Orange and almond cake

Gluten-free cooking p.116
Serves 6-10 (depending on slice size)
Preparation / Cooking time: about 3h 30m all told (2h if using a pressure cooker)

This recipe comes from Michael Cox's Great Healthy Food: Gluten-Free (London: Carroll & Brown, 2000). It is delicious: soft and moist, with the strong orange flavour sitting very nicely alongside the subtler taste of almond. It is well worth the effort of the longish cooking time, though since the first two hours merely involve boiling the oranges, you aren't tethered to the kitchen for all that time.

A word of warning: this is one of those recipes where it makes a big difference if you leave it in too long. Check it on the dot of 60m to see if it is done (or five minutes earlier if your oven tends to be too hot); it may need a bit extra, but if it is ready at this stage it should be taken out immediately.

Ingredients
Butter for greasing
2 large oranges
6 eggs, medium-sized, separated
250g caster sugar [use less if you don't have a sweet tooth]
225g ground almonds [or a tad more if you reduce the sugar]

Watercress and Lancashire Cheese bread

SM 2003-04 p.90 [02.013.02]
Serves 8 [slices]
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 15m all told

Cinnamon buns and marzipan buns

Makes 16–24 (or 8–12, if halving the amounts) 

Preparation / Cooking time: allow 2h 30m (in case the dough is slow to rise) 
Advance prep: needs 75g soft butter, so remember to take some out of fridge (also needs cold butter for dough, so don't take it all out!) 

The mammal doesn't often bake cakes and buns – apart from small, light scones to pack in the lunchbox – unless it is entertaining guests (so many calories, so little self-control). But every so often it throws caution to the wind and gives it a go. And when you come down to it, buns with sweet fillings are really just bigger scones ... aren't they? 

Anyway, the latest effort was actually sparked by noticing a link on the Guardian website to 'How to bake the perfect cinnamon buns': somehow, it seemed a bit more uplifting a topic than the evidence of skulduggery and disaster promised by most of the other articles. This then called to mind an existing recipe for enriched dough that we had made ages before and had worked reasonably well, so it seemed like a good idea to use the filling given in the Guardian recipe with this tried-and-tested dough. 

It turned out that the dough recipe was accompanied by suggestions for fillings, including marzipan; this inevitably gave rise to mission creep and the grandiose notion of making one set of cinnamon whirls and one set of marzipan. The result, if less than professional in appearance, was wholly acceptable as far as taste was concerned. 

Note 1: it is best to make the cinnamon and / or marzipan filling before the dough, so it is ready to be used once the dough has been kneaded. 

Note 2: If you only want to make one set of buns, halve the quantities for the dough. 

CINNAMON FILLING 
Ingredients 
75g butter, softened 
50g dark brown sugar 
2 tsp cinnamon 
pinch salt 

Method 
Beat ingredients together until soft and easily spreadable

MARZIPAN
Ingredients
3oz ground almonds*
3oz caster sugar*
2oz icing sugar*
almond essence
1 egg
* As usual, the mammal decreased the sweetness slightly, using 4oz ground almonds and a total of 4oz of the sugars.

Method
Place ground almonds, caster and icing sugar, almond essence, and egg in a bowl and beat with wooden spoon.

ENRICHED BREAD DOUGH
Ingredients
1.5lb flour
1 tsp salt [actually used a heaped half tsp]
3oz butter (chilled)
2oz caster sugar
1 sachet quick (instant) yeast
8fl oz hand-hot milk
3 eggs, beaten

Method
Mix flour and salt together. Rub in butter, add sugar. Stir in yeast.

Gradually add milk.

Add eggs and mix to a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth.
[Note: this might be easier said than done – the dough is very soft indeed, so soft that the mammal chickened out of going straight to the kneading and first mixed it vigorously with a wooden spoon in the bowl until it had reached a manageable state of elasticity. Probably real bakers will faint on reading this.]

When the dough is kneaded, divide into two equal pieces if you have halved the quantities. 

Roll the first (or only) piece out on a lightly floured board until it is about 14 by 8 inches (you can vary this a little depending on the size and shape of the rolls you want). Gently spread on the filling with a knife, leaving a margin of about half an inch on the long sides. 

Roll up along the long edges, like a Swiss roll. Then cut into equal slices (8 gives fairly hefty buns, 10 or 12 for smaller ones) and set the pieces out on a greased and lightly floured baking sheet / tray on their sides, i.e. with the filling visible.

Repeat with second dough and filling if required.

Cover buns with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm part of the room to prove for an hour or until sufficiently risen (they won't double in size because of the filling, but they should be noticeably bigger). Brush lightly with egg before baking if you like.

Heat oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas mark 6 and, when it has warmed sufficiently, bake the buns in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes (check after 15m if your oven is on the hot side).

Remove from oven and cool on a wire tray. 

If you want to try the dough as per the Guardian recipe, you can find it here: 
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/may/22/how-to-bake-perfect-cinnamon-buns (the article also discusses various opinions and alternative recipes for making the best cinnamon buns).

The source of the dough recipe given above is lost in the mists of time and transmission, so apologies for failing to credit it.

English muffins

SM 2002-02 p.80 [01.071.02]
Makes 10
Preparation / Cooking time: up to 3h [incl time for rising]

Banana bread

[02.025.01]
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 50m all told

This recipe was provided years ago by one of the Mammal's mothers; in the fullness of time, she managed to lose her copy so here you are, Ma—banana bread once more! Despite the name, it's actually really a cake rather than a bread, and is the ideal way to deal with those squishy, black bananas that you meant to eat but never got around to. According to the recipe, it tastes better if left for a day or two but it usually doesn't last long enough to enable a comparison to be made.

As usual, we have reduced the amount of sugar used, showing the original amount in square brackets: you would need a pretty sweet tooth to use the full amount, given the sweetness of the ripe bananas. There are three optional ingredients—raisins, glacé cherries, and walnuts: from the Mammal's point of view, it really benefits only from the inclusion of the walnuts.

One word of warning: though very straightforward, this is one of those cakes where you have to keep an eagle eye on the time, as the outside burns very quickly after even five minutes too long in the oven. If your oven tends to be a bit on the enthusiastic side, have a quick check 15 minutes before it is due to come out and keep a close eye on it thereafter.

Ingredients
8oz flour
1 tsp baking powder
half level tsp salt
4oz cold butter
4[6]oz caster sugar
*4oz sultanas / raisins [optional]
* 1oz chopped walnuts [optional]
*4oz chopped glacé cherries [optional]
2 eggs
1 lb very ripe bananas

9.5" x 5.5" baking tin

Method
– Pre-heat oven to Gas 4, 180°C, 375°F
– Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl
– Rub in butter
– Add sugar (and sultanas/raisins, walnuts, and cherries if required)
– Mash bananas with a fork
– Add eggs to bananas
– Mix the banana–egg mush well into the other ingredients
– Pour / spoon mixture into lined and greased baking tin
– Put in the centre of the oven and bake for 1h 30m

Turn out onto a wire tray to cool.

Olive and chorizo soda bread

SM 2013-02 p.83

Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h all told

Soda bread is unbelievably easy to make, so the real hard work in this recipe comes from slicing some olives and dicing a little chunk of chorizo ... yes, we know, horrendously complicated and tiresome! This is a lovely bread, perfect for lunches (on its own, or with cheese, or perhaps a dash of seasoned oil: whatever takes your fancy). The recipe does call for kneading the dough lightly, but it is a bit soggy for that using the quantities given: if you just mix it well, turn it out onto the baking tray and pat it into shape with wooden spoon / spatula, that works fine.

Ingredients
450g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp caster sugar
1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
75g diced chorizo
10 pitted green olives, sliced
quarter tsp crushed dried chilli
300ml buttermilk
100ml milk
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°), gas 7. You can use either a silicon baking sheet or a large baking tray for baking the bread: if using a tray, put it in the oven to pre-heat.

2. Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and mix in the diced chorizo, sliced olives and dried chilli. Make a well in the centre. In a jug, mix together the buttermilk, milk and lemon juice.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to come together.

4. Lightly dust a work surface [or the silicon baking sheet, if you are using one] with a little flour and knead the dough to just bring it to an 18cm round loaf. Don't be tempted to over-work it, as this will result in tough bread. [If your dough is a bit runny for this, see comment above.]

5. Score a cross in the top of the dough [doesn't matter if you don't] and transfer the loaf to the pre-heated baking tray [if you are using one].

6. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C (fan 180°), gas 7, and bake the bread on the middle shelf for 45 minutes until risen, golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

© Sainsbury's Magazine

Gevulde speculaas (Speculaas with rich almond stuffing)

A seasonal recipe, this, and typically Dutch. You can either go the whole hog and make the marzipan-filled version, or just make the speculaas dough to make rich, spicy biscuits.
"Speculaas or speculoos is one of the Dutch culinary specialties. It is a spiced biscuit, made with wooden forms or moulds. They are typically winterfood, and especially associated with the feast of 'Sint Nicolaas' or Saint Nicholas, the original Santa Claus. This feast is celebrated on 5 or 6 December. Speculaas is very old, the spices used date from medieval times."
The recipe comes from the Coquinaria website, which gives some background information as well and from which the above information was extracted.

Note: This is a cake / biscuit recipe, but it also works very well if you serve it hot with ice cream as a dessert. It makes a fair amount, so plenty to allow the best of both worlds!

Ingredients for speculaas dough
500 gram (4 1/4 cups) simple white flour
250 gram (1 cup) cold butter
250 gram (1 1/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs, stirred
1/2 decilitre (1/4 cup) cream
salt to taste (don't forget this, and be liberal, otherwise your speculaas will taste bland)
50 to 60 gram (1/4 cup) spices for speculaas*
grated skin of 2 untreated lemons
200 gram (2 cups) flaked almonds, broken in to little pieces (optional)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
*This is a standard mix readily available in the Netherlands, but the website gives instructions for mixing it from scratch using powdered cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, ginger and cardamom.

Ingredients for almond paste** [you can use ready-made marzipan if you want]
Ground almonds
Caster sugar
Icing sugar
Eggs
Almond essence
Vanilla essence
**Use a standard recipe for almond paste / marzipan; depending on how deep a filling you want, use somewhere between 300g and 500g of ground almonds and proportion the other ingredients accordingly. 

Method
Go to the Coquinaria website at
http://www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/speculaas.htm

Chocolate hazelnut meringue torte

SM 2002-03 p.56 [01.061.04]
Serves 8–10

Easter egg cupcakes

SM 2002-03 p.55 [01.061.02]
Makes 12
Chocolate: bar, 12 sugar-coated chocolate eggs
Almond: ground
Cheese: cream cheese

Chocolate melting moments

SM 2002-03 p.55 [01.061.01]
Makes 16–18
Cereal: chocolate-coated, e.g. Choco Snaps or Coco Pops

Chocolate layer cake with white chocolate frosting

SM 2002-03 p.52,55 [01.060.03]
Serves 12–14

Greek honey and cinnamon biscuits

SM 2002-03 p.67 [01.060.02]
Makes about 20

Raspberry and brown sugar meringues

SM 2002-03 p.67 [01.060.01]
Makes 8

Parmesan and crispy-bacon scones

SM 2002-03 p.46 [01.057.02]
Makes 12
Cheese: parmesan.

Featherweight walnut cake with heavenly grapes

SM 2002-03 p.65 [01.059.01]
Serves 4–6
Nuts: walnuts.
Advance preparation: an hour for sugar-frosting grapes (can overlap with baking) and 3 hours for cooling / chilling.

Frangipane and apple tart

SM 2002-03 p.61 [01.058.04]
Serves 8
Almonds: ground.

Quick and easy raspberry and lemon squares

SM 2011-08 p.50
Makes 12–16
Prep time 15min, Total 1 hr, plus cooling [needs to cool completely, so allow plenty of time].
Will keep for a few days in an airtight container

This is a real winner: absolutely delicious, yet incredibly simple to make. Maximum results for minimum effort! The original quantities of sugar are shown in square brackets; the Mammal does not have a terribly sweet tooth and prefers to bake with the reduced amounts given below.

Ingredients
3 large eggs
175g caster sugar [200g]
175g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
200g very soft butter
a pinch of ground cinnamon
150g raspberries
For the syrup
75g granulated sugar [100g]
zest and juice of 2 lemons

Equipment: 20cm (8in) square baking tin, preferably loose-bottomed.

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180°C, fan 160°C (gas 4)
Combine all the cake ingredients apart from the raspberries, using either a mixer or a wooden spoon. Lightly oil the baking tin and line the base with non-stick paper [though if your tin is really non-stick, this should not be necessary].
Gently fold the raspberries into the mixture and tip into the tin, smoothing over the top.
Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and risen.

To make the syrup, combine all the ingredients. As soon as the cake is out of the oven, prick the top with a fork and spoon the lemon syrup over it [use it all, even though it will seem an awful lot. Also, if using a loose-bottomed tin, put some newspaper or kitchen paper underneath to deal with any seepage.] Leave in the tin to cool completely, then remove and cut into 16 squares or 12 rectangles [greedy!].

Per serving: 224cals; 12g fat (of which 7g saturated); 29g carbs; [20g] total sugars; 0.3g salt.

Italian chocolate and hazelnut torta

SM 2002-11 p.101 [01.049.01]
Serves 6–8
Advance preparation: chill for a minimum of 3 hours.

Irish apple cake

Mar 2008 p.111

Came across this in the magazine indexes while looking for the hot cross buns recipe, and was reminded of how delicious it was. Will post full recipe at same time as HCB recipe.

Hot cross buns

Apr 2005 p.58

This is a particularly nice recipe for hot cross buns.

Makes 12
Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus about 2 hours' proving time
Cooking time: 12–15 minutes

Note from experience: The addition of the grated apple to the dough can make it too soggy to knead properly, even with copious amounts of flour. Would suggest either using less milk / water than given in the recipe, or grating the apple in advance and letting it drain and dry out well (or even using dried apple, though this generally tends to be too sweet for baking, unless you've dried your own).

Ingredients
500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 x 7g sachet fast-acting yeast
75g caster sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
150ml warm milk
150ml warm water
125g raisins
60g mixed peel
95g peeled, cored and grated cooking apple
oil, for greasing
salt
To decorate (crosses and glaze)
95g flour
1 egg
95g smooth apricot jam

Method
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, caster sugar, cinnamon and a level teaspoon of salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk water.

Mix to a firm dough; add the raisins, mixed peel and apple. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until it is elastic.

Replace the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp (not wet) tea towel. Leave to prove in a warm place for about an hour, until it has doubled in size. Knock the dough back, cut into 12 even-sized pieces and shape them into rolls.

Lightly oil a baking sheet and put the rolls on it so that they just touch each other (they will grow together as they prove) and leave to prove in a warm place for 45m to and hour until they have almost doubled in size.

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (425°F, Gas 7). While the buns are proving, mix together the flour for the crosses with the egg and 3 tablespoons of water until you have a stiff, smooth paste. When the buns have risen, spoon this into a piping bag (either a proper one or one you've cobbled together yourself out of greaseproof paper) and pipe a cross on top of each bun.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 12 to 15 minutes until golden. Warm the apricot jam in the microwave or in a little pan with 2 tablespoons of water and brush over the top of the buns as soon as they come out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

(The buns are OK to freeze if desired).