COOKBOOKS GALORE

This is the cake I  decided to make for a get together of the helpers in our Toddlers’ group. It’s just a coffee Victoria sandwich, and I used espresso powder to give it a better coffee flavour. I now find that buttercream is a bit sweet for me. Guess your tastes change as you get older. I used mascarpone flavoured with espresso. So it’s the usual mixture - 225g each of butter, caster sugar and sr flour, 1 tspn baking powder, 4 eggs and 2 dspn espresso coffee powder. Filling and topping : 250g tub of mascarpone, 1 dspn espresso powder, 1 dspn sifted icing sugar Preheat oven 180C                    Grease and line 2x20cm sandwich tins. For the cakes - dissolve the coffee powder in the eggs. Put all the ingredients in a bowl of a stand mixer or use an electric hand mixer. Beat together till smooth. Spoon into the tins and bake for about 25mins. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. For the icing- beat the mascarpone, icing sugar...

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. ...

I found hazelnuts on offer in my local deli, so decided to use them in a loaf cake. I love loaf cakes as they seem to keep longer than other cakes, and are so easy to cut. For this one you need: 120g hazelnuts, 60g soft butter, 70g light brown sugar, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 1 egg, 225g flour and 2 tspn baking powder, 1/2 tspn cinnamon, pinch of salt, 80g of dark chocolate, chopped, 80ml Nutella or similar spread and 250ml of buttermilk Preheat oven 180C                    Grease and base line a 900g loaf tin Spread hazelnuts over a baking tray and put in oven for 8-10 mins till golden. Put into a clean tea towel to rub off skins. Chop roughly. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together with an electric mixer till light and creamy. Add the egg and buttermilk and beat again. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together then add to the batter. Fold in, then add the chocolate and 80g of the chopped hazelnuts. Mix we...

Usually I stay well away from recipes for a chocolate fondant, having seen so many failures on Masterchef! My friend made these as dessert recently and I just had to make them. The family came for lunch on Sunday, so this was a good opportunity to try them. 100g white chocolate  + 4 extra squares 1 rounded tbspn flour 50g butter 30g caster sugar 2 eggs preheat oven 200C                   Grease and flour 4 ramekins Melt the 100g chocolate and butter over simmering water. Beat the eggs with the sugar in a bowl, then add the melted chocolate and flour and mix together. Fill each ramekin half full then drop in a square of white chocolate and add more mixture to fill. Bake for 8-10 mins. Carefully remove the fondants from the ramekins. Guess who took the photo? Not me! My daughter decided to add the finishing touches, some cream and blueberries, oh, not forgetting the sprig of mint! The chocolate doesn't make the f...

I needed a quick tart as a dessert to take to a get together. This is one of Mum's recipes so I've added metric in brackets. It's just a variation on a treacle tart. 8oz (225g) shortcrust pastry 4oz (100g) golden syrup 1oz (25g) unsalted butter grated rind of 1 lemon 3 tablespoons of double cream 1 egg Preheat oven 200C/gas6                      7" or 17.5cm flan tin Roll the pastry out and line the tin. Prick the base and bake blind for 15 mins. Reduce oven to 180C/gas4 Warm the syrup till it's runny, then take off the heat and add the butter and lemon rind and stir together. Beat the cream and egg together and mix into the syrup. Pour into the pastry case and bake for about 30 mins. Serve warm with some cream or vanilla ice cream. It hasn't got the breadcrumbs like the usual treacle tart. Supposed to have been a favourite of Charles Dickens! Nice crumbly pastry and a soft filling with a hint of lem...

An easy traybake to make for tea or a coffee morning. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                  Grease and line a 24x33m tin 1 tbspn cocoa plus extra to dust over top 2 tbspn instant coffee granules 2 tbspn warm water 225g each of butter, soft brown sugar and sr flour 1 tspn baking powder 4 eggs cinnamon for dusting top Icing - 100g white chocolate broken in pieces, 50g butter, 3 tbspn milk, 175g icing sugar Mix the cocoa and coffee with the water. Put the rest of the ingredients in a food processor or mixer and blitz together. Add the coffee/cocoa and mix again. Pour into the tin and bake for 30-35 mins. Cool in the tin. For the icing - Melt the chocolate, butter and milk together over simmering water. Sieve the icing sugar and stir into the chocolate mix. Spread the icing over the cake and dust the top with a little cocoa then cinnamon. Cut the cake into bars and if you want, put the bars into paper cases. I just dec...

I made this recently as my contribution to a 'get together' lunch. It used up a bar of chocolate I would probably have eaten! It's a recipe I've made many times and is adapted from an old American baking book I picked up on one of my visits. Have mentioned it on here before - 'Favorite Cakes and Tarts my Mom made'. For the dough you need - 114g cold butter cut into pieces, 150g caster sugar, 1 large egg and 1 egg white, 300g plain flour, 40g cocoa and 1 tspn baking powder For the filling - 250g dark chocolate, chopped [not more than 60%], 90g cubed butter, 2 large beaten eggs, 85ml double cream, 50g caster sugar and 1 tspn vanilla extract Preheat oven 190C/Gas5                         20cm tart tin Cream butter and sugar together till soft. Beat in the egg and egg white. Sieve the flour, cocoa and baking powder together then add to the mixture and fold in. Bring together into a disc, wrap in cling film and put in f...