Spring is finally on the horizon and to celebrate, we’re sharing a collection of beautiful recipes from the Easy Peasy Baking Campaign, which are perfect for baking for mum this Mother’s Day (19th March).
All recipes from the campaign are designed to be super simple and are made using only a handful of ingredients, making them perfect for baking with little ones as an extra special gift.
Bakewell Tart Traybake
Makes a 20 x 30 cm traybake – 15 bars
Ingredients
- 150g Plain flour
- 150g Caster sugar, split into 50g and 100g
- 200g Unsalted butter, softened, split into 2 x 100g
- 150g Ground almonds
- 1 Egg
- 200g Raspberry jam
- Handful of flaked almonds
- Icing sugar to dust
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Spoon
- Traybake tin, 9” x 13”, lined with baking paper
- Sieve/muslin (for dusting)
- Knife
Method
- Preheat the oven to 165°c (fan).
- Put all of the plain flour and 50g of caster sugar in the mixing bowl before rubbing in 100g of unsalted butter with your fingertips. When the mixture resembles crumbs, pour it into the lined traybake tin, spread it evenly and press it down so the crumbs loosely join together. Bake the base for 15 minutes.
- While the base is baking, combine the remaining 100g of butter, 100g caster sugar, ground almonds and the egg in the mixing bowl with a spoon to make the frangipane topping.
- When the base has had its 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and add the jam, spreading it with the back of the spoon to make an even layer over the top, followed by all of the frangipane mix (this will be a thicker layer) and a sprinkling of flaked almonds before returning to the oven for a further 30 minutes.
- When the traybake is golden on top, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the tin. Dust the whole thing with icing sugar, slice into bars and top with more flaked almonds.
Coffee, Caramel & Pecan Layer Cake
Makes one 3 layer 6” cake or one 2 layer 8” cake
370g unsalted butter, softened, split into 250g and 120g
400g caster sugar split into 250g and 150g
4 eggs
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 fresh espressos (120ml) or 1 tbsp + 1 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 5 tbsp of boiling water
150g pecans, roughly chopped + extra for decorating.
150ml double cream
1 tsp salt
500g icing sugar
Equipment
2 x 8” cake tins, lined
Mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Knife
Saucepan
Method
- Preheat your oven to 160°C (fan) and line your cake tins with baking parchment.
- To make the sponge, cream together 250g of the butter and 250g of the caster sugar then add the eggs and mix until combined.
- Add in the flour and baking powder, followed by two of the espressos, and mix until no lumps remain.
- Gently stir in the roughly chopped pecans and divide the batter evenly between the two or three cake tins, depending on how many you’re using. Use the back of the wooden spoon to level.
- Bake the sponges for 20-25 minutes until golden and springy to touch and allow to cool completely. If they aren’t springy, put them back into the oven and check again after 5 minutes.
- Whilst the sponges are cooling, make your caramel by heating the remaining 150g of caster sugar and water together in a saucepan over medium-high heat until boiling, without stirring – the sugar will naturally dissolve. Try not to agitate the caramel as it cooks and only swirl if necessary, do not stir with a spoon.
- Once the caramel has become amber in colour (around 5 minutes) and the bubbles are small, pour in the double cream, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon as you do so. It will bubble up and create a lot of steam, so be cautious. Once combined, stir in the salt and transfer the caramel to a bowl to cool.
- Once the caramel is cool, rinse the mixing bowl and spoon to make your buttercream. Combine the remaining 120g butter, icing sugar, and final espresso in the bowl and cream together until smooth.
- Save 60g caramel for the drip, then assemble your cake by sandwiching each layer with the buttercream and a spoonful of caramel spread on top before lightly coating the top and sides with the remaining buttercream to achieve a naked cake effect, scraping off any excess with the knife. If your remaining caramel has thickened up, pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds before pouring on top of the cake and teasing down the sides to create drips using the tip of your knife.
- Sprinkle some roughly chopped and whole pecans around the top edge and serve.
Gin & Tonic Drizzle Loaf
Makes 1 x 2lb loaf
Ingredients
- 1 Grapefruit/orange or 2 x lemons/limes
- 175g Self-raising flour
- 175g Caster sugar + 75g for soaking syrup
- 175g Unsalted butter, softened
- 3 Eggs
- 120ml Gin split into 50ml and 70ml
- 75ml Tonic water
- 150g Icing sugar
Equipment
- Knife
- Fine grater/zester
- Large mixing bowl
- Electric hand whisk
- Fork
- 2lb Loaf tin lined with baking paper/ loaf tin liner
- Saucepan
- Spoon
Method
- Preheat the oven to 165°c (fan).
- Take whichever citrus you are using and cut half into slices for decorating (½ grapefruit/orange or 1 whole lemon/lime). Zest and juice the other half using the fine grater/zester to zest and the fork to get the juice from the fruit.
- In the large mixing bowl, combine the self-raising flour, citrus zest and 175g of caster sugar. Add the butter, eggs, 50ml of gin, and 2 tbsp of citrus juice and mix with the electric hand whisk until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin and bake for 35 minutes until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven but leave in the tin.
- While the loaf is cooling slightly, pour the remaining citrus juice, tonic and 75g sugar into the saucepan and heat on medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes until the sugar has completely dissolved. Allow cooling slightly before stirring in the remaining gin (70ml). Set aside 3 tbsp of the syrup for the glaze.
- Poke the loaf all over with the fork and drizzle the syrup from the saucepan. You can do this while the loaf is still warm.
- When the loaf is completely cool, remove it from the tin. Wipe clean your mixing bowl and then use it to combine the 3 tbsp of reserved syrup with the icing sugar to make a glaze pour over the top of your loaf, slightly pushing it down the sides with the end of a spoon to create a drip effect. Decorate with citrus slices and serve.
Jam & Custard Tart
Makes 1 x 9” tart
Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 45 mins
Ingredients
- 300g plain flour
- 3 tbsp caster sugar + 40g for custard
- 150g unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp cold water
- ½ jar Bonne Maman Strawberry Jam
- 40g custard powder
- 450ml milk
- Icing sugar
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- 9” tart tin
- Lined baking tray
- Rolling pin
- Saucepan
- Whisk
- Star cutter
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan).
- In the large mixing bowl, rub together the flour, 3 tbsp sugar and unsalted butter until a crumb consistency is achieved. Add in the cold water and bring them together to form a dough.
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and cut off a third, setting it to one side.
- Roll the dough out, big enough to line your tart tin, drape it over the tin, folding and pushing the pastry into the corners. Leave any excess to hang over the edge. Prick the base all over with a knife.
- Roll out the remaining third of the dough, and cut out some stars, placing them on a lined baking tray.
- Place both the tart case and stars in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden. The stars may not need as long so keep an eye on them.
- Once the case is baked, make your custard filling by whisking together the custard powder with 40g sugar and a splash of milk to form a paste. When there are no lumps, add the remaining milk and place over medium heat and continue whisking until you have a nice thick custard. Pour it immediately into the tart case, spread it evenly and allow it to cool to room temperature before placing it in the fridge to cool completely.
- When the custard is cool and set firm, spread your Bonne Maman Strawberry Jam over the top and pop it back in the oven for 15- 20 minutes until the jam just begins to bubble. This will set the jam.
- Allow the tart to cool slightly before placing the pastry stars on top and dusting with icing sugar and serving.
Recipe from the Easy Peasy Baking campaign, launched by UK Flour Millers, making baking simple. You can find more Easy Peasy Baking recipes and information on the campaign over on the Fab Flour website: https://fabflour.co.uk/easy-peasy-baking/ or on social: @fab_flour on Instagram or @fabflour on Facebook and Twitter.
Winter supplements – shine until spring