Raspberry and cream cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes
180g butter, softened
180g caster sugar
180g plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
3-4 tbsp milk
2 free-range eggs
150g raspberries

For the icing
125g butter, softened
250g icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
small drop red food colouring
12 raspberries


Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
Place all of the cupcake ingredients, except the raspberries, into a food processor and mix until well combined. Add more milk, if necessary, to get the mixture to a soft drop consistency.
Put one spoonful of the mixture into the cases, then follow with 2-3 raspberries, and another spoonful of mixture.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until risen and golden-brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the icing, beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Carefully stir in the icing sugar and continue to beat for five minutes. Beat in the milk and food colouring.
Decorate the cupcakes with the icing and top each cupcake with a raspberry.

Victoria Sponge

Ingredients
225g butter or margarine, softened at room temperature
225g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
225g self raising flour
milk, to loosen

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Grease and line 2 x 18cm/7in cake tins with baking paper.
Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, and stir in the vanilla extract. Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon, adding a little extra milk if necessary, to create a batter with a soft dropping consistency.
Divide the mixture between the cake tins and gently spread out with a spatula.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack.
Sandwich the cakes together with jam, lemon curd or whipped cream and berries or just enjoy on its own.

Honeycomb

Ingredients
1tbsp vegetable oil, for oiling baking tray
80g butter
160g caster sugar
80g golden syrup
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with vegetable oil.
Gently heat the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a large heavy-based pan until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and boil rapidly, without stirring. If the mixture goes darker at one side of the mix, then gently swirl the pan to mix it all together. Keep boiling until the mixture goes a golden-brown colour – this will take about 5 minutes.
Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir it for a few seconds, which will make the mixture expand and fizz (take care, the mixture will expand a lot). Tip the honeycomb into the oiled baking tin and leave until cold and set.
To serve, cut the honeycomb into pieces and stir into ice creams or decorate puddings. You can put the honeycomb in a food processor and sprinkle it over desserts.

Gingerbread People

Ingredients
350g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
125g butter
175g light soft brown sugar
1 free-range egg
4 tbsp golden syrup

Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon and pour into the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and blend until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
Lightly beat the egg and golden syrup together, add to the food processor and pulse until the mixture clumps together. Tip the dough out, knead briefly until smooth, wrap in clingfim and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Roll the dough out to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using cutters, cut out the gingerbread men shapes and place on the baking tray, leaving a gap between them.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling. When cooled decorate with the writing icing and cake decorations.

Lemon Drizzle Slices

Ingrediants
200g butter , well softened, plus extra for greasing
200g golden caster sugar
4 large eggs
200g self-raising flour
zest 3 lemons


Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and make sure there's a shelf ready in the middle of the oven. Butter a rectangular baking tray or small roasting tin, about 20cm x 30cm. Cut out a sheet of baking paper a bit larger than the tin, then push it in and smooth it out with your hands so it sticks to the butter. Snip into the corners with a pair of scissors to get the paper to lie neatly.
Put all the cake ingredients and a pinch of salt into a large bowl, then use electric beaters to beat until creamy and smooth. Scoop into the tin, then level the top. Spoon the lemon curd over the batter in thick stripes. Use the handle of the spoon to swirl the curd into the cake - not too much or you won't see the swirls once it's cooked. Bake for about 35 mins or until golden and risen. It should have shrunk away from the sides of the tin ever so slightly and feel springy. Don't open the oven before 30 mins cooking is up.
Leave the cake in the tin for 10 mins or until just cool enough to handle. Carefully lift out of the tin and put it onto a cooling rack, sat over a tray or something similar to catch drips of drizzle. To make the drizzle, mix 4 tbsp sugar and the lemon juice together and spoon over the cake. Toss the lemon zest with the final 1 tbsp sugar and scatter over the top. Let the cake cool completely, then lift onto a board, peel away the sides of the baking paper and cut the cake into fingers. Will keep in an airtight tin for 3 days.

Rocky Road

Ingredients
125g/4½oz soft unsalted butter
300g/10½oz best-quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
3 tbsp golden syrup
200g/7¼oz rich tea biscuits
100g/3½oz mini marshmallows
2 tsp icing sugar, to dust

Preparation method
Heat the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan over a gentle heat. Remove from the heat, scoop out about 125ml/4½fl oz of the melted mixture and set aside in a bowl.
Place the biscuits into a plastic freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin until some have turned to crumbs but there are still pieces of biscuit remaining.
Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, then add the marshmallows.
Tip the mixture into a 24cm/9in square baking tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
Pour over the reserved 125ml/4½fl oz of the melted chocolate mixture and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
Refrigerate for about two hours or overnight.
To serve, cut into 24 fingers and dust with icing sugar.

Wholemeal Banana and Chocolate Muffins

Ingrediants
50g Chocolate chips or for a healthier option raisins

3 tbsp fresh orange juice and zest finely grated

140g Plain Flour

140g Wholemeal Flour

1 tbsp Baking Powder

115g Caster Sugar

2 Ripe Bananas

A splash of skimmed milk about 50mls

2 Eggs

6 tbsp Sunflower Oil

Put the raisins/chocolate in a bowl, add the orange juice and leave to soak for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 12 paper cases.

Sift together both types of flour and the baking powder into a large bowl, adding any bran left in the sieve. Stir in the sugar.

Mash the banana and place in a jug, then add a splash of milk or enough to make it into a purée. Place the eggs in a mug and beat lightly.

Then beat in the banana and milk mixture,oil, soaked raisins or chocolate and orange zest. Make a well in the centre of all the dry ingredients and pour in the beaten liquid ingredients. Stir gently until just combined, don't over mix.Spoon the mixture into the paper cases.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch.

Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.