for 35-40 mins til...

I've seen various recipes and flavours for this so-called 'magic cake' on several blogs and in a woman's magazine. I liked the idea of trying a chocolate one , but I can't honestly say where the original recipe comes from, as all the blogs I looked at referred back to a different blog! I think the original idea came from  this Spanish blog  . Why is it magic, well you have one very runny batter, and when it's cooked you have a 3 layer cake. The middle layer is really a chocolate custard. The mixture is so runny that I thought I'd forgotten an ingredient [it's like a pancake batter], but having checked the various recipes, I hadn't. It's the top and bottom layers that hold the middle custard together. Well it's something different to try! You need: 4 eggs at room temperature 150g caster sugar 1 tbspn water 125g butter 70g flour 45g cocoa pinch salt 500ml full fat milk few drops lemon juice Preheat oven 160C/gas3 Grease a roun...

My stepson and family came for the day this week, and we have a tradition of having a nice cake for afternoon tea. I've mentioned my lovely German dil before, and she really is a superb baker [ her profession is in catering], so I try and make something new each time they come. I decided on a chocolate cake, but with something different as filling. I found a jar of peanut butter in the cupboard – perfect - and is something I know we all like. I know it's calorific, but it's a special cake for an occasion. 200g sr flour 1 tspn baking powder 150g caster sugar 150g butter 200g dark chocolate 100ml milk 6eggs Filling 250g peanut butter [smooth, but if you wanted a different texture, crunchy] 100g butter 100g icing sugar Preheat oven 180C Grease and baseline 2x20cm cake tins Melt the chocolate and butter over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the eggs and sugar till light and frothy. Add the milk and gradually mix in the chocolate mixtur...

This recipe is a speciality of the region we lived in in France, Poitou Charentes. You can find them in the region's supermarkets and they can be small, as these are, or be one large biscuit. They're not really biscuits, more of a biscake! Whatever you call them, they're delicious. This is the traditional recipe from a local baker. Beat together 250g unsalted butter and 250g of sugar till light and creamy. Add a beaten egg and mix together then fold in 500g plain flour with 1 tspn baking powder and 1 tspn salt added and mix together till you get a ball. If you need it, add a few drops of water. It's easier to use a mixer. Wrap the ball in clingfilm and put in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight, to firm up the dough. Preheat oven hot - 210C/gas7 Cover 2 baking sheets with baking parchment or silicone sheets. Take the dough out of the fridge and bring to room temperature.  Roll out dough and using a 7cm fluted cutter, cut out the biscuits and ...

And now for something completely different! I love Lebanese food; I knew little about it till we lived in France and made friends with a Lebanese couple. I love their use of spices, sumac, z'atar, dried mint, 7 spices etc, and I love falafel, houmous [sp?] and tabbouleh.  I've long had a love-hate relationship with tahina or tahini, sesame seed paste, but was given this recipe for using it in a cake by our Lebanese friend, and I really liked the result. You could use peanut butter instead, and I think it would work really well, but the tahini makes a really rich, flavoursome cake. Preheat oven 180C/gas 4. Grease a 24cm cake tin well and sprinkle with 3 tbspn sesame seeds. Beat 250ml tahini in a large bowl with 165g caster sugar, 40g light brown sugar and grated zest of 2 oranges till mixture is thick and creamy. Add the juice from the 2 oranges and 200g thick plain yoghurt and mix well. Fold in 375g sr flour, 1/2 tspn salt, 1 tspn mixed spice, 100g chopped pistachio nut...

I seem to be making a lot of chocolate cakes lately, but this one is a bit different in that it has tropical flavours and ingredients.  I found the recipe in a booklet I picked up at a food fair, and it's a cake I've been meaning to try. I found a bottle of rum in the back of the cupboard, and as well as my using it for Flognarde, a recipe you can find on   Phil's blog  'As Strong As Soup' , I'm going to use some in this cake [opt]. The tropical part comes from the creamed coconut, pineapple and dessicated coconut. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease and line a 20cm springform tin. For the cake: Cream together 100g soft butter and 200g caster sugar till pale and fluffy. Stir in 60g melted chocolate and 2 egg yolks. Sift together 175g sr flour and 1 tspn mixed spice, then fold these into the batter with 4 tbspn creamed coconut, 3 tbspn milk and 1 tbspn rum [or you could use pineapple juice]. Beat the egg whites till stiff then gently fold them into the ba...

The filling and icing on this cake is delicious - something special. It's a French recipe for a cake we made on a cookery course whilst I was living there. I needed a special cake for my daughter's birthday, and she loves coffee and chocolate so this fitted the bill as it's a chocolate cake with coffee filling and icing. It takes a bit of time to make as there are several stages, but I think it's worth the effort. For the cake: you need 125g of dark chocolate, 150g butter,125g caster sugar, 4 eggs, 75g flour and 1 tspn baking powder and 75g ground almonds. For the icing and filling you need 150g butter, 125g icing sugar, 2 egg whites, 1 tspn instant coffee and 1 tbspn warm water. Preheat oven 150C/gas 2 or 3  - it's baked in quite a cool oven. Grease and base line a 20cm springform tin. Cake: Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water. Separate the eggs and beat the yolks and caster sugar till white and fluffy. Add the chocolate mixtur...

This is my offering to the GBBO, as it's more complicated than I usually make! I'd offered to make a cake for a birthday we'd been invited to, and as my daughter was here to help me, decided to try something a bit more ambitious. It's not the official birthday cake, but just another contribution to the tea. The recipe comes from a leaflet I picked up many years ago in a supermarket, but it doesn't say much about the origins of the cake, just that it's from Denmark. It's unusual in that it has chopped pears in it, and uses gelatine to stiffen the cream mixture for the filling. It's a 'bit of an effort' cake to make too, so one for an occasion. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease and line a 20cm springform tin. Whisk 4 egg yolks with the grated zest and juice of 1 lemon and 125g of icing sugar till pale and creamy. Whisk the 4 egg whites till stiff peaks.  Sieve 75g plain flour, 25g cornflour and 1/2 tspn baking powder together then fold i...

Looking through my French cookery books for something different to bake, I came across a recipe for 'Mirlitons'. When I googled them to find out more, they seemed to be a strange looking green vegetable from the USA, also called chayote. What happened to the cakes? I continued googling and found out that the little Mirliton Tartlets come from around Rouen in Normandy. There were quite a few recipes for them, but they all seemed to agree that they must have an almond and egg filling with vanilla extract and orange flower water; some had cream added, so I decided to add some to give them extra flavour. Apparently it's quite an old recipe, being found in a 18th century cookery book. They sound very similar to the Welsh cheese cakes my Mum used to make - a pastry shell, a layer of jam then a sponge topping, but there's no almonds in Mum's recipe. They're very easy to make, as you use a ready made sheet of puff pastry. This recipe makes about 12 tartlet...

I wanted to make something quick and easy for my grandsons' visit this afternoon. This slice must come under the 'easy to make and good for you' banner, as it has oats, muesli, honey, apricots, nuts ...  and surprisingly, all three boys will eat it!. I guess it's a posh flapjack! It's one of my friend Ann's family recipes, and we love it. 30g oats 80g dried apricots 60g muesli 40g dessicated coconut 30g almonds chopped into pieces 70g plain flour 70g demerara sugar 2 tbspn honey 2 medium eggs 140g butter Grease a deep 20cm square cake tin. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Cut the apricots into smallish pieces. In a bowl beat 140g of the softened butter with the sugar and honey. Add the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour, oats, muesli, almonds, apricot pieces and the coconut. Mix it all together and spoon into the tin; smooth the surface and cook for 30 mins. Leave it to go cold in the tin then cut into squares. It's very filling, so I cut it int...

I wanted to make some kind of chocolate cake, and having looked through cookery books and folders I found this recipe which came from one of my neighbours in France. Four of us, all neighbours, took it in turn to host afternoon tea - the French ladies thought it was a great idea. This was one of Reneé's offerings. I love anything made with nuts, especially hazelnuts, and it's another easy cake to make. I decided to make it in a bundt tin. Grease a bundt mould or cake tin and preheat oven 180C/gas4 In a bowl over simmering water, melt 150g butter and 150g dark chocolate. Take bowl off and add 4 egg yolks, 175g caster sugar, 80g ground hazelnuts, 100g plain flour, 50g dark chocolate chopped up and a pinch of salt. Beat the 4 egg whites till stiff and fold into the mixture. Spoon into the tin and bake for 50mins. Remove from tin and cool on a wire rack. For the icing: Chop 100g dark chocolate and melt it over water with 50g of butter. Pour it over the warm cake and leave...

My friend gave me some courgettes and I wanted to make a cake with some of them. I had a look on the internet, but nothing really appealed, so I hunted through a couple of old baking cookery books and found a carrot cake with raisins, so adapted this. I fancied making a ring cake, but it can be made in a normal round cake tin. Preheat oven 180C./gas4 Grease a 20cm ring mould well with butter or oil. Beat together 125g butter and 150g caster sugar till nice and fluffy. Then add 2 beaten eggs and 2 tspn vanilla extract. Add 220g grated courgettes [about 11/2 medium courgettes] and 60g sultanas [or other dried fruit]. Mix together then fold in 225g sr flour. Spoon into tin and smooth top. Bake for 35-40 mins till golden. Leave cake in tin for about 10 mins then turn onto a wire rack. I wanted a creamy topping, so made some vanilla buttercream. I wanted to try a method I'd found in a magazine; it's more complicated than the simple buttercream of icing sugar and butter, bu...

Our little blueberry bush, in its tub in the garden, has given us nearly 3kg of fruit this year. I've frozen some, but wanted to make something quick to offer my friend when she comes round for a cuppa this afternoon. I found this recipe in an old American baking magazine and it really is quick and easy. 260g plain flour    200g caster sugar   120g butter, cubed 1 teaspoon baking powder 250ml milk 2 eggs, separated 150g fresh or frozen blueberries Preheat oven 180C/gas4 grease and line a 20cm square cake tin Put the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl then rub in the butter till you have crumbs. Put 1/4 of the mixture aside to use as a topping. Add the milk and egg yolks and beat together. Whisk the whites into soft peaks then add to the mixture gently. Spoon into the tin, sprinkle with the blueberries and top with the remaining crumbs. Bake for about 30 mins till golden. I Nice soft crumb from the cake and lots of juicy blueberri...

This was the second cake we made on the Baking Course I went on. It's an easy cake to make. I don't often use white chocolate as I have had some disasters when melting it, but this time it worked well. The addition of yoghurt makes this a nice moist cake, which is also light in texture. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease and line a 20cm springform cake tin. In a large bowl beat 125g butter with 110g caster sugar till light and fluffy using an electric hand mixer. Then add 2 beaten eggs and 1 tspn vanilla extract. Melt 100g white chocolate, which has been roughly chopped, over simmering water - careful - and stir till it's melted. Add the chocolate to the cake mixture with 125ml plain or vanilla yoghurt. Mix together gently then fold in 225g sr flour. Pour into tin and bake for 40 mins. Leave cake in tin for 15mins then turn onto a wire rack. For the topping: Beat 125g cream cheese till creamy then add 60g melted white chocolate and 2 tbspn plain yoghurt. Beat togeth...

My friend and I went on a day's Baking Course this week, and this Torte was one of the things we made. In Russian it's called a Bistvitny Torte. It's not difficult to make, but I found mixing the 2 chocolates together to make marbled chocolate quite challenging, especially making the marbling even.  It was an interesting fun day, and we watched demonstrations of bread making and a complicated 4 layer gateau. We weren't expected to make these, but we did get to sample some of each. We brought home the items we'd baked, and I asked if I could put the recipes on here, and was told it was ok if I wrote it in my own words. So that's what I'm doing! What makes the torte different is that it's soaked in a brandy flavoured syrup, otherwise tbh it's a marble cake. Preheat oven 190C/gas5 Grease a 23cm ring pan well . Make the decorations - Melt 25g each of dark and white chocolate. Put a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray and put alternative sp...

I've mentioned my lovely German dil before, and this is one of her family recipes. I bought some Bramleys in a local market, and wanted to make some kind of dessert with them. I love apple cakes and have quite a lot of recipes for them, but this is a bit different in the way you put it together. You get a layer of cake, then a layer of apples, sultanas, cinnamon and citrus zest, then another cake layer. The cake mixture is more like a dough than the normal cake batter, and I found it difficult to spread the second layer over the fruit. It was quite stiff and I kept getting lumps of dough. I spread it as well as I could, but there were some sultanas poking through [unlike my dil's version, where there's not a sultana in sight - well she works in catering!]. Not a very pretty plate - I asked my OH to get a nice plate for me to put it on, and this is what he produced! It can be a dessert or eaten as a cake for afternoon tea. We ate it warm with some ice cream. I...

A quick post, as the recipe is online. Another good recipe for a teabread - just fancied making one to have with a cuppa.  I changed a few things in the recipe - I used 'Quatre Epices', a French spice mix which has cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger, and the cloves and nutmeg give the cake a lovely spicy musky  flavour. I also used dark muscovado sugar as I didn't have any of the light. There's marmalade in it and I used a thick cut, but cut the pieces of peel into small bits. The wholemeal flour makes it quite a dense cake, but the flavours are great, and we enjoyed a slice with some butter. I think if I made it again, I would use part wholemeal and part white flour for a better texture. At least the fruit didn't sink to the bottom this time!  This is the recipe, on the Baking Mad site.                                             http://...

I have to say that I'm not a fan of the American type cupcakes with lots of sickly icing on top, but these are upmarket fairy cakes.  Peaches were on offer in the local supermarket, so thought I'd try using them in a small cake for a change. The recipe makes 20 cakes. You need 2x12 hole greased  bun tins [not muffin tins- you need the ones you make jam tarts or mince pies in] or you can cook 2 batches of the cakes. You need 2 ripe peaches with stones taken out and cut into 40 thin slices - you need a good sharp knife! Preheat oven 180C/gas4       You can use paper cases in the tins if you want. Beat 225g soft butter with 225g caster sugar using a hand beater, till nice and creamy. Add 4 eggs a bit at a time, then fold in 250g sr flour; add 3 tbspn sour cream or crème fraiche [and 2 tbspn peach or apricot jam if you want a more fruity flavour] and mix in. Spoon into the cases or tins and put 2 peach slices on top of each cake and bake fo...

I had some dessicated coconut in the cupboard, so decided to make another cake. I also had a lovely pot of local honey bought in a recent farmer's market, so would use this too. I found a lot of recipes online for a honey cake, but they weren't exactly what I wanted. This recipe is a mixture of bits of several recipes I've used before. Grease and line a 200g loaf tin. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Beat 125g butter with 100g brown sugar till nice and creamy; then add 2 beaten eggs, 1 tspn vanilla extract and 60ml honey. Add 25g dessicated coconut and mix in. Fold in 250g sr flour, 1 tspn nutmeg, 1/2 tspn cinnamon and 1/4 tspn allspice. Stir in 125ml milk and mix gently till smooth. Pour into the tin and bake for 30 mins. Leave in tin for 10 mins then turn onto a wire rack. Cream cheese and honey icing: Beat 125g cream cheese [like Philly] till creamy, then add 75g sieved icing sugar and 1 tbspn honey. Beat together till smooth and fluffy. Spread icing over cake and spr...

Seem to have had a lot of very ripe bananas lately. Am a bit fed up with banana loaves and cakes, but was given a recipe booklet recently about Fairtrade bananas, made up with recipes given by some of our church members. We love flapjacks, so banana ones seemed a great idea. I made them in a swiss roll tin, as we like them thin, but if you prefer thicker ones, use a square cake tin instead. 125g butter 85g light brown sugar 2 tbspn syrup 350g oats 1/2tspn baking powder 1 tspn cinnamon 2 medium ripe bananas Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a Swiss roll tin  23 x 33cm or a 20cm square cake tin Melt butter, sugar and syrup in microwave or on hob. Add oats, baking powder and cinnamon then add mashed bananas. Spoon in tin and smooth top with back of a spoon. Bake 20-25 mins till golden and firm. Cut into bars while hot then cool in tin. I made 15 bars. We really liked the added texture of the banana, but they are a soft flapjack, not a crisp one. I'll certain...

Bought a bundle of cookery magazines from a charity shop the other day, and this recipe was in an Australian one. I like traybakes. The bake has lots of good things in it - dessicated coconut, lime zest, walnuts, dates, and it's easy to make. The biggest problem was changing the Aussie cups into grams. The cake turned out fine, so I must have my conversions fairly accurate! Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease and line a rectangular tin about 28 x 8 cm. For the cake: Put 150g flour, 110g caster sugar, 85g dessicated coconut, finely grated zest of 1 lime [you'll need another lime if you're going to make the candied lime peel, 150g chopped dates and 60g chopped walnuts into a bowl. Stir together. Add 180g melted butter and mix together; then add 1 egg [lightly beaten] and stir together. Press this mixture into your tin and bake for 20 mins till golden. Leave in tin for 5 mins then turn out onto wire rack. For the lime Icing: Put 225g icing sugar in a bowl with 15 melted...

I wanted to make a sandwich cake for OH's birthday, but also wanted it to look a bit different. Had a large orange to use up, so decided to use it in the cake and to decorate it.  Recently I saw a tv chef add a flake bar to a chocolate cake, so thought I'd try the same, instead of using cocoa or melted chocolate. Cake: 225sr flour 175g soft butter 175g caster sugar grated rind of a large orange 3 eggs 2 crushed Flake bars 4 tbspn milk Icing: 100g soft butter 225g icing sugar juice of 1/2 the orange For the top: 1 orange divided into segments a little crushed Flake bar Preheat oven 170C/gas3 Grease and line a deep 20cm cake tin [or use 2 x 20cm sandwich tins] Cream butter, sugar and orange rind together till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the crushed Flake bars and fold in the flour alternately with the milk. Spoon into the tin or tins, smooth top and bake for about 1-1/4 hrs till golden. Leave in tin for 10 mins then turn onto a...

Another one of my favourite loaf cake recipes. This one uses stem ginger to give a better flavour than ground ginger. I've found a similar shop to the much missed [by me anyway] Julian Graves stores, so I stocked up on walnuts and dried fruit, including apricots. This such a quick loaf to make, and you can chose whether to ice it or not. I think the recipe is a WI one, as my mil gave it to me, and she usually used their recipes. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease and line a 900g loaf tin. In a large bowl put 115g wholemeal flour, 115g plain flour, 11/2tspns baking powder, 150g soft brown sugar, 115g soft butter, pinch salt, 2 beaten eggs, zest of a lemon and 2 tbspns of milk - beat it all together with an electric hand mixer. Stir in 175g chopped dried apricots [the no soak ones] and add 3 pieces of stem ginger chopped finely together with 4 tbspns of the ginger syrup. Finely slice a 4th piece of ginger and keep for the top. Spoon mixture into the tin, level, then arrange the 4...