Recipes

Christmas is long gone and the nights are getting shorter. But we’re certainly not sweltering yet, so use up a few leftover festive mulling spices and let this one warm you up.

This is not yet another Christmas cake recipe. This is a recipe for those who do not like Christmas cake, or simply haven’t made one this year.

This recipe is ideal if your fruit is under ripe and hard, because you can soften it in the pan and sweeten to taste. Then, it’s also ideal if your fruit is a bit past its best – cut off any mouldy or dodgy looking bits and chuck it all in.

This is portable cake – cake anywhere. All you need is a bowl, a whisk (a wooden spoon will do) and a frying pan. And you could probably forego the bowl.

These wonderful healthy muffins are a great alternative to cake, however any illusion of vitality is destroyed by the brilliant juxtaposition of the cream-cheese icing. Tangy, soft, devourable. A classic with carrot cake so why not with carrot muffins too?

This fabulously over-the-top French dessert instills delight in some and fear in many. This version is pretty straightforward and with melted chocolate & caramel this is one for optimum indulgence. It tastes even better with Graham’s double cream.

No, we’re not talking that seasonal favourite, ‘figgy pudding’. This is different – fig pudding: an oven-baked, super-light pudding made with fresh figs rather than dried. Use Graham’s semi-skimmed milk for the ultimate taste!

Friands are the easiest cakes. There’s no whisking of egg whites to stiff peaks and there’s no creaming of butter and sugar until almost ice-white. It’s just a case of lobbing everything into a bowl, mixing, pouring and baking.

Making a chocolate cake is as easy as making any cake – the process is exactly the same, but with cocoa powder in place of some of the flour.

Many people make the mistake of believing the apple Strudel is made with puff, for the ones you buy in the supermarket frozen aisle do indeed use puff pastry. You can use shop-bought puff if you like for this will surely be delicious, but it’s not a strudel.

This recipe is a no-brainer: a buttery biscuit base, a sharp, delicious raspberry curd and a rich cheesecake mix. It’s baked to give it that New York Cheesecake-style texture and brilliant slice-ability.

Simple. Glorious. Massive. This Pavlova is the ultimate dessert. And there should be plenty left over for breakfast, too.