Spiced ginger loaf cake with maple glaze

You will need:

For the loaf

Loaf tin (and liner) 

150g soft brown sugar

150g butter (or good margarine) 

3 large free range eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

150g self-raising flour 

4 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

Half a  teaspoon ground allspice

For the glaze

As much icing sugar as you dare

4 tablespoons maple syrup

Enough water to turn it into a runny mess

Method:

Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (180 degrees)

Cream the butter and sugar

Beat in the eggs and vanilla

Sift in the flour and spices, and mix well

Spoon into tin (greased and lined with baking parchment, if not using a liner)

Bake for 40-45 minutes - it's ready when a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean

Leave in the tin, on a cooling rack

While still warm, poke a skewer a good few times all over the cake

Make up the glaze by mixing everything together

Spoon over the cooling cake and leave to set

Try to leave until it is cool, then demolish!

Banana bread

Ingredients:

150g demerara sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large free range eggs

2 bananas, mashed

275g self-raising flour

shake of ground ginger

shake of ground cinnamon

150g unsalted butter, melted

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3 / 170 degrees C
• Whisk the eggs and sugar until combined, the leave for five minutes - it will go a bit frothy
• Whisk for a few more minutes, then add the mashed banana and vanilla and whisk until combined
• Add the flour and spices, and stir to combine
• Add the melted butter and stir until smooth (there will be a few lumps from the bananas)
• Pour into a large cake tin (I always use silicone) and bake for 50 minutes
• Turn halfway round through cooking
• Test with a skewer and if it comes out clean, it's ready
• If not, leave for another five minutes
• Turn out on to a cooling rack and leave to cool nearly completely (it's easier to slice when cool!)

Swedish sunshine cake

Ingredients

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

150g self-raising flour

1 tsp vanilla paste

50g ground almonds

handful flaked almonds

Method

Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6. 

Grease a 23 cm silicone cake tin and sprinkle with ground almonds.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla.

Stir in the melted, cooled butter.

Add flour; mix until smooth (it will look lumpy to begin with, keep mixing until it's smooth)

Spread the batter into the prepared tin. 

Sprinkle flaked almonds on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. 

Allow cake to cool slightly before removing from the tin. 

Cool completely on a wire rack. 

This cake keeps very well for up to a week in an airtight container or plastic bag.

Chocolate and honey cake with crème de marrons filling (eggless cake)

Ingredients

For the sponge:

90g margarine or unsalted butter

80g unrefined golden caster sugar

3 tblsp runny honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

200ml milk (not skimmed)

185g self-raising flour

20g cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

For the filling:

2 heaped tblsp crème de marrons

2 tblsp runny honey

2 tblsp sifted icing sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 / 190 celcius

Grease and flour two 23 cm cake tins (I always use butter and ground almonds, and silicone cake tins)

Cream the butter and sugar

Add the vanilla and honey and mix together

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder

Add a third of the dry ingredients, and a third of the milk, and mix thoroughly

Continue until it is all mixed together

Divide between the two tins and smooth flat

Bake for 25-30 minutes, testing with a skewer at 25 minutes

Cool in the tins for 5 minutes

Then transfer to a cooling rack until completely cool

Mix the filling ingredients together until combined

Turn one of the cakes upside down

Spread with the filling

Put the other cake on top

You're done! Congratulate yourself then shove that cake in your mouth!

Ice cream loaf

I saw this online and had to try it. It's really easy, all you need is:

1 pint of ice cream (that's been left out of the freezer to melt)
210g of self raising flour

That's it! Mix them together and pour into a lined loaf tin, and bake at gas mark 4 / 180 degrees for about 45 minutes.

It's not bad, maybe a bit expensive - but definitely give it a go! :) I used Ben & Jerry's Phish Food, and I also threw in some chocolate chips.

Cinnamon drizzle cake

You will need: 

For the loaf
Loaf tin (and liner) 
150g caster sugar 
150g butter (or good margarine) 
3 large free range eggs 
2 vanilla pods, seeds scraped out (or table spoon of vanilla paste) 
150g self raising flour 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon ground ginger 

For the icing
30g icing sugar
good shake of cinnamon (about 1 level teaspoon)
table spoon or two of water (or lemon or orange juice)

Method:
Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (180 degrees)
Cream the sugar and butter
Beat in the eggs and vanilla
Sift in the flour, cinnamon and ginger, and fold gently in
Spoon into tin (greased and lined with baking parchment, if not using a liner)
Bake for 45-55 minutes - it's ready when a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean
Leave in the tin, on a cooling rack to cool

While still warm, poke a skewer a good few times all over the cake
Make up the icing by sifting the icing sugar and mixing everything together
Spoon over the cooling cake and leave to set

Low fat banana bread

A really, really easy, and low fat banana bread. It can easily be made gluten free too.

You will need:
4 ripe bananas, mashed
225g self raising flour (can be substituted for gluten free flour)
100g low fat margarine
100-150g of unrefined caster sugar (the less sugar you use, the less calories the final loaf will be!)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla paste/extract
handful of dried fruit (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (180°C/350°F), grease and line a 2lbs loaf tin.
2. Put everything in a large bowl, and mix with an electric mixer for a few minutes. Leave for 2 minutes for the raising agent to start working, then fold int he dried fruit (if using).
3. Pour into loaf tin and bake for 1 and half hours until the top is golden.
4. Leave to cool on a cooling rack. Scoff!

Is also nice with a shake of ground cinnamon in the mix.

Pineapple upside down cake

You will need:
100g self raising flour
100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
1 tin pineapple rings in juice
2 or 3 tsp dark brown sugar
2 large free range eggs
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cochineal
8” cake tin

Method:
1. Cream the butter and sugar
2. Beat the eggs lightly, then stir into the creamed butter and sugar
3. Add the cochineal and stir until mixture turns deep pink
4. Sift the flour into the mixture and stir until combined
5. Open the pineapple rings and set four aside along with about 4 tsps of juice (eat the rest and drink the juice, it’s nice with vodka straight from the freezer!)
6. Put the juice in the cake tin, and sprinkle on the brown sugar, then arrange the rings prettily
7. Cover the pineapple rings with the mixture and smooth over, put in a moderate oven (200 degrees - gas mark 5) for about 30-40 minutes
8. Take the cake from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack
9. Serve warm with cold cream or *custard, will keep in an airtight container for a day or two

*Please follow the custard rules. They are as follows:
Cold dessert = hot custard
Hot dessert = cold custard
Anything else is just wrong

Welsh cakes

Here's my version. They're a little bit spicier than usual, but still delicious.

Here's my recipe for Welsh cakes

You will need:
450g SR flour
220g salted butter (diced)
Big pinch of salt
2 large free range eggs
150g granulated sugar
Handful of raisins or currants
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Method:
Rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs
Stir in the sugar, raisins (or currants) and spices
Mix in the eggs with a butter knife, and combine until a dough forms
Knead for a few minutes on a floured surface
Roll out to about 1cm, cut into fluted rounds (must be a fluted cutter or you're breaking tradition!)
Heat a griddle or frying pan to a low heat and cook 1 cake as a tester - should take 2 minutes each side to get a little brown, and the middle should still be a little squishy
Cook all cakes for about 2 minutes each side and stack in towers on a cooling rack, the heat from the cakes continues to cook them to the perfect consistency
As soon as they are nearly cool, store them in a tin

They last for a good few days, but I guarantee they'll be eaten long before that.

Andy’s white chocolate and raspberry loaf

Ingredients:

250g plain flour + extra for dusting
3tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
175g raspberries
100g white chocolate roughly chopped
1 large egg, beaten
175ml milk
100g granulated sugar
60g butter melted + extra tbsp for greasing

Method:

1. Grease a loaf tin sparingly with melted butter and dust with flour, shaking off the excess.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt – and make a well in the middle.

3. Mix milk, egg, and sugar together, then pour into the well.

4. Add the chocolate and raspberries and mix together all the ingredients. DO NOT over mix. Just give it four or five good mixes with a spatula to form a wet batter. It adds to the texture if it isn’t mixed together properly.

5. Pour into the prepared loaf tin, and put into a pre-heated oven (gas 4/180 ◦C/350 ◦F) for about 45 minutes to an hour – or when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Should be really golden and well-risen when ready.

6. Remove from oven but leave in tin to cool slightly (about 10-15 minutes), as the loaf will be delicate when hot. Turn out on to cooling rack and leave to cool. Really nice still warm with custard, or cold the next day with a cuppa.

Andy’s low-fat lemon drizzle cake

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
100g sugar
100g softened low-fat margarine
grated zest of 2 lemons
175g self-raising flour
125ml milk
pinch of salt

For the lemon syrup:
100g icing sugar
Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4). Brush margarine all over the inside of a loaf tin, then coat with flour; shake any excess out, line the bottom with baking parchment.

2. Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of the food processor and whiz for 2 minutes. Take off the lid and drop spoonfuls of the soft margarine on top of this mixture, together with the lemon zest, then whiz for another two or three minutes. The mixture should now look like mayonnaise.

3. Add the flour, milk and salt, cover and whiz until the mixture is smooth in texture and even in colour, scraping the sides down with a rubber spatula if necessary.

4. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown on top and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and stand the tin on a cooling rack. To make the syrup, gently heat the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan, stirring until a clear syrup is formed, about 3 minutes. Do not boil.

5. Prick the warm cake all over with a fork, then gently pour the syrup over it, until it has been completely absorbed.

6. Leave until cool, then carefully ease the cake from the baking tin and remove the baking parchment. Keeps 1 week under refrigeration in an airtight container. Freezes up to 3 months.

7. Make a cup of tea and stuff your face.