COOKBOOKS GALORE

Wanted to make something Christmassy for my neighbours bake this week, and  I found some fresh cranberries in my local supermarket. These and mincemeat would be great in a cake. I found this recipe in my folder - it's from a magazine, but not sure which one! For the cake you need: 150g soft butter, 150g caster sugar, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 100g sr flour, 100g ground almonds, 4 tbspn milk, 200g mincemeat and 200g fresh cranberries. For the streudel topping: 25g cold butter, 75g sr flour, 1 tspn cinnamon, 75g demerara sugar, 100g pine nuts or flaked almonds. Icing sugar to dust Preheat oven 180C/gas4                 Line 20cm springform baking tin with baking parchment, making sure that the paper comes above the sides of the tin. Beat the sugar and butter till light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time plus the vanilla. Fold in the flour and ground almonds, then the milk and mix in. Add the mincemeat and cranberries and mix in gent...

Not sure if the problem is completely sorted, but at least I can post again! 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 250...

I'm sorry but seem to be unable to post any photos and my text goes haywire! This has all happened since I changed the look of my blog. I don't know how to rectify it! If I try and look at past posts, I get a muddled text and the photos are in words! Am ok with technology until something goes wrong. I hope business will soon return to normal!

I have to confess to not being a cupcake fan. This is because I find the topping too sweet and too much! My  friend loves them, so I made some for her birthday. It was yet another way of using up some very ripe bananas. 225g plain white flour 1 1/4 tspn baking powder 1/4 tspn bicarb of soda 2 ripe bananas, mashed 115g butter, softened 115g caster sugar 1/2 tspn vanilla extract 2 eggs 4 tbsp soured cream 55g walnut pieces, roughly chopped Topping 175g butter, softened 350g icing sugar some walnut pieces, roughly chopped Preheat oven 190C/gas 5.               Line 2 cupcake or muffin tins with 14 paper cupcake cases  Sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarb of soda. Beat the butter, caster sugar and vanilla extract together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then stir in the mashed bananas, soured cream and walnuts. Fold in the flour mixture.  Put the mixture into the paper cups and bake for a...

  I presume that this cake has its origins in the USA, as there's the famous Mississippi Mud Pie. My family love chocolate cakes, and as my son was coming to visit, I decided to make a mud cake, a recipe I'd kept for ages in my folder.  So for the cake you need: 220g butter or margarine, 220g dark chocolate, 6 tspn instant coffee, 160ml water, 125g sr flour, 125g plain flour, 50g cocoa, 1/2 tspn bicarb, 480g caster sugar, 4 eggs, 35ml vegetable oil and 110ml sour cream For the ganache you need: 280g good chocolate, 140ml double cream and 40g soft butter Preheat oven 160C/gas4                         Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin In a pan, put the chocolate, butter, coffee and water on a low heat, till chocolate has melted, then stir together. Sift the flours, cocoa and bicarb together in a bowl and stir in the sugar. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and sour cream together. Spoon the egg mixture and t...

 One of my favourite French desserts is a Clafoutis. It's usually made with cherries, and the question is whether to leave the stones in or take them out! I've read that leaving them in adds flavour, but I don't like finding stones in my dessert so I always take them out. I like to add some vanilla extract too. So for the Clafoutis you need: 500g cherries [stoned] 300ml milk 125g flour 100g caster sugar 3 eggs 20g butter [to butter dish] pinch salt icing sugar to dust Preheat oven 180C/gas5                         Grease a 23cm flan dish In a bowl sprinkle 50g of the sugar over the cherries and leave aside. Break the eggs and beat them together. Add the flour, rest of the sugar, a tspn of vanilla extract and the milk. Beat well to make a batter. Add a pinch of salt. Put the cherries in a layer in the base of the dish and pour over the batter. Bake for 35-40 mins till set. When cool, sift some icing sugar over the top....

  I had to repost this as my computer went a bit haywire! Sorry if your comment has disappeared! I was  looking for something in my tins cupboard when I found a large tin of peaches hidden at the back. I remembered a recipe that my friend used to make so decided to make it. It’s an unusual recipe in that it uses semolina and crème fraîche , and is cooked on top of the cooker. You need:                                                          traybake tin large tin of peaches in syrup,  250ml syrup from the tin,  250ml milk ,100g crème fraîche   75g semolina  mint sprigs to decorate   Drain the peaches and keep 250ml of the syrup. Cut the peaches into 1/4s. Heat the milk and syrup in a pan till boiling then add the semolina and cook on gentle heat for 15mins, stirring all the time. Whip th...

My son and family were coming at last, and I wanted to make a cake. My daughter in law loves ginger, so I found this great recipe on the BBC Good Food site. ://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search/recipes?query=Squidgy+Lemon+Ginger+Cake It's a lovely cake, easy to make, and the fresh ginger cuts through the sticky sweetness of the sugar and dates. It's a dense and sticky cake with great flavours. I didn't use the suggested candied lemon peel or the coffee crystals to decorate the top. I just used the white chocolate. It's great as a cake, but would also make a great dessert with cream or ice cream [minus the chocolate topping maybe?]

                 There was a special offer on British blueberries at my local supermarket, so I bought several punnets.  I love them for breakfast, in muffins and in one of my favourite cakes, blueberry lemon yoghurt cake. Watching Monty last week, he said to pick any lemons that were ripe, so this gave me the lemon for  my cake. It's an easy cake to make too.   Preheat oven 180C/gas4                     Grease and line 20cm springform tin you need: 125g softened butter,150g caster sugar, 175g sr flour, 100g Greek yoghurt, 3 eggs, grated zest of 1  large lemon,  130g blueberries For the icing: 100g icing sugar, juice of the lemon   Cream the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy. Add the flour, yoghurt and eggs and beat together. Stir in the lemon zest. Spoon half of the batter into the tin. Mix most of the blueberries into t...

Am still doing my weekly bake for my kind neighbours, so decided to make something different this week, muffins. There’s been a lot of hype on Facebook about Muffnuts or Donkins! They’re a doughnut muffin. I just had to try them. Decided also to make one of my favourite muffins, using some rosemary from the garden and walnuts . So 2 for the price of 1 today!                                                         Muffnuts It makes 6.            Preheat oven 180C/gas 4 200g sr flour, 100g caster sugar, 125ml milk, 85ml sunflower oil, 1egg and 1 tspn vanilla extract Jam, Nutella or other filling of choice Topping : 75g melted butter and 100g granulated sugar Mix milk, oil, egg and vanilla together in a bowl. In another bowl mix flour and sugar.  Add the milk mixture to the flour, gently. No problem if ther...

Since lock down started, I have been baking every week to share with my lovely neighbour who gets some shopping for me. I decided this week I wasn't going to make just a cake, but a cake that can also be a dessert. In the fruit bowl were some ripe pears, so I made my favourite pear recipe, a French one from Creuse, Gargouillau. You need for the cake: 150g butter, 150g caster sugar, grated zest 1/2 lemon, 2 eggs, 350g plain flour, 2 tspn baking powder and 8 tbspn milk You also need: 600g pears, ripe but not soggy and 50g butter, extra sugar and cinnamon/icing sugar Preheat oven 200C/gas6        Grease a 25cm springform tin and line the base with greaseproof                                                            paper,lightly greased Cream the butter and sugar, add the lemon zest and mix in. Add the eg...

There's nothing like chocolate for cheering a day up. I was given a large bar for Easter, so wanted to stretch it out by using it in a cake. I love loaf cakes, and this is one of my favourites. It uses courgettes as well as chocolate, and I just happened to have one medium sized one that needed using up. It also uses soft brown sugar, a bonus as I've no more caster sugar! You need: 2 eggs, 80ml honey, 120ml sunflower oil, 100g soft light brown sugar, 2 tspn vanilla exctract, 1/2 tspn baking powder and 1/2 tspn bicarb, 1 heaped tspn coffee granules, 45g cocoa powder, 210g plain flour, 2 small courgettes or 1 medium grated, and 200g dark chocolate cut into chunks and divided into  2 x100g portions Preheat oven 170C/gas4           Grease and line a 200g loaf tin Whisk together the eggs, honey, oil, sugar and vanilla. Sift together in another bowl the flour, bicarb, baking powder, coffee and cocoa: mix together then gently add to the egg mixture. Fol...

In these difficult times, we’re all using up what we have in our store cupboards. Finding some pecans, a bit of golden syrup and some ground almonds made me think of a recipe I’d kept from a supermarket magazine ages ago. I had plain flour, so that would be fine for the pastry. Preheated oven 190C/gas5.   2 x deep bun tins Pastry: 100g plain flour, 25g caster sugar, 50g ground almonds, 85g butter, 1 egg and 2 tspn lemon juice. Put the flour, sugar, almonds and butter in a processor and blitz till crumbs ( doesn’t take long) Add egg and juice through the feeder tube and bring together using your hands. You can also make the pastry in the traditional rubbing in way. Wrap in film and put in the fridge for about 15 mins. Roll out thinly then cut out 18 circles using a 7-8 cm cutter. Press carefully into the tins. Prick the bottoms then leave to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Filling: 70g melted butter, 50g light muscovado sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 2 tbsp golden syrup...

Something to cheer us up in these miserable days. Was given a bottle of local cider, and had several apples needing using up, so found this recipe from an old Woman's weekly magazine. You need:  330ml cider, 150g melted butter, 4 medium apples, peeled, cored and grated, 2 large eggs, 150g soft brown sugar, 300g plain flour, 2 tspn bicarb, 1 tspn mixed spice, 1 tspn cinnamon, 1/2 tspn grated nutmeg, 200g raisins or sultanas and 100g roughly chopped pecans. Preheat oven 180C/gas4         Grease and line a 20cm spring form cake tin. Pour cider into a pan and bring to boil. Lower the heat to simmer and let the cider reduce. You need about 100ml. Melt the butter in another pan and pour the cider over to cool a bit until just warm. Mix the sugar and  eggs into the apples and pour in the butter and cider. Mix together. Sift the flour and spices together then fold into the mixture. Finally add the fruit and nuts and stir together. Pour into the ca...

I'm never too sure about veg in cakes. I quite like carrot cake, but didn't like the parsnip one my friend made, and courgettes, well I haven't really used them. So I was surprised to find that they were an ingredient in a delicious cake someone brought for a social evening recently. I asked for the recipe and this is it! For the cake: 2 large eggs, 80ml runny honey,100g soft brown sugar, 120ml veg oil, 2 tspn vanilla extract, 100g vanilla yoghurt, 1 tspn bicarb, 1 tspn baking powder, 260g plain flour, 2 small courgettes, grated, 100g milk chocolate [chopped roughly] Ganache: 50g milk chocolate, broken into pieces and 50ml double cream Preheat oven 160C/gas3                        Thoroughly grease and flour a large bundt tin  - make sure you do the corners. Put the tin on a baking tray. Whisk the eggs, honey, sugar, oil, vanilla and yoghurt together. Squeeze any excess water out of the courgettes and add to the b...

A quick and easy recipe to use up a large tin of apricots I found in the back of my store cupboard. In season you could use fresh apricots. You need: a pack of shortcrust pastry [or of course, make your own] a large tin of apricots [or 500g of fresh] 75g soft butter 75g caster sugar 75g ground almonds 1 egg flaked almonds to decorate Preheat oven 200C/gas6                      A 24cm tart tin Roll the pastry out to fit the tin then put into the fridge. Take apricots out of tin and pour off the liquid. If using fresh, wash them, remove the stones and cut in half. Mix the butter, sugar, ground almonds and egg together to make a batter. Pour this into the tart tin. Arrange the apricots on top and bake for 30 mins. Take out of the oven and sprinkle flaked almonds on top then put back in oven for 5 mins. The tart can be eaten warm or cold. It was good eaten with some vanilla ice cream. You could use other fruits in...

I always try and make a galette in January. You can find them in all the pastry shops and supermarkets in France, as they're made to celebrate the arrival of the Kings on January 6th. Have sadly lost all my little fèves that I collected [the little china figures that go into the galette des rois]. Whoever finds the fève is king or queen for the day and gets a crown! Decided to make it a bit different this year and added chocolate to the frangipane. It's so useful to have the puff pastry ready cut out into a circle, as in France, but a large dinner plate used to cut round to make the circle is fine. You need: 2 packs of butter puff pastry, 200g dark chocolate, 125g ground almonds, 125g caster sugar, 125g soft butter, 25g plain flour, 3 eggs and 1 yolk, and 1/2 tspn almond extract Preheat oven 200C                             A baking sheet Beat the eggs and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add the alm...