cakes
Here's a collection of cake recipes from our resident 'foodie' chef, Rachel. If you'd like more please have a look at our recipe index!
Chai Latte Cake with Honey Ginger Cream
Strawberries and Cream Swiss Roll
Lemon Drizzle Cake
Dark Chocolate Brownie Cake
Carrot Cupcakes
Homemade Mince Pies
print page
Featuring Fairtrade spices. Serves 10-12
- 200ml milk
- 4 black tea bags
- 1 small or 1/2 large cinnamon stick (or 1 tbsp cinnamon bark)
- 3cm piece fresh ginger root, peeled and finely sliced
- 6 whole black peppercorns
- 16 cardamom pods
- 12 cloves
- 2 tbsp honey
- 4 large eggs
- 150g plain white flour
- 150g wholemeal flour
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch sea salt
- 125g unsalted butter at room temperature
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease the bottom and sides of two round (20cm/non-stick) cake tins with butter and dust with flour, just enough to coat - this keeps the cake from sticking and eliminates the need for parchment paper.
In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer over low med-low heat. Add the tea bags, cinnamon stick or bark, fresh ginger, 5 of the cloves, the peppercorns and 5 of the cardamom pods (bash them open and throw both seeds and shells into the milk). Grind the remaining cloves and the seeds from the remaining cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar and set aside. Simmer on very low heat for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and squeeze out the milk. Strain spices out and stir in the honey while the milk is still warm. Set chai milk aside to cool.
Sift the plain white flour into a large bowl. Fold in the wholemeal flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until all the ingredients are mix well.
In a medium bowl whisk the eggs, ground cinnamon, and remaining cloves and cardamom using a hand-mixer for 5 minutes. The eggs should be really bubbly and doubled in side. Keep mixing as you pour in 1/3 of the chai milk. Set aside.
Now, pour the remaining chai milk into the flour mixture and blend with the hand mixer. Add the egg mixture little by little. Once it's all combined, whip in the butter. [TIP: If your butter is not soft enough - i.e. if you forgot to get it to room temperature – then measure half of it into an oven safe dish. Pop it into the preheating oven to melt. Once melted, pour it over the firmer butter and whisk the two together until creamy.]
Once the cake mixture is nice and smooth, divide it evenly among the prepared tins.
Bake the cakes for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and let them cool completely before you add the icing (recipe below).
To assemble the cake place one of the cakes top, slightly rounded side down on the plate. This will give you a flat base to spread the icing on and it keeps the top cake from sliding off. It also helps the bottom from sticking to your cake plate as it's slightly bowed and not fully flat on the plate. So, ice the middle with just under half the icing and slather the top with the remaining bit. You can ice the sides if you like but if you plan to do this, only use 1/3 of less of the icing for the middle as you’ll obviously need more icing to cover all the sides.
- 300g cream cheese at room temperature
- 50g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 tbsp clear honey
- 200g icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger (or you could use freshly grated ginger for a more oomph!)
Place the cream cheese, butter and honey in a large bowl. Make sure they’re soft and fully at room temperature, otherwise your icing will have lumps. Sift in the sugar (sifting also helps prevent lumps) and ginger. Whip together, then scrape the sides of the bowl until smooth. Spread over cooled cake as noted above.
back to top
Serves 12
- A nugget of butter to grease the pan
- 125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 4 eggs (or you can use 2 duck eggs)
- 125g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 tbsp warm water
- 200ml double cream
- 150g strawberry jam
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5. Rub butter all over the base and sides of a large, shallow baking tray (one that's roughly L32 x W19 x D2cm). Dust with flour, shaking off any excess.
Whisk eggs and caster sugar until really light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the water and whisk again. Sift in flour, one-third at a time; gently folding it in with a large spoon.
Gently spread mixture in baking tray. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until centre is springy and edges lightly browned.
Place a fresh piece of greaseproof paper or a clean, smooth tea towel on a work surface. Sprinkle with a good dose of caster sugar. Turn cake onto the sugared paper. Carefully remove tin and paper stuck to the bottom of the cake. Place a slightly damp, clean tea towel over the cake. Leave to cool for 30 minutes to prevent it cracking when you roll it.
Whip the cream until stiff. Spread jam over the cake, leaving a 2-3cm border. Spread the cream over the top. With the longest side facing you, roll up the cake, using the parchment paper or tea towel to help hold the cake and keep it from cracking - it will also help you roll it up more tightly. It may crack a bit as you first roll it but keep rolling - and keep your confidence as the final layer is not likely to crack and any inner cracks will be hidden away inside! Dredge with caster sugar to finish. Will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.
back to top
Serves 8
Lemon sponge
- 2 lemons, finely grated zest
- 200g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
- 200g caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs, beaten
- 200g self-raising flour, sifted
Syrup
- 4 lemons, juiced (100ml)
- 75g granulated sugar
Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Don't use the fan setting on your oven if you have one; it will dry out the sponge.
Rub a large loaf tin or three mini loaf tins with butter. Dust with flour, tipping out any extra - you just want a nice coating of the flour sticking to the butter – make sure you do this right up to the tops of the sides.
Place the sugar, softened butter and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer. The result should be pale in colour, with a really light and fluffy texture. Putting in the lemon zest when you cream the butter and sugar helps to release the oils in the zest, producing a much more lemony sponge.
Now start adding the beaten egg, which should be at roughly the same temperature as the butter and sugar. Add it in stages, beating in after each addition. If it looks like it's going to curdle, add 1 tbsp flour.
Finally, fold in the flour. You will be left with a really thick mixture, but this is what you want for a dense sponge, so don't feel you have to add any milk. Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin or mini tins. Bake for 35-45 minutes (slightly less - about 25-30 minutes if you're using mini tins) until it is shrinking away from the side. Test it with a skewer to see if the mixture is cooked in the centre; it should come out clean or with crumbs, not with any mixture. Remove from the oven and, if it is done, gently prick all over with a toothpick, skewer or a fork with thin prongs about 20 times (less if your using a fork as it will obviously create more holes with each prick!).
Stir the strained lemon juice into the sugar so it dissolves a bit, but not fully. Drizzle over the cake, slowly, waiting a few moments before adding more, so that it all sinks in. It should leave a crust on the cake as the juices sink in. Remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
back to top
Serves 8.
- 225g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 100g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
- 225g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tbsp cornflour
Preheat oven to 190C. Grease an 18cm cake tin with butter or brush with oil.
Cut butter into little cubes and place in in an oven proof dish with the finely chopped chocolate. Pop it into the oven for just a few minutes, just until the butter and chocolate start to melt. Give it a stir and if it's still not melted, open the oven door and place the dish on the door to get enough heat to finish melting it. Or, just pop it in the oven for a bit longer but keep a vigilant eye on it!
Place the yolks and icing sugar in a large bowl as you'll be folding the chocolate and whites in at a later stage. Whisk the yolks and sugar. The mix will be stiff and a bit paste-like but persevere with the mixing until it’s nice and smooth.
Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until they're stiff like meringues. Make sure the bowl you use for the whites is really clean and dry; otherwise the whites might not stiffen up like you want them to.
Now, start adding everything together. Begin by adding the melted chocolate and butter to the yolks, gently folding it in. Then, add a spoonful of the whisked egg whites to the yolk/butter/chocolate mix, folding it in with a large metal spoon. Continue to add the whites, little by little, making sure you fold them in gently as you want to keep as much air into the mixture as possible. This will give you a cake that’s so light it will practically melt in your mouth.
Pour batter into prepared tin. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, until just set. It may look a bit soft in the middle but the cake is a bit brownie-like so you want it to be a bit gooey, but not too much. When it's done the edges with look firm and the top may have a few cracks.
Once cooked, remove from oven to let it cool. Then, dust with icing sugar and serve. It's lovely with a dollop of créme fraiche.
back to top
Makes 12 cupcake-sized cakes, or 18 smaller fairy cakes, for under £9 (8.29)
- 2 large eggs
- 150g brown sugar
- 150ml olive or walnut oil
- 200g self-raising flour, sifted (white or wholemeal)
- 3 tsp mixed spice
- 3 medium carrots, coarsely grated
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Finely grated zest of 3 oranges
- 3 tbsp raisins
- 300g mascarpone cheese
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- 75g golden icing sugar, sifted
Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Place 12 paper muffin cases in a muffin tin, or use a shallower fairy cake tin and line with 18 paper cases.
Put the eggs, sugar and oil in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Using a metal spoon, gently fold in the flour, spice, grated carrot, vanilla extract, half the orange zest and raisins, until thoroughly combined.
Divide the mixture between the muffin cases then place in the oven for 25 minutes (or 20 minutes if making fairy cakes) until well risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
For the frosting, beat together the mascarpone, orange juice, icing sugar and remaining zest until smooth. Chill until ready to use. Spread liberally over the cooled cakes. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
back to top
Pies of wonder, pies of might
Prep time: 40 mins
Cooking time: 15-20 mins
Makes 18-22 pies, depending on the thickness of the pastry
- 225g cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 450g plain flour
- 2tbsp icing sugar, plus extra to dust over pies
- 3-4 tbsp cold water
- 300g mincemeat
- 1 egg
To make the pastry, sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the cubes of butter little by little and coat in the flour as you add them to the bowl.
Rub the butter into the flour using your fingers and hands. Once the dough feels a bit like barely damp sand, or soft fresh breadcrumbs, stir in the cold water by the tablespoon until the dough forms a ball. Knead just enough to create a smooth ball of dough.
Wrap up and rest for half an hour at room temperature (if the dough gets too cold it will be too tough and will crumble when you roll it out).
If you don’t have time, don’t worry, you can get rolling straightaway.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Line 18 holes of two 12-hole patty tins, by pressing small walnut-sized balls of pastry into each hole. Do more if you have a bit of pastry left over. Spoon the mincemeat into the pies.
Take slightly smaller balls of pastry than before and pat them out between your hands to make round lids, big enough to cover the pies.
Or, get crafty and cap your pies with pastry stars or other shapes. To do this, roll out the remaining dough to make a large rectangle – if you do this on a large and lightly floured sheet of greaseproof paper the dough is pretty much guaranteed not to stick!
If topping with stars or other Christmassy shapes (using Christmas tree, holly or other themed cutters), gently place the shapes in the centre and over the top of the mincemeat. If topping with traditional circles, simply place the lids on top and gently press the edges together. Another option is to cut the lids using a scone or ruffled edge biscuit cutter, this will give your homemade mince pies a more professional look. Though, the hand-shaped, rustic approach is just as delicious! At this stage, the pies may now be frozen for up to 1 month.
Brush the tops of the pies with the beaten egg. Bake for 15-20 mins until just golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then remove to a wire rack.
To serve, lightly dust with icing sugar, if you have some. They'll keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.
back to top