Raspberry and lemon curd madeleines

These little madeleines are the perfect thing after binging on rich, heavy food over Christmas.

Inspired by a recipe from Rachel Khoo (these ones are slightly easier and the batter doesn’t require to be left for several hours) they have a lovely, soft, lemony bite with a sharp raspberry centre, filled with gooey lemon curd. Yum!

Makes 24 madeleines:

2 free-range eggs

100g caster sugar

100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

¾ tsp baking powder

1 lemon – juice and zest

100g butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for greasing

Punnet of raspberries

100g good quality lemon curd

Icing sugar to decorate

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Brush the madeleine tray with melted butter and then shake in a little flour to coat, tapping out the excess over your sink.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a bowl until frothy.
4. Lightly whisk in the remaining ingredients until well combined.
5. Leave to stand for 20 minutes – you should notice that a few bubbles have formed and that the batter is thick and creamy.
6. Carefully spoon a teaspoon of the mixture into each madeleine shell and firmly press a raspberry down into the batter.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture has risen a little in the middle and is fully cooked through.
8. Spoon the lemon curd into a cooking syringe and put in the fridge.
9. Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack and leave for a few minutes to cool slightly.
10. Inject each madeleine with a teaspoon’s worth of lemon curd.
11. Lay each madeleine on a flat surface and dust with icing sugar.

Mini Apple Doughnuts with Cinnamon Glaze

Sometimes, all you need in life is a fluffy doughnut and a hot coffee.

These little balls of loveliness have a crunchy, sweet crust with a spongy, fruity inside that tastes so good! A must have remedy for a cold, grey Sunday.

Makes 30 doughnuts: 

500g strong white bread flour

50g caster sugar (plus 1 tbsp to sweeten the apples)

40g unsalted butter (plus a little extra for frying the apples)

2 eggs

14g instant yeast

10g salt

150ml warm whole milk

130ml warm water

2 tsp cinnamon

3 Bramley apples

For the Glaze:

70g  unsalted butter

300g powdered sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

4 tbsp whole milk

1. Place the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, yeast, salt, milk and three quarters of the water into a large bowl.
2. Stick your hands into the bowl to mix and form into a dough.
3. Slowly add the leftover water and knead the dough in the bowl for four minutes, or mix with a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
4. Tip it onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Place the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for an hour.
6. Meanwhile, peal and chop the apples into 5mm cubes and fry in a knob of butter in a wide pan for 2 minutes until they just start to turn brown. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp caster sugar.
7. Drain the apple in a sieve and cover with a little flour to soak up any excess moisture.
8. Tip the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface, and knock it back by kneading it a few times.
9. Roll the dough out into a rectangle and sprinkle over the cinnamon and apple chunks.
10. Fold in the edges of the dough so that the apple pieces are contained. Knead the apple and cinnamon into the dough so that they are evenly distributed.
11. Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and then divide each of the 10 shapes into 3 balls, to give you 30 pieces.
12. Place all balls onto a floured baking tray and leave to rise for an hour.
13. Preheat a large pan, filled with sunflower oil, to 180C/350F.
14. Lower each doughnut into the fryer, cooking each side for about three minutes or until golden brown. Remove the doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside.
15. To make the glaze, melt the butter and stir in the icing sugar, cinnamon and vanilla bean paste until smooth. Add the milk until the desired consistency is reached. It should be runny, but still thick enough to cover the doughnuts well.
16. Once the doughnuts have cooled down enough to touch, dip into the glaze and transfer them to a cooling rack to remove any excess.

Apple and Blackberry Tray Bake

There’s so many scrummy blackberries around at the moment and they’re delicious when combined with apples, cinnamon and nutmeg. This tray bake combines all of these things and it’s perfect for a chilly Sunday morning with a hot mug of coffee.

The mixture is quite dense but rises in the oven to make a yummy, light, fruity cake whilst the Demerara sugar on top gives it a lovely little crunch.

Makes 12 squares:

450g Bramley apples

150g blackberries

Juice of ½ lemon

225g butter, softened

280g golden caster sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

350g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 grated whole nutmeg

Demerara sugar, to sprinkle

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a 27cm x 20cm rectangular tin with baking paper.
2. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples and squeeze the lemon juice over.
3. Put the butter, caster sugar, eggs, vanilla bean paste, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and the grated nutmeg into a large bowl and beat until smooth.
4. Spread half the mixture into the pre-lined tin. Arrange half the apples and blackberries over the batter, then repeat the layers so that the fruit is proudly displayed on top.
5. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and bake for 45 minutes until golden and baked through.
6. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, turn out of the tin and remove the paper.

Lemon and blueberry cupcakes

I refuse to accept that Autumn is on its way after the lovely summer we’ve had in London. And these little cupcakes are making the colder days just that little bit more bearable…

By plonking blueberries into the bottom of the batter, you get a lovely blueberry jam that forms with the zesty lemon cake. It is de-lish.

The best thing about these little pretties though is the cheesecake frosting. A mix of cream cheese, butter, sour cream and icing sugar, words cannot describe how good it is! A little naughty, but hey, blueberries are one of your five a day, right?

Makes 12 cupcakes:

125g softened butter
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
100g self raising flour (sifted)
2 tbsp of milk
2 lemons

For the frosting:

200g cream cheese
25g butter
1 tbsp sour cream
200g icing sugar

1. Heat the oven to 180°C and set out 12 cupcake cases in a muffin tray. Drop 3 blueberries into each of the cases.
2. Beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add the eggs, flour, milk, the zest of the two lemons and little squeeze of juice. Fold the batter until smooth.
3. Spoon 1 tbsp of mixture into each case, over the blueberries, and bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.
4. Once cool, beat the cream cheese, butter and sour cream in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until smooth.
5. Dunk a spoonful of icing onto each cupcake and top with blueberries.

Orange and lemon tea-bread

This is the perfect cake to have hanging around on the weekend. Sharp and zesty with little slivers of fruity icing, it’s perfect with coffee in the morning or to have as part of a fancy afternoon tea.

It uses much less butter than in a typical cake recipe which gives it a sturdier texture… and makes you feel less guilty when you go back for a second (or third) slice!

Makes 1 loaf:

2 cups plain four

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup melted unsalted butter

Zest of 2 lemons

Zest of 2 oranges

2 beaten eggs

For the glaze:

Juice of half an orange

1 cup sifted icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius and grease a loaf tin (8×4 inch or 9×5 inch) with butter.
2. In a medium bowl, sift in the flour and baking powder and tip in the sugar and salt.
3. In a large bowl, combine the milk, orange juice, melted butter, zest and eggs and stir. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and stir so that all the ingredients are just combined.
4. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 50 minutes until the loaf springs back when poked.
5. Carefully loosen the sides and tip out from the dish. Leave to rest on a cooling rack until completely cool.
6. Combine 1 tbsp of orange juice with 1 cup icing sugar in a bowl and mix until smooth and runny.
7. Load a tablespoon with the icing and slowly drizzle over the top of the cake.

Bagels with salmon and cream cheese

These are super easy and fun to make! I left mine plain but you can sprinkle poppy or sesame seeds on top for added flavour. They’re perfect for a laid-back lunch or brunch.

Makes 10 bagels:

450g strong white bread flour, sifted

2 tsp salt

4 tbsp sugar

7g dried yeast

300ml warm water

To serve:

240g smoked salmon

200g cream cheese

1 lemon

1. In a large bowl, mix the yeast with 1tbsp sugar and 100ml of the warm water. Leave this for 10 minutes until bubbles appear on top and it becomes frothy.
2. Pour the remaining 200ml of water into the bowl, stir in the salt and 225g of the flour. Keep adding the remaining flour, mixing with your hand as you go along. When you have a soft dough that isn’t sticky, you can stop adding any leftover flour.
3. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough feels elastic and smooth. Shape this into a ball and leave in a clean, oiled bowl for 1 hour – covered loosely with cling film. If you can, try to find somewhere warm where it can rise until it’s doubled in size.
4. Heat your oven to 200C/gas 7 and bring a large, wide pan of water to boil with the remaining sugar added to it.
5. Lightly flour your worktop and divide the dough into 10 little flatish balls – they each should weigh around 80g. Take a wooden spoon and use the handle to make a hole in the middle of each one, twirling the bagel around the spoon to make a hole about 3cm wide.
6. Lay the bagels on a lightly oiled tray and cover loosely with cling film while you finish shaping the remaining dough.
7. Slip the bagels, three or four at a time, into the boiling water. Cook for 1-2 minutes, turning them over in the water until they’ve puffed up and a skin has formed.
8. Remove with a fish slice or a slotted spoon and drain away any excess water.
9. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment and add any toppings you’d like to use.
10. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. The bases should sound hollow when tapped.
11. Leave to cool on a wire rack and serve with the salmon, lemon and cream cheese.

Monkey Buns

These delicious pull-apart rolls are smothered in butter, sugar and cinnamon before they go in the oven to make them golden and crunchy on top, yet glistening and sticky on the bottom.

My mum used to surprise us on Sunday mornings with these. Waking my brother and I up to the smell of sugary, buttery goodness, we’d saunter to the kitchen in our pyjamas, wide-eyed and wide-mouthed.

The recipe is originally from Canada so uses cups as measurement which is super easy.

Makes 20 buns.

For the dough:

1/2 cup of milk

2 tbsp water

1 large egg

1 tbsp butter

1tsp salt

2 1/4 cups plain flour

4 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp dried yeast

1tsp cinnamon

For the sugar and cinnamon coating:

1/2 cup sugar

1tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp melted butter

1. Mix together the milk, water, egg, 1 tbsp butter, salt, flour, 4tsp sugar, 1tsp cinnamon and 1 1/2 tsp yeast to form a sticky dough. Remove from the bowl to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, collecting a little flour as you go to make it easier to handle. It’s a really soft dough so don’t panic if you find it sticky. If you find it’s really glued to the worktop, use two spatulas to make it less tricky. 
2. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for an hour.
3. When the dough has almost doubled in size, remove from the bowl and knead the air out. Divide into 20 equal-sized balls.
4. Stir the 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon together. Dip the balls into the 3 tbsp butter and then roll into the sugar mixture. Each ball should be coated liberally.
5. Arrange half of the balls into the bottom of a greased 25cm diameter ring mould before positioning the remaining shimmering globules on top, carefully filling in the gaps to make a complete doughy ring.
6. Drizzle the balls with any remaining butter and sprinkle on any leftover sugar and cinnamon. Cover again with a damp tea towel and leave in warm place for 30 to 40 minutes until the dough has nearly doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Leave to cool for a minute before tipping out the sweet, sticky ring onto a serving plate. Eat straight away.

White Chocolate and Strawberry Truffles

Typical Valentine’s chocolates can be a mundane present that a boyfriend buys on his lunch break at work – at a loss as to what else to get for his girlfriend – easily obtainable whilst in the M&S sandwich queue.

These pretty droplets of yumness require a similar amount of time to prepare (minus the cooling time) as a lunch break but are so much more fanciful.

Truffle filling:

200g white chocolate

85g unsalted butter

3 and a half tbsp double cream

Pinch of salt

3 tsp freeze-dried strawberries (for instance, Cake Professional Dried Strawberries, available from Waitrose)

Truffle coating:

400g white chocolate

2 tsp freeze-dried strawberries

A few cocktail sticks

Method:

1. Fill a saucepan with 3 inches of water and place on a medium heat. In a glass bowl, add the chocolate, cream, butter and salt. Place the glass bowl on top of the saucepan, being careful that it doesn’t touch the water, and heat the mixture gently whilst stirring, until the chocolate melts and the mixture become smooth and glossy.
2. Take the bowl out of the saucepan and off the heat. Add the 3 tsp of dried strawberries and mix well. Cover the bowl with cling-film and refrigerate for about two hours, until the mixture is firm enough to scoop.
3. Use a teaspoon to scoop little balls that measure 2cm – about the size of a Brussels sprout. Lay the little globules on greaseproof paper and put back in the fridge for one hour. This step is crucial as you want the truffles to be really cool for dipping into the chocolate later.
4. Melt the remaining 400g of chocolate, either over a saucepan of water on the hob as before, or in the microwave for about 1 and a half minutes. Take the truffles out of the fridge and using a cocktail stick, carefully pick up one-by-one and dip into the chocolate, smothering it completely.
5. Lay the enveloped balls on to greaseproof paper and quickly dust with the remaining dried strawberries, before the coating sets. Leave the truffles at room temperature for two hours and package in cellophane bags, tied with red ribbon or in a cardboard box lined with tissue paper.

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