Madeira cakes in all sizes!

I have had a request for a scaled up version of my madeira cake recipe for a wedding cake. The texture of madeira cake is firm enough to cope with ornate icing which makes it a good choice for wedding cakes. However, you do have to remember that it does not keep like a fruit […]

Helen’s Cream Cheese Topping

This a recipe provided by someone who’s been working on it for a while. She uses it on carrot cake. The ingredients and method are hers and you’re welcome to contact her with any queries by leaving a comment on this post. It sounds good to me.

For this recipe you will need an electric […]

Fast and Fabulous Fruit Loaf

This is a fabulously fruity and amazingly easy fruit loaf. It’s a great recipe to make with children. I made this with mine when they were not much more than 18 months old. Once they can stand on a chair, they can help to choose the proportions of the dried fruit and put handfuls onto […]

Fantastic Chocolate Sponge Cake

This has been a mainstay of my family for more years than I can remember. It is easy to make and produces a reliably delicious, light and fluffy cake. The only thing which you must NEVER EVER do is open the oven before 20 minutes of the cooking time have passed. You can make a […]

Traditional Easter Simnel Cake

This is our favourite recipe for a traditional Simnel Cake. It’s based on Nigella Lawson’s recipe with tweaks to make it work dairy free. The marzipan balls on top are great fun for the children to make. There are supposed to be eleven (for the disciples of Christ minus Judas, of course) but, when you […]

Sticky Fingers

To make these treats you will need a heavy-bottomed saucepan and a shallow baking tray. A swiss roll tin would do fine, but remember that you are going to be cutting the fingers up in the tin, so don’t use a precious, non-stick tin. Alternatively, you can line the tin with foil and just […]

Mince Tart

Like a mince pie, but better!

This makes a great party offering: it looks fantastic and isn’t hard to do! Much more impressive than mince pies for the end of a dinner party, less effort and very Christmassy with a little twist of originality. Enjoy!

You will need an 11″ / 28cm loose […]

Mince Pies

The traditional accompaniment to a glass of mulled wine during the Christmas season.

For this recipe you will need 2 sizes of pastry cutters (wine glasses will do in an emergency), 2 tart trays, a pastry brush and a wire cooling rack.

Recipe: Mince Pies

Summary: Can’t have Christmas without mince pies! Here’s how […]

Christmas White Sauce

This goes superbly with Christmas Pudding and is really fairly straightforward.

For this recipe you will need a heavy bottomed saucepan which is NOT non-stick, a pint jug and a balloon whisk.

Recipe: Christmas White Sauce

Summary: What would Christmas pudding be without a traditional rum sauce?

Ingredients 2 tbsps cornflour 1 tbsp demerara […]

Christmas Pudding

This is the recipe which has been used in the family for almost as many years as I can remember. It is lighter in texture than a very traditional pudding, but the flavour is absolutely traditional. I’m afraid I don’t go in for weird and wonderful variations on Christmas recipes; the tradition is all part […]