COOKBOOKS GALORE

 This is an unusual cake as it’s made with cream, which is used instead of the usual butter and milk. So the cake is quite firm, tho’ you make it like a sponge cake. You need: 600ml whipping cream, 3 eggs, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 275g light brown sugar, 300g sr flour Topping: 60g butter, 110g soft brown sugar, 2 tbspn milk and 80g icing sugar. Preheat oven 180C/gas4/fan160C Grease and base line a 22cm deep tin. Beat half of the cream with hand mixer till soft peaks. Beat the eggs and vanilla in another bowl till thick and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating well between each addition. Spoon egg mixture into a large bowl and fold in 1/4 of the remaining cream, then the flour. Make sure it’s all mixed together. Spoon into the tin and bake for about 50 mins. Leave in tin to cool for 5 mins then put in wire rack.  Beat the remaining 1/4 of the whipped cream into soft peaks. Make the caramel topping : melt the butter in a small pan , add the sugar and milk. Bring to the boil a...

After watching GBBO last week, I thought I'd try my hand at making caramel. My first few attempts burnt or just didn't work, but finally I got the result I wanted. I didn't want a very dark caramel, just a sort of blonde colour. This is my friend's recipe, and it's not one that would win prizes for looks, but it tastes delicious.  So you need: 150g caster sugar and 3 tbspn water for the caramel, 75 g caster sugar, 100g flour, 2 tspn baking powder, 1kg pears, 3 eggs, 125g soft butter, 3 tbspn milk and 1 tspn vanilla extract Preheat oven 180C/gas 4                           grease and flour a 23cm cake tin For the caramel: put the 150g sugar in a pan and add the water. Leave till it's become a light blonde colour,* then pour into the cake tin and leave to cool. Beat the eggs with the 75g caster sugar till white and fluffy. Add the flour, baking powder, butter and beat together, then add the milk and vanilla and sti...

325g caster sugar 4 pears, peeled, quartered, cored and sliced 175g self-raising flour 1 tspn baking powder 125g butter, melted 2 eggs 50ml milk 1 tspn vanilla extract You need a 20cm  springform round cake tin Preheat  oven to 180C/gas4, .  Put 150g sugar in a pan and add 3 tablespoons of water. Dissolve the sugar over a gentle heat, then turn up the heat and boil until the sugar turns a rich amber colour. Swirl the pan  but don't stir. Pour the caramel into the base of the prepared tin which you've lined with baking paper which comes up the sides a little. Let it cool, then arrange the pear slices in a circle pattern on top. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the rest of the sugar, and stir till mixed.. Add the melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla, then mix at high speed for 1 minute to make a smooth batter. Pour over the pears and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour.  Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn onto a wire rack and serve ...

Time for another dessert, and this time it's a cheesecake. I love coffee flavoured cakes or desserts, so decided to make a coffee cheesecake. To make it more special I made a chocolate sauce and a caramel one as toppings.It has the usual biscuit base which is flavoured with coffee, but this is baked. You need: 200g digestive biscuits 40g soft butter 20g cocoa 700g cream cheese 6g strong instant coffee dissolved in 3 tbspn warm water 4 eggs 175g caster sugar For the sauces: The chocolate one I used this recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3029673/simple-chocolate-sauce and for the caramel sauce : 85g butter 175ml double cream 175g soft brown sugar Preheat oven 150C/gas2                 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin Put the ingredients in a pan over a medium heat and stir till butter has melted. Turn up heat and boil for 3-4 mins stirring occasionally - it looks like runny custard. Pour into a bowl and leave for 30 mins...

 Needed to use up two very ripe looking bananas in the fruit bowl, so it would be a banana cake. I think banana goes well with caramel, so made a caramel icing for the top. The recipe uses sunflower  oil and yoghurt, so definitely healthy [if you ignore the caramel!]. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                   Grease and base line a 23cm springform cake tin. In a bowl mix together 250g plain flour with 2 tspn baking powder and 1/2 tspn bicarb. Mix in 250g caster sugar. In another bowl beat together 150ml sunflower oil, 250g ripe bananas [ I used 2 large ones], 2 eggs, 50ml natural yoghurt and 1 tspn vanilla extract. Pour the oil mixture into the flour and stir together till mixed. Spoon the batter into the cake tin and bake for about 40 mins. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn onto a wire rack. For the caramel topping: Put 85g butter, 175ml double cream and 175g soft brown sugar in a pan over a medium heat ...

I’ve made a lot of cakes lately, large and small, and decided I wanted to make a tart. I bought a large bag of walnut halves last week, so decided they were just what I needed. My lovely friend who runs a cake shop gave me a few more of her recipes when we met up recently, and this tart is one of hers. You can use shop bought short crust pastry or make your own – enough for a 25cm tart tin, so it’s quite a good sized tart. I made 12oz /350g of pastry – that is 350g of flour and 175g of fat, and I used a mixture of sunflower margarine and Trex, but you could use all butter for a very short pastry. This was just the right amount for the tin. The tart’s made in 2 stages, the baked part with the eggs, sugar, butter and finely chopped walnuts and the topping with the walnut halves topped with caramel. So if you like walnuts, this is the tart for you! Preheat oven 180C/gas4      You need a 25cm tart tin [with sides at least 2.5 cms] You beat 2 eggs and 10...

Another chance to use my Wilton traybake tin! My dil asked me to make something for her friends to have with a cuppa. I fancied making something decadent, ok then, calorific, and adapted this recipe from an Aussie woman's magazine. Had also bought a jar of local honey from a lovely local garden centre, which has a shop selling all kinds of goodies.  Makes about 20 slices, depending on how big you cut them! Base : 200g butter, diced 310g plain flour 115g caster sugar 2 egg yolks Topping: 2 x 400g tins condensed milk 100g butter, diced 115g honey preheat oven 180C/350F/gas4 Lightly grease a baking tin 28x18 cm and line with baking parchment. For the base : Put everything into a food processor except for the egg yolks and blitz till like breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and about 2 tbspns cold water and blitz again to make a pastry ball. Cut the pastry in half and roll out one half to fit in the base of the tin. Bake it for 12-15 mins till golden and ...