Recipes for Cakes and Biscuits

December's here. It's time to bake Our annual family Christmas cake. Some say it's best done months before, But I'm pedantic; I deplore Such early starts to Christmastide. If it were my decision, I'd Forbid the C-word to be used Till Advent started; it's abused As matters stand….Enough, I'm ranting - Instead, I'll go and start decanting Some Christmas spirit from its bottle. Thus fuelled and running on full throttle I'll talk you through instructions for Gateau à la mode du torr. Ransack your larder first of all. It's likely that among your haul You'll find dried fruit, which often lurks In ... more

I am often asked how I make my cakes so irresistible and light and tasty. I follow three simple rules which work every time for me and I do hope you follow my tips which I have placed between my recipes for you to enjoy your baking days rather than groaning when your cakes turn out to be a big flop. Just imagine the nice summer tea parties you will be able to have to show off your new skills to your friends and families. Xx Magical fairy cakes xX Ingredients (makes 30 mini fairy cakes): 4 ounces butter 4 ounces Caster Sugar 4 ounces sifted Self Raising Flour 2 eggs 1 cup sifted Icing sugar ... more

This is one of my favourite recipes, I hope that the long list of ingredients does not put you off as they are not very dear and can be kept for a while afterwards to use in other recipes. Now I am a Catholic and we celebrate Christmas. There are certain things that really remind me of Christmas and one of those things is walking into the house and smelling lots of lovely Christmas smells. Christmas smells to me are baking cakes and goodies, as my Grandma used to make cakes for people, both as Christmas presents and as orders. Due to all of these orders, it seems that we always had about 20 ... more

I really wanted to have a tea break from the serious type of reviews, and liking a challenge, set myself the target of writing a review for a recipe of a cake I have been making recently. My pastry might only be good as a door stop, and my yorkshires do look more like pancakes, but my cakes are usually "not half bad" if I quote myself! Well they do all get eaten, and not stuffed down the sofa, or hidden at the bottom of the bin. My real skill in the kitchen is cake decorating but that's another story! This is an inexpensive cake to make, in fact I use cheap ingredients, from the Tesco Value ... more

Its probable that Chocolate Cake is about as controversial as baking gets - everyone has their own favourite, arguments abound on the best cocoa powder, cocoa solids percentage and frankly every other slight differentiation of sugar, flour, butter quantity, type and derivation. Its nearly as bad as asking someone how to make the perfect bacon sandwich. With chocolate cake, the only thing to which most people agree is they like it - except me. I don't like chocolate. There I've said it out loud. I did used to like it, something happened (medical, let's not go there) and now I don't. But ... more