Playful yummy bakes for modern home bakers
If you’re looking for a romantic, indulgent and super simple treat, ruby rose hot chocolate is a winner. This is brilliant for Valentine’s day, to celebrate anniversaries or any special occasion really. This softly feminine, elegant hot chocolate is delicious. The ruby chocolate works so …
Salted caramel chocolate truffles; a seriously indulgent homemade treat. Amazing for homemade gifts and fab for special occasions. Everyone will go crazy for these delicious bites. Soft, caramel scented chocolate truffles coated in a gorgeous chocolate shell. Seriously show stopping treats. There are a few …
Who doesn’t love an upside down cake? So many happy memories coming in from school to a pineapple cake my Mum made, such a treat. This is a playful twist on this classic. A citrus upside down cake bursting with oranges to celebrate beautiful winter seasonal fruit. The cake is lightly scented with lemon and cardamom too which makes it extra yummy.
This is a fab cake you can serve warm straight out of the oven with custard at the weekend or fab with cold with a cuppa. You choose.
For the base:
50g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
2 blood oranges
2 oranges (navels are great)
100g self rising flour
50g caster sugar
50g light brown sugar
100g softened unsalted butter
2 eggs
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
10 cardamom pods
1 tbsp milk
Honey (optional – to drizzle over the fruit when it comes out of the oven)
Preheat the oven to 170°C, GM3.
Grease and line an 8 inch cake tin (20 cm) with a disk of parchment paper on the bottom of the tin. Then roll a small amount of flour around the outside of the tin and tap away the excess. This will help the cake come out of the tin easily when it’s baked. No stress.
Weigh out all of your ingredients.
In a small bowl mix together the butter and sugar for the base until it is very light and fluffy. Then with a spatula add it to the bottom of the tin and a little way up the sides.
Now, cut the oranges to remove the skin and pith and cut into rounds. Alternating between the blood oranges and the navals, arrange the segments on the butter and sugar mixture in the bottom of the tin. Make sure to fill in any gaps with smaller segments of the oranges for a really pretty cake that’s packed full of oranges.
Using a food mixer, or free standing whisk, combine the sugar and butter together until it forms a light, creamy consistency. This will only take a few minutes with a food mixer. Then gradually add one egg at a time, leaving plenty of time for the egg to incorporate into the mixture before adding the next and keep the mixer running at a fairly high speed while doing this; this will help the mixture from curdling. You can also add a tablespoon of flour after each egg at this stage to help prevent curdling too.
Add the vanilla, lemon zest and ground cardamom to the mix and stir to combine.
Then add in the sifted dry ingredients alongside on a slow speed mix until they have only just combined. Then add the milk and fold into the cake mixture.
Spoon the cake batter ontop of the fruit and gently spread over and smooth out the top. Gently tap the cake a few times on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven, turning the pan ¾ way through cooking time to help the cake cook evenly. This should take about 35 minutes.
The cake will be golden brown and the top will spring back when you touch it when it’s baked.
Wait about 5 minutes before you turn the cake out onto a wire rack. You can serve the cake warm straight out of the oven or serve at room temperature. Custard or ice cream are lovely options. I like to serve it with a drizzle of honey and extra fruit for a really zesty citrus hit.
The cake is best enjoyed the day you make it but should keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
For baking, make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature, including the eggs, it will help all of the ingredients combine together well.
Weigh out all of your ingredients in advance; yes this means more bowls and more washing up, but the positive is that you have everything ready before you start, so you only have to think about the process of making the cake, instead of rushing to find the next ingredient and weigh it out while the mixer is running.
Looking for more cosy teatime ideas? Our Blackberry scones are so yummy.
If you love oranges, try our Chocolate orange nutella pop tarts, so so delicious.
Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day but it can often feel the most rushed and least satisfying when you’re preparing for a busy day. Chocolate orange nutella pop tarts add a much needed burst of excitement for my morning routine. They’re such a …
If you’re on the hunt for simple, no-bake goodies to treat yourself or the people you love to a gorgeous romantic treat have a go at these. Ruby chocolate valentines truffles are so delicious and really have the wow factor. Ruby chocolate is pretty special …
I love making bread but sometimes I can’t face the time it’ll take from start to eating. Particularly if you want something speedy for lunch or a cheeky brunch with friends. Luckily, my simple greek salad flatbreads are made with natural yoghurt and baking powder instead of yeast, so no kneading, no waiting; just mix, shape and cook. Done.
The flatbreads are so versatile, lightly flavoured with herbs and spices they are fab with tons of things and great with soups too. I love the greek salad topping, I think it might be my favourite, so I’ve chosen to add it here. Love the freshness of the herbs and the vibrant salad and the salty feta and olives with the smooth hummus. Such a classic.
Really hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
250g self rising flour
250g full fat greek yoghurt
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp garlic granules
½ tsp baking powder
Makes 4 large flatbreads
Hummus (either homemade or store bought, whatever you have handy)
Olives
Tomatoes
Feta
Red onion
Cucumber
Selection of basil, parsley, mint
In a large bowl pour in the flour, salt, baking powder, garlic granules, dried oregano and fennel seeds. Stir to combine.
Then add in the yoghurt and stir together until the mixture forms a soft ball of dough.
Pop some flour onto your board and gently knead the bread dough. This mix doesn’t have yeast in it, so it doesn’t need to be handled too much, just a light knead for a minute or so is fine.
Divide the dough into 4 equal balls. Then roll one at a time, into a long oval type shape, similar to naan bread. (These are rustic, simple flatbreads, nothing needs to be exact here.)
Preheat a non stick frying pan on high heat for 5 mins. Once the pan is screaming hot turn down the heat slightly and cook one flatbread at a time and cook for roughly 1-2 minutes on each side. You’ll see bubbles puffing up on the surface of the bread and light char marks on the bread when it’s ready to flip.
Once cooked, remove onto a plate and if you like coat with a drizzle of oil or butter to keep the bread nice and soft inside, while you get on cooking the other flatbreads.
Simply spread a few spoonfuls of hummus onto the bread and top with chopped tomatoes, olives, cucumber, thinly sliced red onion and mixed herbs.
The bread freezes really well, so wrap and store in the fridge for a few months if you have any leftovers. Alternatively the bread will stay good for a few days in an airtight container, simply reheat in the oven for a few minutes to make it even tastier the next day.
Looking for other savoury treats? Try our Mozzarella dough bites – they’re insanely yummy
Want something tasty to eat with the flatbread? Try our Tomato, red pepper and lentil soup or Roasted carrot and lentil soup, both are delicious
On the hunt for brunch ideas? Check out these: Chocolate pancakes; Cranberry pop tarts; Strawberry sunrise smoothie
Cranberry pop tarts. These are such a fun and completely delicious treat, particularly in the winter when cranberries are in season. It’s a great recipe for when you’ve got leftover cranberry sauce that you don’t know what to do with. The tart and zingy cranberry …
White chocolate and cranberry cupcakes. This is such a beautiful festive bake. Great for anyone that wants an easy, stunning little showstopper. They’re even better for anyone that don’t like mincemeat. White chocolate and cranberries are such a gorgeous combo. The tart brightness of the …
Sloe gin cranberry sauce is exactly the sort of easy peasy recipe you can knock up in a flash. For me, the Christmas table would be naked without a little cranberry sauce to have on the side. Not only is it delicious with the tart berries, orange and warming spices, but the sloe gin is the shining star. It brings out all of the fruity flavours. A real celebration of winter seasonal ingredients.
No stress kitchen pottering is something I love to do. As the nights draw in and everything feels that bit colder I feel comforted by all the twinkle lights around.
It’s such a treat and made in minutes, giving you plenty of time to get on with all the rest of the festive jobs.
Is cranberry sauce just for Christmas day? Absolutely not. This recipe will make enough for the big day, leftovers and can be used in a range of sweet goodies too. I used mine to make delicious white chocolate and cranberry cupcakes and cranberry and orange pop tarts. Seriously, let your creativity run wild.
340g fresh (or frozen) cranberries
1 orange (zest and juice)
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground cloves
50ml sloe gin (or you could use port or simply water if you prefer)
130g caster sugar
This is a super speedy recipe to make.
Simply, wash your cranberries and add them to a medium saucepan.
Add in all the rest of the ingredients and over a low heat cook the cranberries for about 10 minutes, until they burst and soften.
Take the pan off the heat and give it a final stir.
Remember, the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools, so don’t worry if it looks a little loose at this stage.
This will happily sit in the fridge for a week. Or you can pop some in the freezer to use over the festive season. If you’re making the sauce ahead of Christmas, give it a stir before serving to break the sauce up a bit.
Looking for other festive recipe ideas? Check out our Nutella mince pies; Gingerbread Nutella sandwich cookies, Mince pie Christmas cupcakes or our Reindeer Christmas chocolates
Can’t get enough of cranberries? Our Cranberry and apple curd is delicious and fab for breakfast with porridge or with scones for a festive cream tea.