This recipe originally comes from the Delicious Magazine website.

Ingredients

425g strong plain white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp salt

50g butter, softened

7g sachet easy-blend fast-action yeast

1 tsp ground cinnamon

25g light muscovado sugar

1 eating apple, cored and finely diced (I used a Pink Lady apple)

150g dried cranberries

125ml milk, plus extra for brushing

400g natural colour marzipan

Method

1. Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it in until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, then add all the remaining ingredients except the milk and marzipan.

2. Pour the milk into a jug and add 125ml boiling water. Stir into the dough and mix well until it gathers into a soft ball.

3. Turn the mixture out onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cut off about 75g marzipan and reserve to make the crosses. Cut the remaining marzipan into twenty four 1cm cubes. Form the dough into a fat sausage and cut into 12 slices, cut each slice in half and place a piece of marzipan in the centre of each and pinch the dough around it. Roll into a ball and place on a baking tray.

4. Roll out the reserved marzipan into tiny thin sausages and use to make crosses on the buns. Cover loosely with cling film. Leave in a warm place, for about an hour, until doubled in size and the dough feels very light and airy.

5. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180c/gas 6. When ready to bake, brush the top of the risen buns with milk. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy – Happy Easter!

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If you’re looking for a sweet Easter treat, look no further! This delicious citrus and marzipan Bakewell tart is a twist on a classic Bakewell. It is perfect for an Easter lunch – or for any other occasion actually! To make it super special, you could make your own lemon curd. The original recipe says to use a 12 x 35cm tin, but I used two small round loose-bottomed ones instead [Edit: I have used both round and rectangular tins and both work equally well!] I popped one of them in the freezer (un-iced) and it froze very well, so if you’re prepping for a party you could make this in advance.

This recipe comes from the April 2014 issue of BBC Good Food magazine. The recipe suggests using ready-made pastry – I actually made my own from scratch, but you can do whatever you prefer!

Ingredients

375g pack sweet shortcrust pastry (or use this recipe if you want to make it yourself)
Jar of lemon curd (or see this recipe to make your own!)
280g/10oz icing sugar
Juice 1 lemon

For the sponge

100g/4oz very soft butter
100g/4oz golden caster sugar
50g/2oz ground almonds
50g/2oz self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 medium eggs, beaten
25g/1oz chopped candied peel
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1/2 orange
50g/2oz block marzipan

Method

1. Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Line the tin and then press any overhanging pastry back over the outside of the tin (you can trim after baking). Prick the base all over with a fork and chill for 30 mins.

2. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Bake the pastry until just cooked but not coloured, and lower the heat to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4.

3. Make the sponge mixture by beating the butter, sugar, ground almonds, flour, almond extract and eggs together with an electric whisk until well mixed (I don’t have one currently, so followed the usual creaming by hand method).

4. Tip in the candied peel and zests, then coarsely grate in the marzipan – the best way to do this is to keep dipping the end of the block in flour to stop it getting sticky, and stir into the mix every now and then to stop it all clumping back together. Give everything a good stir.

5. Spoon 3 tbsp of the lemon curd into a piping bag or small food bag and set aside for later. Spread the rest (or as much as is needed) over the base of the tart, then spoon over the sponge mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 35-40 mins until golden and firm, before allowing to cool completely in the tin.

6. If serving straight away, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough of the lemon juice to get a smooth and thick, but still runny icing. Spread it all over the top of the tart and then pipe the lemon curd onto the top. You could pipe horizontal lines across the length of the tin and then use the end of a cocktail stick to drag lines down the tin, creating a feathered effect.

The tart should keep well for up to 5 days in an airtight container…if it lasts that long! Enjoy!

Post updated 6th May 2017.

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