Playful yummy bakes for modern home bakers
Easter is the time for celebration, togetherness and of course many many delicious Easter desserts. If you’re looking for some cracking ideas, you’ve come to the right place. From mini eggs Easter cakes, Easter nests, carrot cake cupcakes, blueberry lemon drizzle bars, hot cross buns …
Easter is the time for celebration, togetherness and of course chocolate. Mini eggs for me are the Queen of Easter chocolates. I know I’m not alone in this but I get so excited the first time I spot them on the shelves after Christmas. Delicious, …
Healthy desserts that are full of flavour are so handy to have when you’re craving something sweet and want to keep things light. Strawberry banana nice cream is just that kind of recipe for me. Bursting with fruit and full of all good things.
Nice cream is literally a throw everything into the blender recipe. Made in minutes with so many variations. Plus, as you’ve been super healthy, getting towards your 5 a day with the nice cream, you can splash out on the toppings, why not.
Simply swap out the yogurt for a vegan alternative if you want to make this plant based.
250g frozen strawberries
2 large frozen bananas
Zest 1 orange
25g Natural greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Serves 2
Such a speedy recipe to put together.
Pop the chopped banana pieces (I often freeze my bananas this way to keep things simple), strawberries, orange zest, yogurt and vanilla into a food processor. (I love my kitchen aid food processor for this. So quick and makes the nice cream silky smooth in seconds.)
Wizz until smooth and creamy.
If the ice cream is a bit too thick, add in a little of the orange juice.
You can serve this straight away or store in the freezer for a bit to firm up, depending on if you want a firm scoop or soft serve consistency.
Best eaten straight away on the day you make it.
This is such a yummy, healthy dessert in the summer. Great with a handful of granola for crunch too or a drizzle of chocolate too. Delicious.
Looking for other healthy recipes? Try our Mango, coconut and lime porridge – a touch of sunshine to start the day or our Strawberry sunrise smoothie our Simple greek salad flatbreads are a great lunch option too. Speedy and full of veggies.
Easter is most definitely the time to indulge in chocolate but if you want a fast no bake sweet treat this is the one for you. Mini eggs really are Easter to me. I get so excited spotting them in the shops for the first …
This is a delicious, simple, homely recipe that really makes me happy. Blueberry lemon drizzle bars. A comforting, rustic recipe that’s perfect for a casual teatime treat. Sweet and tart jam (with extra fresh blueberries for added zing) with comforting lemon shortbread. Yum. A simple …
I love Easter. It’s a time of celebration, spring flowers, time with the family and most of all chocolate. Chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is so much choice out there but mini eggs are my top favourite Easter treat and so this mini eggs Easter cake is an instant favourite of mine.
Rich and chocolatey, this simple cake batter is topped with chocolate ganache icing and decorated with white chocolate coloured drizzle and a heck load of mini eggs.
No mixer needed to make this simple cake too, just a bowl and spoon is all you need. The perfect easy bake for a family get-together that everyone will love. Pretty, delicious and easy peasy.
225g self-rising flour
25g cocoa powder
75g caster sugar
50g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
¼ tsp salt
2tsp baking powder
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
180ml milk
3x 80g bag mini eggs
100g dark chocolate
100g milk chocolate
200ml double cream
½ tsp coffee powder
½ tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt
½ tsp cinnamon
75g white chocolate
1 tsp vegetable oil
Purple, pink and yellow food colouring (optional) I always use Colour splash food colouring gel, it works so well
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (200°C in fan oven) Gas Mark 7.
Line the 9 inch bundt tin with baking spray or wipe with an oiled piece of kitchen towel and coat with cocoa powder to form a non-stick surface. Leave to one side.
Weigh out the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder) and sift into a large mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar. Stir to combine then leave to one side.
Measure the milk into a jug. Crack in the eggs and add the vanilla extract and oil into the liquids. Stir to combine.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry, gradually to avoid lumps. (Don’t worry too much if there are a few lumps, it’s a bit like making muffins, better not to overmix and have a light batter than to have a super smooth consistency and have heavy doughnuts.)
Pour the batter into a jug and then tip into the lined bundt tin. Tap a few times on the table top to pop any air bubbles and put into the oven.
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 20-25 minutes. The mixture should be springy to the touch when it’s cooked and a cake tester should come out clean.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes or so in the tin. Then use a knife to gently go around the outside of the tin to loosen and remove. Leave on a wire rack to cool.
Chop the chocolate and add to the double cream. Add in the coffee powder, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Melt and combine the mixture over a low heat in the bowl over a pan of boiling water. This will allow the mixture to combine gently and it will help prevent it getting too hot and burning. (Not what you want).
Once the mixture is combined, this will take about 5 minutes or so, remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly for 15 minutes. (It is important it is given time to cool a bit before icing, otherwise it will not be thick enough and will drip off the cake.)
Using a spoon, drizzle on the chocolate icing, letting it fall down the ridges of the cake.
Then chop and melt the white chocolate. Add in the vegetable oil and stir to combine. If using, divide the chocolate into three bowls and add the food colouring. Stir to mix and then drizzle onto the iced cake.
Add in the mini eggs to the middle of the cake.
The cake is best eaten on the day it’s made, but can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.
Looking for other Easter baking ideas? Why not try Lemon Drizzle baked doughnuts, Hot cross buns sweets, Easter hot chocolate or my particular favourite Giant mini eggs pop tart
I love making homemade chocolates. They’re great as gifts and brilliant if you’re having people over because you can make them ahead of time but fudge making can be tricky. This recipe for chocolate coconut raspberry fudge is luckily a cheats alternative. No sugar thermometers …
Lemon and honey crepes, so zesty, fresh and light. A delicious springtime dessert or brunch. I love crepes and although there is plenty of room in my life for thick American style pancakes, sometimes, particularly around pancake day, it’s so special to stick with the …
Easter baking is so much fun and just like Christmas it’s a great time to give little presents to celebrate the season. Hot cross buns sweets are a playful and delicious twist on the classic buns and make excellent, unique gifts.
These fun cookie dough bites have all the flavours of hot cross buns without the baking so they are made in no time at all.
The flour is toasted here so the raw cookie dough is nice and safe to eat and a great treat for kids to help you make too.
A cute addition to your Easter party table for sure. If you’re not mad on dried fruit just substitute the amount for chocolate chips, works so well. Plus, sub out the butter and white chocolate for vegan friendly options and you’ve got yourself a vegan sweet too. So simple. Give them a go and let me know what you think.
130g plain flour
90g golden syrup
60g unsalted butter
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest 1 lemon
100g dried fruit
30g white chocolate
Makes 16 hot cross buns sweets (approx 22g each if measuring)
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C in a fan oven)
Pop the flour onto a lined baking tray and cook for 10 minutes until lightly toasted. This will essentially cook out the raw flour and make the cookie dough safe to eat.
While the flour is toasting, melt the butter. Then add the melted butter to the golden syrup, lemon zest, spices and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir together to combine.
Finely chop the mixed fruit and leave about ⅓ back to roll the sweets in at the end.
Add the remaining chopped fruit to the bowl and stir.
Once the flour is ready and cooled slightly, sift it into the bowl then mix until the dough comes together.
Form the cookie dough into balls. I weighed mine out and made them roughly 20-21g each but you can do it by eye if you prefer.
Take a few of the small pieces of fruit and roll the ball in them so it starts to look more like a hot cross bun. Pop the finished sweet onto a lined baking tray.
Repeat for the rest until you are finished.
Pop the sweets in the fridge while you chop and melt the white chocolate for the iconic cross pattern.
Once melted, spoon the chocolate into a piping bag and pipe a cross on top of each sweet.
Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight so that they firm up a bit before serving.
The hot cross buns sweets will last for about a week in the fridge. I’d recommend letting them come to room temperature for about an hour before eating.
Looking for other fun Easter treats to make? Try our Giant mini eggs pop tart, Mini egg ice-cream, Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts or Lemon Drizzle baked doughnuts – all so yummy
Lemon drizzle baked doughnuts are full of spring time flavours. If you love a lemon drizzle you’ll love this playful and delicious bake. This is a light baked doughnut full of lemon and topped with a zingy lemon icing and drizzle topping. Light, fresh and …