COOKBOOKS GALORE

 Feeling a bit down lately, with the freezing weather and not getting out, I thought I'd make one of my favourite cakes as a treat. I bought a bag of Conference pears on offer at the supermarket, and this is a great way to use them. The most famous fondant cake is the chocolate fondant, a cake with a lovely oozy chocolate centre. In this cake, the lovely centre is made of pears. For the cake you need:  100g caster sugar, 100 ml milk, pinch salt, 2 tspn baking powder, 150g plain flour, 2 eggs and 3 tbspn sunflower or vegetable oil, 4 medium pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced For the topping you need: 80g butter, 3 tbspn caster sugar and 1 egg Preheat oven 180C/gas4                     grease a flour a 24cm tart tin Put the sugar, 2 eggs and salt in a bowl and whisk till light and fluffy. Gently fold in the flour and baking powder, then the milk and oil. Pour half of the mixture into the tart tin and then layer on the pe...

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...

There are lots of blueberries around at the moment and I love them. I've been eating some every morning with my cereal, but decided I wanted to make a cake. This is one of our favourite loaf cakes, but with a streusel topping. The original recipe was from an American website so has been converted from cups - hence the odd amounts. I've tweaked the recipe because it had way too much sugar in the cake. I like making cakes with oil - makes me think they're healthier! So, preheat oven 190C/gas5 Grease a 900g loaf tin. Put 80g granulated sugar in a bowl with 60ml sunflower oil. Mix together with an electric mixer, then add 1 egg, 250ml milk and 1 tspn vanilla extract and beat till smooth and creamy. Fold in 280g plain flour which has been sieved with 3 tspns baking powder. Mix to a batter without lumps.  Put 220g blueberries in a bowl and add 1 tbspn flour and coat the berries with it. Then gently fold the blueberries into the batter. Pour into the tin and smo...

Am not really enjoying this heat or cooking, but I had to make something to take to a helpers' lunch. I bought a bowl of courgettes from the market on a whim, so this was a good way to use them up. It's a bit of a faff having to grate them, but my food processor does it for me. Don't grate them too fine or they'll end up like water! Past experience! You need: 300g goat's cheese, 5 medium cougettes, 3 eggs, 150g flour, 1 tspn baking powder, 2 tbspn vegetable oil, 120ml milk, 100g grated Gruyère cheese, 2 pinches salt. Preheat oven 200C/gas6                         Grease a 900g loaf tin. Wash and grate the courgettes. Chose the goat’s cheese into chunks or slices. In a bowl mix the eggs, cheeses, flour and baking powder, oil and milk. Add the courgettes and salt. Mix well and spoon into the tin. Bake for about 40 mins then cool on a wire rack. It makes a change from ham with a green salad! Good cheese flavour a...

Have been having a good clear out of kitchen cupboards, including my baking one. Lurking at the back was yet another tin of Carnation Caramel, so had to use it up. Have made this cake many times, but all the family love it. It's easy to make and uses oil, so healthy of course! 75g sr flour, 3 tbspn cocoa, 1 tspn bicarb, 150g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 150ml sunflower oil, 150ml milk, 2 tspn vanilla extract, 125g dark chocolate, 375g tin of Carnation Caramel , 1 tspn icing sugar and extra for the top of the cake PREHEAT OVEN 180C/GAS4                 Grease and line 2x18cm sandwich tins Sift the flour, cocoa and bicarb into a bowl. Stir in the sugar. Stir oil and milk together then add the eggs, 1 tspn of the vanilla and beat together. Add this to the dry mixture and beat together. Beat 2 tbspn of the caramel till smooth, then whisk into the batter. It's a wet mixture! Pour into the 2 tins and bake for about 20-25 mins till springy. ...

One of my favourite fruits is a blueberry, and I love blueberry muffins. I thought I'd try to use one of my usual recipes, but instead of individual muffins, make a muffin cake. I've added a topping to give it more crunch. There used to be a prolific blueberry bush in the garden, but sadly this year it decided it had had enough! Preheat oven 190C/gas5                                    Grease a 900g loaf tin. In a bowl mix together 280g plain flour, 1/2 tpsn salt, 1/2 tspn bicarb and 1 tspn cinnamon. In another bowl beat together 2 eggs, 100g caster sugar and 85g light brown sugar,then mix in 125ml sunflower oil, 125ml sour cream and 1 tspn vanilla extract. Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet one, but don't overmix Stir in 290g blueberries dusted in 1 tbspn flour to stop them sinking in the cake. Topping: 100g caster sugar, 50g plain flour, 50g butter cubed and 1/2 tspn cinn...

I always seem to find something I need to use up in my store cupboard, and this time it was a tin of Carnation Caramel just coming to its 'use by' date. I love anything caramel, so decided to use it as a filling and topping for a cake. I know it's very sweet, but I took it to a coffee morning to share the sweetness! It uses oil instead of butter, so perhaps that makes it a bit healthier! For the cake: Preheat oven 180C/gas4               Grease and base line 2x18cm sandwich tins. Sieve together 175g sr flour, 21/2 tbspn cocoa powder and 1 tspn bicarb. Stir in 150g caster sugar. In a jug  - put 150ml vegetable oil [I used sunflower] and 150ml milk, 2 eggs and 1 tspn vanilla extract and beat together. Beat 2 tbspn of the caramel till smooth and add to the egg mixture. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well. [It's a wet mixture] Pour into the tins and bake for 20-25mins till risen and firm. Cool the cakes in the tin, then turn onto a...

This is a lovely big sharing cake. It's very moist and uses a lot of apples- great for windfalls! I used Gala Apples, but you could use Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or an apple of your choice. My friend gave me the recipe, and it's really easy to make. You can never have too many apple cake recipes! You need: 1kg sliced apples, 400g caster sugar, 2-3tspn cinnamon, 190ml vegetable oil - I used sunflower, 3 eggs, 250ml orange juice, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 375g plain flour with 2 tspn baking powder and 1/4 tspn salt. Preheat oven 180C/gas 4                Grease a 23cm round cake tin well and line base. My dil had my round tin on loan, so I used a 23x30cm cake tin, and it worked out fine. Toss the apples with 100g of the sugar and the cinnamon. Blend the rest of the sugar with the oil, then add the eggs, orange juice and vanilla extract. Fold in the flour mixture and beat to make a batter. Put half the batter into the cake tin and t...

            I like recipes that are quick and easy to make, and this is one of those. I always think   of  it  as'healthy' because it's made with oil and yoghurt!  I suppose the amount of            sugar  makes it unhealthy nowadays!  There always seems to be a lime or lemon or 2 in my  fridge  and this is a good way to use them up.  You need: 250g Greek yoghurt, 80ml sunflower or rapeseed oil, 200g caster sugar ,4 tbspn lime juice and the zest of the lime, 250g plain flour with 11/2 tspn baking powder and a pinch of salt. For the topping – 1 tbspn lime zest and 2 tbspns sugar [so 2 limes altogether]          Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a 22cm cake tin and line the base. Mix the yoghurt, oil , sugar, lime juice and zest together in a bowl. In another bowl mix the flour,   baking po...

Chocolate cake 'fashions' have come and gone over the last 30 odd years. There was the Black Forest gateau, the Sachertorte, truffle torte, lots of poor imitations of the River Cafe's gorgeous Nemesis cake to name but a few. I've tried most of these, but the recipe I come back to when the family want a chocolate cake is this one. I've been making it for a long time, but think it was originally a Delia recipe. I like using oil in cakes, and this one is really moist and keeps well. It's a good sized cake too, and it can be dressed up for an occasion with ganache or whatever you fancy. Today's version is unadorned except for a filling of Nutella and a smattering of icing sugar on the top. 275g plain flour 3 tbspn cocoa powder 11/2 tspn baking powder 11/2 tspn bicarb. of soda 215g caster sugar 3 tbspn golden syrup 3 eggs [large] 225ml sunflower oil [I use rapeseed] 225ml milk icing sugar Nutella 2x 20cm sandwich tins [about 4cm dee...

 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 ...

  This is the second easy rhubarb recipe I made with my sil's rhubarb. It's just a variation on the yoghurt cake all French families seem to make. You use the yoghurt pot as a measure.  1 small pot natural yoghurt - use this pot to measure 3 pots of caster sugar, 3 pots of sr flour, 3/4 pot of sunflower oil,  1/4 pot milk 2 eggs 1 tspn baking powder 1 tspn vanilla extract pinch salt 250g rhubarb cut into chunks Preheat oven 200C/gas6 Grease and base line a 20cm round cake tin. Beat all the ingredients together except the rhubarb, then stir the chunks in. Spoon into the tin and bake for 30 mins till golden. A good moist cake, not too sweet. Love the texture of the rhubarb. A simple cake to have with a cuppa, or as a dessert with some crème fraiche or vanilla ice cream. Am away for a week, so next week's post will be later than usual.

I try and buy seasonally, but I have to admit to having a passion for blueberries. They were on offer last week in my usual supermarket, so had to buy some. I know they don't taste anything like the ones I grow in my pot in the garden, and that they'd been shipped half way round the world, but I still love them.  I've been eating some every morning with my porridge, but decided I wanted to make a cake. This is one of our favourite loaf cakes, but with a streusel topping. The original recipe was from an American website so has been converted from cups - hence the odd amounts. I've tweaked the recipe because it had way too much sugar in the cake. I like making cakes with oil - makes me think they're healthier! So, preheat oven 190C/gas5 Grease a 900g loaf tin. Put 80g granulated sugar in a bowl with 60ml sunflower oil. Mix together with an electric mixer, then add 1 egg, 250ml milk and 1 tspn vanilla extract and beat till smooth and creamy. Fold in 280...

Another one of my favourite loaf cakes. This one's another quite healthy cake, as it uses wholemeal flour, sunflower oil and nuts. It came about because in France we always had a glut of courgettes and were finding ways to use them up. The recipe came from a neighbour who had the same problem! I suppose this is a bit of nostalgia too, as we don't have room to grow courgettes in our small garden, so the ones I used were lurking in the veg drawer. 3 eggs 90g light muscovado sugar 125ml sunflower oil 250g wholewheat flour 1 tspn baking powder 1 tspn bicarb. of soda 1 tspn cinnamon 1 tspn allspice 150g grated courgettes 125g chopped walnuts 60g sunflower seeds Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas4 Grease and base line a 900g loaf tin. Beat eggs and sugar together and gradually add oil. Sift flour into another bowl and add the baking powder, bicarb, spices and nuts. Add the grated courgettes and mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones ...