Manor House Fruit Cake There are many attempt to imitate the Mr Kipling’s Manor House Fruit Cake; this is mine. 225g self raising flour 110g butter 110g caster sugar 1 tsp mixed spice 225g mixed dried fruit (with or without peel; I prefer with) 5 tbs milk 1 egg Demerara sugar Set oven to 180C. Mix flour and butter to breadcrumbs (best done in a food processor, but rubbing in by hand is traditional).

Quick Crumb Coffee Cake Originally from America’s Test Kitchen. Makes two 23cm cakes, each serving 6 - 8. The recipe claim that the batter will bake unevenly in a large pan, but that hasn’t been my experience; it may depend on pan versus oven size. The advantage of the two cake tin method is that you could freeze one before baking. Ingredients Topping 65g light brown sugar 65g granulated sugar (or use caster, or all light brown sugar) 50g all-purpose flour 60g unsalted butter, softened 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 115g pecans or walnuts, chopped coarse Cake 425g plain flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon salt 440ml sour cream 200g light brown sugar 200g granulated sugar 3 large eggs 105g unsalted butter, melted and cooled Method Heat the oven to 180C, and grease two 23cm cake pans.

Ingredients: Streusel 30g/1 oz butter 60g/2 oz plain flour 60g 2 oz Demerara sugar Rub the butter and flour together, then stir in the sugar. You can do this by hand or in a food processor. Ingredients: Cake 110g/4 oz butter 110g/4 oz caster sugar 110g/4 oz self-raising flour 2 large eggs In a food processor pulse the butter, sugar and flour; a few short pulses should be sufficient.

New York Times Plum Torte New York Times Original Plum Torte. Ingredients 150 - 200g (.75 - 1 cup) sugar 115g (.5 cup) butter 2 eggs 120g (1 cup) plain flour 1 tsp baking powder pinch of salt 24 halves of plums (400 - 500g) 1 tbs sugar 2 tsp - 1 tbs lemon juice 1 tsp cinnamon - topping Method Heat oven to 175C/350F.

Rachel Roddy's Biscotti Adapted from Rachel Roddy’s Biscotti. Set oven to 180C. Whisk 4 large eggs with 350g caster sugar until thick and creamy. Add: 500g flour (the linked recipe asks for 400g, but that is very hard to handle) 150g toasted hazelnuts 2 tbs olive oil pinch of salt 0.5 tsp baking powder 60g sultanas zest of one large orange Mix and form into 2 x 20cm logs, then flatten into 10cm wide.

Burnt Basque Cheesecake Originally from La Viña, San Sebastian, I took this recipe from Bon Appetit, which is reasonably close to the original. Uses a 25cm (10”) springform pan (I only have a 9" pan, which takes a few minutes longer to cook). 2 lb/900g cream cheese 1.5 cups/300g sugar 6 large eggs 2 cups/480ml heavy cream 6g/1 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/3 cup/40g plain flour Heat oven to 400F/205C.

Seed Cake This is a very traditional British tea cake, and I’ve been making it since university (as it was very cheap to make!). I’ll reference this recipe from Nigel Slater, but it appears to be almost identical to the one from Delia Smith. 120g butter 120g caster sugar 3 large eggs 170g SR flour 50g ground almonds 2 tsp caraway seeds 2 tbs milk Heat the oven to 160C.

Brioche This recipe is adapted from Richard Bertinet’s recipe in Crust. The shopping list is very attractive in its simplicity: 500g flour, 1 250g block of butter and six eggs (plus a little sugar, yeast and salt). Start around 6-7pm, to bake the next morning in time for lunch. 500g strong white flour 50g caster sugar 1 sachet (7g) yeast 10g salt 350g eggs (== 6 large, approx) Mix dry ingredients, then add eggs and combine well.

Shortbread Based on: Felicity Cloake’s Perfect Shortbread. Quantities doubled to suit the baking tray; makes 20 - 24 fingers. Set the oven to 150C. Line with greaseproof paper one of those half baking trays with a raised edge (1cm). 230g room temperature butter 110g caster sugar Beat together until smooth.  Sift and add: 260g plain flour 80g rice flour/fine semolina Good pinch of salt Bring together as a dough, the press or roll out into the baking tray.

Scones Recipe from Richard Bertinet’s Dough. Makes 10 - 20 scones, depending on how you roll them out. 150g butter (salted, or add a small pinch of salt) 600g plain flour 150g caster sugar 40g baking powder 280g sultanas 190ml double cream 190ml milk 1 egg for egg wash Rub in butter and flour to the texture of breadcrumbs, but don’t overdo it; there should till be flecks of butter in the mix.