Tag Archives: recipe

Recipe | School jam and coconut sponge cake

Posted in Baking by

Fluffy sponge cake smothered in jam and sprinkled with dessicated coconut: a classic from the old school canteen. Custard optional!

Classic old school jam and coconut sponge cake easy uk recipe

Another old school classic I’ve been meaning to make for ages. This school jam and coconut sponge cake is made using a basic sponge mix with some jam and dessicated coconut to decorate. You can use any size or shape of shallow baking tin you have, just tweak the ingredient quantities up or down as necessary.

I believe some school canteens used to serve this as a dessert with (pink!) custard. But I’d rather eat it as it is!

Wait! There’s more. Click for the recipe and more pics!

Recipe | Jammie dodger white chocolate blondies

Posted in Baking by

Jammie dodger blondies: a classic biscuit in a chewy white chocolate brownie

Mini Jammie dodger white chocolate blondies easy recipe uk

I got this recipe from olive magazine. While I do prefer traditional chocolate brownies to blondies, I was tempted by the use of mini Jammie dodgers and white chocolate, which I love.

The chopping involved when preparing the ingredients may seem like a faff, but you’re just doing all the hard work usually involved in post-bake decoration before the bake.

If you can’t find mini Jammie Dodgers, the ordinary sized biscuits would also work, but wouldn’t look as “neat” on top. In fact, any biscuit would work, so choose your favourite!

Wait! There’s more. Click for the recipe and more pics!

Recipe | One-bowl banana cake

Posted in Baking by

Only one bowl needed to make this quick, moreish banana cake. No mixer, no mess. Loaf shape optional!

Easy banana cake recipe uk quick baking

I got the recipe for this banana cake from the happy foodie. They got it from Mary Berry, so no wonder it’s terrific! Never throw out bananas that have turned black when you could make a delicious banana cake with them.

You don’t have to bake this in a loaf tin. Any shape tin will work, but if you use a shallower tin the cake will bake more quickly, so just keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

Wait! There’s more. Click for the recipe and more lovely pics!

Recipe | Valentine’s heart-shaped Florentines

Posted in Baking by

Chocolate-topped, heart shaped Florentines: a sweet Valentine’s treat

Quick Valentine's heart shaped Florentines recipe uk with dark choc and white chocolate

I’ve had a recipe for cherry and coconut Florentines that I clipped from bbcgoodfood magazine waiting for me to make for ages. Turns out you can find it online here.

It appealed to me because the method makes things a bit easier: make a big slab of Florentine and then cut them out.

I decided to use a heart-shaped cutter to make these Florentines more suitable for Valentine’s Day, but obviously you can use whatever cutter you have or just cut/break the large slab into irregular shapes.

Wait! There’s more. Click for the recipe and more lovely pics!

Recipe | Halloween chocolate brownie and colourful sponge layer cake

Posted in Baking by

A decadent mix of chocolate brownie and layers of colourful sponge perfect for any Halloween party

Halloween chocolate brownie and sponge layer cake orange and green with chocolate recipe uk party ideas

This was my attempt to make a large version of my Halloween brownie cupcakes. It’s a bit more effort than a straightforward cake, but still quite easy to bake and assemble.

Ingredients (serves about 10 – 12)

Continue reading for the rest of the recipe and more pics!

Recipe | Cappuccino swirl layer cake with caramel buttercream

Posted in Baking by

A beautiful swirl of coffee and vanilla sandwiched together with caramel buttercream.

Cappuccino swirl layer cake with caramel buttercream and chocolate shaving

I’m planning to publish my debut novel in April 2020. You can find out more about that at Art and Soul.

As part of the prep for publication, I’ve recently re-read the whole manuscript and was dismayed to find mentions of cakes I haven’t made yet! I wanted to correct this serious oversight as quickly as I could. You can find all the recipes for the other cakes mentioned in the novel in Sweet’s Cakes.

One of those cakes was a cappuccino swirl cake. When I wrote that, I just made it up. However, I’m pleased to say the recipe I came up with to make it real turned out fantastically well.

I got the original recipe for the cappuccino / coffee element of the sponge from the BBC Good Food site.

I am not the greatest fan of coffee or coffee cake, but this one is absolutely delicious. Probably because the sweeter elements take the edge off the bitterness of the coffee.

Ingredients (serves 10 – 12 or more or less, depending on how big you cut your slices!)

Continue reading for the rest of the recipe and more pics!

Recipe | Rainbow sponge layer cake with white buttercream icing

Posted in Baking by

This rainbow sponge layer cake looks good before you slice it, but wait til you see inside!

I’ve wanted to make a rainbow layer sponge cake for ages. My birthday gave me a reason to make the effort, and it was a trial run for the one I want to make my son later in the year. I was really pleased with how it turned out.

The recipe is just basic sponge cake mix. The difficulty is in all the dividing out, colouring, etc. This certainly isn’t low on the washing up: you’ll probably use most of your bowls. But I think the finished product is worth the effort.

Ingredients (serves 10 – 12 or more or less, depending on how big you cut your slices!)

Continue reading for the rest of the recipe and more pics!

Recipe | Easy cream sponge cake

Posted in Baking by

A beautiful sponge made with single cream. Bundt shape optional!

Picture of simple single cream sponge cake recipe

I recently made peanut butter fudge. One of the ingredients for that recipe was a small amount of single cream, which left me with the rest of the tub to use up. Some searching for cake recipes which need single cream as a key ingredient turned up this simple cream cake recipe In Jennie’s Kitchen.

It must have been fate as I happened to have a small bundt tin I hadn’t had a chance to use yet. That said, I’m sure you could use a tin of any shape with this recipe.

This is also a great recipe if you don’t have an electric mixer as it’s easy to combine the ingredients by hand.

The texture of the cake is lovely and it is particularly delicious if you can eat it just after baking.

Ingredients (makes 1 small bundt cake)

Continue reading for the rest of the recipe and more pics!

Recipe | Easy peanut butter and caramel fudge

Posted in Baking by

A quick recipe for peanut butter and caramel fudge. Easy to make and incredibly moreish.

Picture of slices of peanut butter and caramel fudge

This recipe is from a recent edition of The Times Magazine. It’s been a while since I made fudge and had peanut butter to use up from another bake, so decided to give it a go.

If you love peanut butter, this is an easy recipe for a sweet treat which stores well, making it straightforward to share and/or space out the calories!

Ingredients (makes 20 to 48 pieces depending on how small you cut the fudge slab)

Continue reading for the rest of the recipe and more pics!

Recipe | Melted snowman Christmas biscuits

Posted in Baking by

These melted snowman biscuits are a cute, easy festive bake.

Recipe melted snowman biscuits easy festive Christmas cookies uk baking with kids

I saw these cute snowmen biscuits on Hand Luggage Only. They’re really easy to make, so a great option if you’re short on time or if you’re baking festive treats with children.

I used my Christmas vanilla biscuit recipe which only uses 5 ingredients. Click on the link for the ingredients and instructions.

I used a large flower shaped cutter, but you could also use a large mug or glass to cut out round biscuits.

Melted snowman biscuits easy festive Christmas cookies uk

Continue reading…