RECIPES

Keep popping back as I shall be regularly adding some of my tried and

tested recipes to get you in the kitchen.

Victoria Sandwich

The cake that we all know and most love, I would suggest this as your first step into the world of baking. Named after Queen Victoria, who favoured this extremely light cake with her afternoon tea in the mid 19^th century. It capitalised on the invention of baking powder, creating a light airy texture. Traditionally filled with strawberry jam and cream and dusted with sugar – what’s not to love. The recipe has pretty much remained unchanged for all those years, this is my version from one of my 1970s cookery lessons.

Ingredients

4 medium eggs

225g caster sugar

225 butter or margarine – room temperature

225g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c (160 degrees c fan) or Gas 4. Grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins.

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk gently together.

Place the sugar and butter into another bowl and cream together until light and fluffy – you can do this by hand with a wooden spoon, or using an electric hand mixer. Add the eggs and mix well.

Finally add the flour and baking powder and fold in gently – don’t over mix. The finished mixture should fall off a spoon easily.

Divide the mixture evenly between the tins: this doesn’t need to be exact, but you can weigh the filled tins if you want to check. Use a spatula to get all of the mixture from the bowl and gently smooth the surface of the cakes.

Bake the cakes on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes. Check them after 20 minutes just in case. The cakes are done when they’re golden-brown and coming away from the edge of the tins. Press them gently to check – they should be gorgeously springy to the touch.

Set aside to cool in their tins for 5 minutes. Run a rounded knife around the inside edge of the tins and carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.

To add the finishing touch to your masterpiece, place one cake upside down onto a plate and spread it with plenty of whipped cream or buttercream, then top this with some fruity jam – strawberry is traditional but if you’re feeling rebellious, go for raspberry.

Top with the second cake, top-side up. Sprinkle over with caster sugar or icing sugar.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

When someone tells me they can't bake I want to hug them and tell them they really can if they want to. If you can read and own scales then you can bake. I would say, however, that you should start simple and work your way your way up to something more tricky. But fear not, simple does not mean boring. Take this lemon drizzle cake, it looks good enough for a National Trust tea room, tastes amazing and takes very little time.

Ingredients

175g caster sugar

175g self-raising flour

175g butter (soft)

3 medium eggs

Finely grated zest of one lemon

3/4 tsp baking powder

For the lemon drizzle topping

100g granulated sugar

Juice of one lemon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan or Gas 4)

Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin - make sure the baking paper is higher than the sides of the tin as this will make it easier to lift out.

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk.

Place all of the ingredients into a large bowl and, using an electric hand whisk, beat together until smooth. You can do this by hand if you don't have an electric whisk, but it will obviously take longer.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and place on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for around 40 minutes or until golden brown and it bounces back when you touch it.

While the cake is in the oven, make the drizzle topping by mixing the granulated sugar and lemon juice. When the cake is out of the oven and still warm, carefully spoon the mixture over the top.

Once the cake is cool, lift out of the baking tin and enjoy.

Lemon Curd

I get through jars and jars of lemon curd so i decided to try out some recipes and start making my own. This is a combination of the best, giving me the ideal consistency and just the right amount of zestiness.

Ingredients

3 eggs plus 2 eggs yolks

225g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 3-4 lemons

180ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

A pinch of salt

150g cold butter - cubed

Method

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, zest and lemon juice together in a bowl.

Add the salt and stir.

Place the mixture into a heavy based saucepan over a low heat, whisking.

Gradually add the butter cubes, a few at a time, until they are all melted.

The mixture will start to thicken a little, make sure the egg does not scramble and it doesn't start to boil.

Take off the heat and strain through a fine metal sieve.

Place in a sterilised jar* and place in the fridge.

Makes one large or two smaller jars and will keep well in the fridge for a couple of weeks (if it lasts that long).

*Jars can easily be sterilised. Once washed thoroughly in hot soapy water, you can either boil them in water for 10-15 minutes, place them in a preheated oven (Gas 3/160 degrees c) for 15 minutes or microwave for 60 seconds. Lids can be boiled separately for 10 minutes.

Peppermint Bark

Popular in North American for years, peppermint bark is becoming mainstream here. Its easy to make and tastes like Christmas. Here's how:

You will need:

400g white chocolate

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

one box of candy canes

some festive sprinkles

Melt the chocolate in short bursts in the microwave - total around 2 minutes - or over boiling water - be careful not to let the water touch the chocolate.

Stir the peppermint extract into the melted chocolate.

Place the candy canes in a ziplock bag and smash into various sized small pieces with a rolling pin.

Stir half of the candy canes into the melted chocolate.

Line a small baking tray with baking parchment and pour the melted chocolate mixture out.

Sprinkle the remaining candy canes onto the chocolate.

Decorate with additional festive sprinkles.

Leave in a cool place to set, or in the fridge if you like.

When hard, pick up the whole piece and snap into smaller shards.

Peppermint bark is great for decorating cupcakes, popping into a jar for a gift, or just snacking on. It is simple to make and much cheaper than buying ready made.

Enjoy x