COOKBOOKS GALORE

I think this is the first orange tart I've ever made. I bought some oranges and lemons that were on offer in a local market, and decided to make a tart rather than a cake. It's easy to make, but a bit different. I recently watched Mary Berry making some candied peel with orange zest, so decided to have a go at making some to decorate the top of the tart. The pastry is a sweet shortcrust, and I used icing sugar instead of caster sugar as the sweetener. preheat oven 200c/gas6  You need a 23cm fluted tart tin You can make the pastry in a processor or by hand, but I was lazy and used the processor. Put 225g plain flour, pinch salt, 125g butter and 2 tbspn icing sugar in a processor and blitz till crumbs. Beat 1 egg yolk with 2 tbspn cold water and add to the mixture and pulse till you nearly get a dough. Knead together then wrap in cling film and chill. For the filling - put the juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange, with the zest of 2 oranges, 75g butter, 225g granulated sugar a...

As we had family coming for lunch yesterday, I decided to follow this week's GBBO theme and make a cheesecake. I'm not a great fan of the usual biscuit bases, so decided to make mine like a chocolate crumble mixture. I also wanted a thicker base layer, so would make a decent amount of the crumble. I love the flavours of chocolate and orange together, so the topping would be orange flavoured. I used a 23cm springform tin, so it made about 12 good sized slices. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and line the 23 cm springform tin with some baking parchment. For the base: Cut 175g of chilled butter into cubes, then melt another 50g of butter and put aside. Put the butter cubes into a processor with 150g light muscovado sugar, 3 tbspn cocoa powder and 250g plain flour. Blitz till it becomes breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter and pulse till it's mixed. Spoon into the bottom of the tin and smooth the top using the back of a spoon. Bake for about 35 mins till risen a bit, but don...

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 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...

This is a nice easy, healthy cake made using a food processor. I love Claudia Roden's orange cake with whole cooked oranges, but this recipe uses a whole orange, chopped up and not cooked. We're trying to eat less and lose a bit of weight. I know eating any cake won't help, but at least this one has oil instead of butter and  is a healthier option [or IS it? I'm confused by all the research on butter, oils and fats] You need a thin skinned orange, a navel if possible, as it has little bitter pith and no seeds - I found some in my local supermarket which were fine. They were sold singly, not in a net. preheat oven 180C/gas4 grease and base line a 20cm springform cake tin So, cut 1 orange into quarters and take out any core and pips. Put it in a food processor with 220g of caster sugar, 100 ml olive oil and 2 eggs, then whizz it up till the orange is finely chopped. Add 135g plain wholemeal flour with 2 tspns of baking powder and 100g ground walnuts and...

My friend came for tea yesterday and she loves anything with almonds, so I made this cake for her. It's simple but delicious. The recipe comes from my friend who has the little cake shop, so has been well tested! 240g ground almonds 120g caster sugar 6 eggs 50g of plain flour the juice of 2 medium oranges zest of 1 of the oranges 1 tspn baking powder pinch of salt 20g butter icing sugar to decorate Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a 23cm springform tin well, and line the base. Mix the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Separate the egg yolks and whites, then beat the yolks with the caster sugar until white and fluffy. Gently fold in the flour. Add a pinch of salt to the whites then beat them into stiff peaks with a beater. Add the ground almonds to the batter mixture and stir in gently, then pour in the orange juice and zest. Add the egg whites little by little very gently till it's all mixed in, trying to keep the air in the whites. Spoon into...

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...

My younger daughter is coming today, so I thought I'd make her some biscuits with her favourite flavour, orange. I love cinnamon, so this seemed the perfect one to try. The recipe comes from a free booklet in a 'Woman's Weekly' magazine a few years back, but I've changed it slightly to give the thins a more orange flavour. Makes about 30 thins 225g butter 140g caster sugar grated zest of an orange 1 egg yolk 4 tspns orange juice 280g plain flour 2 tspn cinnamon pinch salt Put the butter, sugar and orange rind in a bowl and beat till creamy. Beat in the egg yolk and 2 tspns of the orange juice. Add the salt to the flour and then stir into the mixture till it's all nicely blended. Make into a ball, wrap in film and chill for about an hour. Take it out, unwrap and roll dough out between 2 sheets of baking parchment  into a 30 cm square. Take off top sheet and brush the dough with the rest of the orange juice and sprinkle over the cinnamon. Lightly ...

Another teabread to add to my collection - a Scandinavian one, or so I thought when I saw the name of the recipe, but it's more of a loaf cake .This comes from a book on baking I bought from a charity shop a while ago - it doesn't have an author - it's just called 'The Baking manual'. 150g butter 120g sugar 3 eggs grated rind of 2 lemons 60ml orange juice 250g plain flour + 2 tspns baking powder breadcrumbs to coat the tin Fat to grease the cake tin. You don't preheat the oven for this recipe - you put the cake mixture into a cold oven. Grease a 900g loaf tin. Beat the butter and sugar together till pale then add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each one. Mix in the lemon rind, orange juice and the flour. You sprinkle the breadcrumbs into the greased tin [ I didn't do this as I didn't want wholemeal crumbs around the cake]. The recipe didn't give an amount and I can't see any crumbs on the cake photo in the book. Seems a s...