Mary Berry's Whole Orange Spice Cake

Whole Orange Spice Cake

I took this recipe from Mary Berry's Christmas Collection cookery book which I've had since it first came out in 2006, although there is now an updated version.

It's an easy cake to make but one which requires using a food processor.  My small processor just coped with the amount of batter mix.

The skin was too thick and my orange had to be cooked for an hour or so

The orange should be a thin skinned variety otherwise it won't cook down enough in 20 minutes and will process into hard chunks of orange.

It's a huge cake, well it is for 2 people, I think it will feed 12 easily and because it freezes well without the icing sugar topping, it makes a very inexpensive cake to feed a crowd over Christmas and New Year. If I made the cake again I'd definitely make some type of orange topping rather than the dusting of icing sugar. The cake is very light and moist and I served my cake with double cream.

The star template is reusable and came in an assorted pack from Lidl.

I line the base and sides of my sandwich tins
 to ensure the cake doesn't stick to the tin

The recipe can be found on the Mary Berry website.

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes taken with the Nikon D3200

Looking at bananas in the fruit bowl turning from black to blacker, resisting throwing them out and then feeling pressured into using them happens far too often in my house, so let's do some baking. All you need are a few store cupboard/fridge ingredients to make the cake batter and hopefully a few cupcake cases.  I used nine tulip cupcake cases and shared the batter between them.

The recipe by Mary Berry for the banana and chocolate chip cupcakes can be found on the Daily Mail website, I substituted the caster sugar for soft brown sugar and left the milk out to prevent the chocolate chips sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes.

Banana and Chocolate Chip Loaf

Mary Berry to the rescue for those black banana recipes, the banana and chocolate chip loaf is one of the best I have ever eaten - I try to remember to leave the milk out of the recipe because I've always found the chocolate chips sink to the bottom of the loaf, in this instance I forgot and the chocolate chips sank....This loaf improves with keeping and turns lovely and sticky, a drizzle of chocolate on top of the loaf will totally transform it's otherwise plain appearance.

Both the cupcakes and loaf freeze perfectly.

More suggestions for using up those ripe or over ripe bananas:

Nigella's Chocolate Banana Muffins
Banana Blueberry Cakes

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Ginger: Recipe

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Toffee Sauce and Ice Cream

There are many variations of Sticky Toffee Pudding, and here is yet another, but this time with a ginger twist.  If dates aren't your thing, a pudding studded with stem ginger may well entice you towards making this rich and delicious pudding.

The pudding is really light in texture and the outer crust is sticky. I decided to use a toffee
sauce recipe using evaporated milk, it's more lightweight than using double cream and I promise the sauce doesn't taste of 'evap'.

A fabulous recipe by Mary Berry from her book Mary Berry's Family Sunday Lunches.

I served mine with ice cream because I like hot puddings with a dollop of cold ice cream.......

Slightly adapted recipe.

Serves: 6-8 people

You will need:  greased and base lined baking tin measuring 26cm x 19cm.

75g soft unsalted butter, 150g light brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 175g self-raising flour, 1tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 tbsp black treacle, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 125ml milk, 4 bulbs stem ginger in syrup chopped finely.

1. Heat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Place the softened butter and sugar into either a food processor or mixing bowl and beat until it is light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, flour, bicarbonate of soda, treacle, vanilla extract and milk - whisk or whiz until smooth and thick.
4. Pour into the baking tin, bake for 35 - 45 minutes until cooked.
5. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, turn out onto a baking tray.
6. Cut into slices - after cooling the pudding can be frozen or to reheat place on a plate and microwave for 30-40 seconds to reheat.

Sauce:
60g unsalted butter, 150g demerara sugar, 1 tbsp golden syrup, 150g evaporated milk

For the sauce: 
1. Melt the butter in a small pan.
2. Add the sugar and golden syrup to the butter.
3. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
4. Pour in the evaporated milk.
5. Beat until boiling.

To Serve:
1. Reheat a slice of pudding in the microwave for 30-40 seconds on high.
2. Pour the hot sauce over the pudding.
3. If you wish, serve with either a dollop of ice cream or some fresh cream.

For more of my yummy puddings:
Syrup Sponge
Plum, Rhubarb and Apple Crumble
Vanilla Rice Pudding with Blackberries & Plums
Brioche & Butter Pudding

Mary Berry's Gingerbread Traybake - Recipe

A traybake can be made in any square or rectangular tin and you can increase or decrease the quantities to your hearts content. I love a traybake because of its versatility.  A traybake doesn't have to be a cake, it can be a pudding too, cut into squares and open freeze for a rainy day. It was Mary Berry who back in the day first introduced me to the wonders of a traybake bake, and true to say it lost favour for many, many years.

Iced and decorated gingerbread.

The batter waiting to go into the oven for baking.

When I first married I used to watch her on TV (I was a child bride!),  I then went on to purchase my first cookery book, which was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookery Book and I can remember they updated this quite a few years after it first came out.  When Mary contributed to Home & Freezer Digest I used to buy this from the newsagents and can remember saving every copy.

I bought a copy of Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook and gave my children a copy of this too, to use for reference, and hopefully cook a few recipes.  My daughters husband uses this cookery book and makes a fabulous Potato Dauphinoise, another favourite is Potato Lyonnaise, he has also turned out a few memorable starters using recipes from this book.

Some of my Mary Berry cookery books - do you have a collection too?

There are a few recipes on my site that I have cooked from Mary Berry cookbooks and they are all delicious.  One of my favourites is her Lamb Tagine and this is one of the best tagine recipes ever. A couple of her books on my wish list are Mary Berry's Family Sunday Lunches and her latest cookbook, Mary Berry at Home.

The following recipe is taken from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book - I always halve this quantity and use a 18 x 28cm tin.  Freeze un-iced.

Slightly adapted recipe.  For this quantity of mixture you will need a 30 x 23cm tin lined with parchment paper.

275g golden syrup
275g black treacle
225g dark molasses sugar
225g unsalted butter
450g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons mixed spice
2 rounded teaspoons ground ginger
4 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons milk

For the icing:
225g icing sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
50g crystallised ginger finely chopped.

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas 3.
2. Measure the syrup, treacle, sugar and butter into a large pan.  Heat very gently until the butter has melted.  Remove from the heat and stir in the flour and spices.  Add the beaten eggs and milk, beat until smooth.
3. Pour into the lined tin.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes until beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
5. Cool in the tin.
6. When cold lift out of the tin and remove the lining paper.
7. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the lemon juice, drop by drop and mix until smooth.
8. Decorate with the chopped ginger and leave the icing to set.
9. Cut into squares.

Review - Cook up a Feast, Mary Berry and Lucy Young

When asked if I would like to review a copy of Cook up a Feast, I just knew this book would be perfect for me.

I have followed Mary Berry for more years than I care to remember! Mary is regularly on our television screens, has written countless cookery books and is also an Aga specialist.

Lucy Young has worked with Mary for 20 years. Lucy is a cookery writer, gives Aga demonstrations, makes television appearances and writes a regular magazine column.

Mary and Lucy have now written a cookery book together, to serve larger numbers, after numerous requests from readers of their books and members of the audience at their Aga demonstrations. Many of the recipes are for 6 to 12 people, and some of the recipes will serve up to 48. The book gives information for cooking either in the Aga or conventional oven. Advice is also given for preparing ahead and freezing (a Mary Berry trademark!).

There are chapters on party bites, starters, special main courses, pot luck party, buffets, bowl parties, Italian food, summer in the garden, desserts and tea for a crowd.

A wealth of useful information for preparing a feast, planning the occasion, serving the right amount, kitchen knowhow, the right equipment, setting the scene, cheats and shortcuts and on the day. Everything you need to know, to help take away the stress, when cooking for a number of people.

The book has over 300 pages of exciting recipes to suit all cooking abilities, from the novice through to the more experienced cook. A taster of some of the recipes from the book - Crostini with slow roasted tomatoes and herbs, Bruschette with Reblochon and roasted vegetables, Celebratory fish platter, Boursin-stuffed chicken with garlic and mint sauce, Marinated marmalade and whisky lamb fillet, Mushrooms and spinach en croute, Rhubarb and lemon pots, Magenta fruit compote with white chocolate sauce, Party pavlova pyramid - just to name a few!

You shouldn't have to worry about making any of the recipes from this book, because from experience, I have always found Mary Berry and Lucy Young recipes work because they are thoroughly tested.



From the book I made Hazelnut meringue roulade with raspberries to serve 8-10 (oops in this case it fed 2 people over a couple of days!). The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The roulade can be prepared and made up to 12 hours ahead and can also be frozen. A perfect dessert, light and luscious. If you, like me, grow your own raspberries, the roulade will taste even better.


Fillet steak with a creamy mushroom sauce to serve 6. There was just the two of us and I scaled the recipe down very easily. Again, the instructions were clear and concise and it was easy to produce a wonderful meal. This recipe too has instructions for preparing ahead. I made the Cheese-topped dauphinois potatoes to go alongside the steak and these were delicious. In my freezer I now have some potato dauphinois for a rainy day.


Chicken tikka masala served with plain boiled rice and naan bread. The recipe is to serve 6 people, I made the full quantity and put half the cooked masala in the freezer for another day. This recipe uses chicken thighs but I am afraid I used breast because I am not a fan of chicken thighs - I know, I know!

Thank you Gemma.

ROAST FILLET OF PORK WITH CRANBERRY AND MADEIRA GRAVY

On a very cold and frosty New Year's Eve, we went to a 'bit of a do' at a local 2 AA Rosette Award Hotel, where they were having a buffet and disco. I know we are all affected by the credit crunch, but the food wasn't great. I'm now thinking I should have stayed at home and cooked this meal on New Year's Eve instead of New Year's Day!!!

Pork fillet can be quite a dry meat because it is so lean but this was the perfect way to cook the fillets, swathed in a bandage of streaky bacon and filled with a mushroom and Parmesan cheese stuffing.

This made a perfect roast, the pork can be prepared the day before, sit happily in the fridge and cooked the next day. The roast cooks in just an hour, carves neatly (when my husband does the carving!) and any leftovers can be served with a salad the next day, which is exactly how we ate it. I know it's too late now to be thinking about buffets etc. but this is definitely a winner for the salad plate.


The stuffing could be made chunkier by not cutting the mushrooms as small as I did, but I had a new kitchen toy a few months ago and got a bit carried away!!

To make the roast you simply flatten two pork fillets, fill with the mushroom stuffing and wrap in streaky bacon.

I'm not sure whether the pork looks dry in the photograph, but it wasn't - promise.

Nearly forgot to say, I served the pork with potato dauphinoise, carrot batons and roasted cauliflower. I didn't make the cranberry and Madeira gravy because unfortunately I forgot to buy the cranberry juice. I made a brandy and mushroom sauce instead, which went surprising well with the meal.

I bought 450g of pork fillet and cut it into two pieces width ways. This was enough for two people with leftovers.

To make my potato dauphinoise, which is a lower in fat version of this classic, simply make in the usual way but to 900g of potatoes I use 300ml of half-fat creme fraiche mixed with 200ml of semi-skimmed milk, 50g Gruyere cheese or a reduced-fat Cheddar cheese coarsely grated and 15g unsalted butter.

Mary Berry is a prolific author of cookery books and you can visit her website here.

MARY BERRY'S CHRISTMAS COLLECTION

ISBN 0755315626 - Page 93

Serves: 6

You will need: 2 pork fillets of equal length, each about 450g in weight (trimmed of all fat), 10-12 long streaky bacon rashers, salt and ground black pepper.

For the stuffing: 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil, 1 finely chopped medium onion, 225g chopped chestnut mushrooms, 40g freshly grated Parmesan, 25g fresh white breadcrumbs, 3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves, 1 egg yolk.

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7.
2. Make the stuffing. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the chopped onion and fry for a few minutes over a low heat until tender. Add the chopped mushrooms to the onion, and cook over a high heat to drive off any liquid from the mushrooms. When the pan is completely dry, take off the heat and add all the remaining stuffing ingredients and season. Set to one side to cool.
3. Split the pork fillets length ways halfway through (but not entirely in half), open out and cover with clingfilm. Beat out to flat. Stretch the bacon rashers with the back of a knife, and arrange overlapping on a chopping board.
4. Put one of the fillets on to the bacon, season with black pepper and spread with the stuffing. Cover with the other fillet, beaten side facing down. Roll up tightly, folding each piece of bacon over the roll. Lift onto a roasting tin with the bacon join underneath.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour until the bacon is crisp and the pork is cooked.
6. Let the pork rest for a minimum of 10 minutes before carving.

For the Cranberry and Madeira Gravy:

You will need: 25g butter, 100g sliced chestnut mushrooms, 300ml cranberry juice, 75ml Madeira, 1 rounded tablespoon plain flour, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Gradually pour in the cranberry juice. In a small bowl blend the Madeira with the flour until smooth, then add to the sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring, then add the balsamic vinegar. Season.

This was a fabulous meal and I will be making it again. After eating this, we soon forgot about the previous evenings meal. After all, we had moved on to 2009. Happy New Year everyone!

Recipe: Lamb Tagine by Mary Berry

Just by looking at the list of ingredients in this recipe you can tell all those spices are going to make this fabulous.

This recipe is by Mary Berry and one I make time and again.  It's one pot cooking and can be cooked in the slow cooker too.  The flavours pack a punch and my kitchen always smells wonderful when this is cooking. I have slightly adapted the recipe and added some chicken stock to loosen the sauce. I made this for the two of us and halved the list of ingredients, although for the lamb I used 300g. The tagine is best made the day before and left in the fridge overnight for the flavours to develop.

Lamb neck fillet from Waitrose was used in my recipe. For some unknown reason the butchers around here don't seem to sell it.

One of my hubs favourite meals and I craftily always make this if I've been out and bought things I didn't realise I needed:)

I served mine with rice purely because we aren't fans of couscous.

You will need:

1 tbs sunflower oil, 900g neck fillet of lamb, boneless shoulder or leg, 2 large onions, 3 cloves garlic crushed, 175g quartered dried apricots, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground paprika, ⅛ tsp hot chilli powder, 1 generous pinch of saffron soaked in 3 tbs hot water, 2 tbs honey, 800g tinned chopped tomatoes, ½ pint of chicken stock, chopped parsley and coriander to garnish.

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Heat the oil in a large casserole and brown lamb in batches. When browned, remove and put on one side.
3. Add the chopped onions and garlic to a pan on a low heat, stir and then cover for around 10-15 minutes until soft.
4. Increase the heat and add the spices including saffron and soaking liquid.
5. Add the apricots, honey, tomatoes and lamb. Add some of the stock to loosen the mixture - you may need to top up the casserole during cooking to make a sauce.
6. Bring to the boil, season and cover with a lid. Pop in the oven for at least two hours.
7. Garnish with lots of parsley and coriander and serve either with couscous or rice.

COTTAGE PIE WITH CRUSHED POTATOES AND CHERRY TOMATOES

Traditionally, Cottage Pie is made with minced beef, and Shepherd's Pie with minced lamb. The meat and vegetables are then topped with mashed potatoes.

I like to make Cottage Pie with lean minced steak or lean minced beef, chopped celery, carrots and onion. I'm not a fan of Shepherd's Pie. The minced lamb, even after removing all of the fat, still tastes too fatty for me.

This recipe evolved from a Cottage Pie base in the freezer. I simply cooked some new potatoes, crushed them, popped them on top of the defrosted pie base, drizzled some olive oil over the potatoes and cooked the Cottage Pie in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. Some grated cheddar cheese was sprinkled over the potatoes and a few cherry tomatoes tumbled on the top. Freshly ground black pepper was then sprinkled over. Return to the oven until the base is bubbling and the cherry tomatoes start to burst their skins.

I haven't given a recipe for the Cottage Pie base as most of us have our own personal favourite. The recipe I use is one from a Mary Berry book that I have used for years!

FRUIT LOAF WITH FRESH LIME AND GINGER

Anyone for a slice of cake? This fruit cake is light, moist and has a lovely lime icing. The unusual thing about this particular cake is that you simply throw everything into a bowl and mix. By doing this the fruit won't sink to the bottom of the cake. If you decide to make it the 'proper' way, then as I found out, the fruit all sinks to the bottom of the cake.
Lucy Young has put stem ginger into this cake and it is a wonderful match with the limes.
I've made this cake several times and sometimes use Nigella Lawson's Malibu icing instead of the suggested one here. Below I have also given the recipe for this.
Lucy Young wrote this book for the Aga but also gives instructions for conventional cookers. Lucy works for Mary Berry and helps run Mary's Aga workshops.


SECRETS FROM A COUNTRY KITCHEN BY LUCY YOUNG

ISBN 0091896754 - Page 180

Makes 2 cakes.

175g self-raising flower, 100g soft butter, 100g caster sugar, 3 eggs - beaten, 50g raisins, 50g glace cherries - quartered, washed and dried well, 150g sultanas, 4 bulbs stem ginger - finely chopped, finely grated zest of 2 limes.

1. You will need two 450g (1 lb) loaf tins, greased and base lined.
2. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas 3.
3. Measure all the ingredients for the cakes into a large bowl. Mix well until smooth. Divide between the two loaf tins, and level the tops.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes until golden brown or test if cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is cooked. Leave to cool in the tins.

FOR THE ICING

100g icing sugar - sieved, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 bulb stem ginger - chopped,
finely grated zest of 1 small lime.
Simply mix the icing sugar and lime juice together until smooth. Spread over the top of the cakes. Garnish with ginger down the centre and arrange lime zest over the top.

Recipe taken from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson - Page 23.

MALIBU ICING (slightly adapted)

125g instant royal icing
1 tablespoon Malibu
1 tablespoon water

Simply mix together until smooth and pour over the cake.