Victoria sponge cake

Ingredients:

Sponge

175 g unsalted butter
175 g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
175 g self-raising flour

Filling

3 tbsp strawberry jam
500 ml double cream

Method:

1. Set the oven to 180C/gas 4. Lightly butter two sandwich tins, each with a diameter of 20cm.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, and then slowly add the beaten egg.
3. Fold in the sifted flour and spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tins.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool and then remove from the tins.
5. Whip the cream until thick and use it to fill the sponge with the jam.
6. Dust liberally with icing sugar to serve.

Battenberg cake

Ingredients:

175 g unsalted butter, softened
175 g caster sugar
3 free range eggs, lightly beaten
175 g self-raising flour
2 tbsp milk
red food colouring
150 g apricots, glaze
2 tbsp icing sugar
350 g readymade marzipan

Method:

1. Grease a 20 x 15cm Battenberg cake tin with butter, or if using an oblong tin, line with parchment paper. Use enough to cover the base and sides. Cut another piece of baking parchment as long as the tin. Fold the paper in half along its length – so it's just over the height of the tin. This last bit of paper will keep the two colours of sponge separate as they bake.
2. Heat the oven to 180C/160 C fan/gas 4.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – this should take about 10 minutes. You could use an electric mixer for this. Gradually beat in the eggs, - if the mixture looks like curdling add a tablespoon of flour.
4. Fold in the remaining flour along with enough milk to give a soft dropping consistency.
5. Divide half the cake mixture between 2 sections of the battenburg tin. If you are using a normal tin, spoon half the mixture into one half of the tin – along its length. Then put the long strip of baking parchment in the middle of the tin.
6. Tinge the remaining cake mixture pink with food colouring and spoon into the remaining two sections of the battenberg tin, or add it to the other half of the tin. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until firm to the touch.
7. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. It’s a good idea to bake this cake the day before assembling as it firms up and is easier to handle.
8. Trim both halves of cake so they are the same size. Cut each piece in half down their length so you have 2 long strips of each colour.
9. Warm the apricot glaze. Lay a strip of pink cake on a board and brush the top and sides with the glaze; put a plain strip alongside it and brush with more glaze in the same way. Finish with the other two strips on top, so you have a coloured checkerboard affect.
10. Brush the entire cake with the glaze. Roll the marzipan on a surface dusted with icing sugar to a 20cm x 30 cm rectangle. Put the cake at one end of the oblong and encase with the marzipan. Serve sliced with the marzipan seam facing downwards.

Banoffee cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

250 g unsalted butter, soft 250 g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 ripe banana, mashed to pulp
250 g self-raising flour
 

For the frosting

250 g unsalted butter, soft
550 g icing sugar
9 tsp caramel, plus extra to decorate

For the caramel

300 g caster sugar
80 ml water
350 ml double cream
½ tsp vanilla extract 

Method:

1. For the cupcakes: heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Once this is fluffy, add 4 eggs one by one.

2. Add the mashed banana and blend well. Add the flour and mix to combine. Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 17 minutes. Once they are firm but springy to the touch, remove from the oven and allow to cool.

3. For the caramel: combine all the ingredients in a pan over a medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Be careful not to let the syrup burn. Cool thoroughly.

4. For the frosting: in a bowl, combine the butter with 500g of the icing sugar and once this has mixed well and become fluffy, then add the caramel sauce.

5. Blend for 3 minutes, then either spoon on to the cooled sponges or pipe with a nozzle and piping bag. Finish off with some banana pulp, a dried banana chip or a swirl of caramel sauce.  

Passion fruit whoopie pies

Ingredients:

For the cakes

140 g granulated sugar
85 g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
150 ml milk
150 ml buttermilk
280 g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder

For the filling

200 g cream cheese
1 vanilla pod
3 passion fruit, seeds removed
icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

1. For the cakes: preheat the oven 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cream together the sugar and the butter. Add the vanilla, eggs, milk and buttermilk. Fold in the flour, baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.
2. Divide between the greased whoopie tins (or Yorkshire pudding tins) and bake for 10 minutes.
3. For the filling: whisk together the cream cheese and the seeds of the vanilla pod and fold in the passion fruit.
4. When the cakes are cool enough to handle, take them off the tray and sandwich together with the cream cheese filling.
5. Dust lightly with some icing sugar and serve.  

Fruity Teacake

Ingredients:

300g mixture dried berries and cherries

225ml hot tea
juice 1 orange (about 75ml/2½fl oz) plus zest
50g butter
100g light brown sugar
1 egg
225g self-raising flour
4 tbsp demerara sugar

Method:

1. Place the dried fruits in a bowl and pour over the hot tea, orange juice and zest. Cover with cling film, then leave for at least 4 hrs or better still overnight.
2. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the base of a 2lb loaf tin. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, then beat in the egg followed by the flour. Carefully stir through the fruit mixture. Spoon the mixture into the tin, then smooth over the surface with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle all over with a thick layer of demerara sugar.
3. Bake for 1 hr or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out, cut into slices and serve.