The original recipe for this almond and apricot cake can be found here.

Ingredients

230g fresh apricots, chopped (or a drained 411g tin if they aren’t in season)

200g unsalted butter

200g golden caster sugar

3 large eggs

75g ground almonds

1 tsp almond extract

200g self raising flour

A handful of flaked almonds to decorate

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160 C /140 C fan / Gas 2/3. Line a deep loose bottomed 20cm (8 in) cake tin with baking parchment.

2. Drain the tinned apricots in a colander (see tip) and cut the drained apricots into pieces and keep to one side.

3. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat the eggs into the mix one at a time with an electric whisk. Stir in the ground almonds and the almond extract. Then sift the flour onto the mixture and fold in thoroughly. Gently fold in the reserved apricots.

4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, and smooth the top, pushing down any apricot pieces that appear on the surface. Sprinkle the top with the flaked almonds and press slightly to flatten.

5. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Test with a skewer inserted into the cake to ensure it is cooked. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is cooked, otherwise give it a further 5 or 10 minutes until done. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool in the tin.

6. Place on a cooling rack and when completely cool remove the parchment.

This cake is delicious served on its own, or with cream or ice cream. Why not try custard on a chilly day?! Yum!

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Martha very kindly wrote out the recipe for me – thanks to Mum for passing it on!

Ingredients

175g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

150g butter

150g caster sugar

2 large eggs

150g plain natural yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 apple (peeled, cored and chopped)

50g oats

250g cherries (washed and stones removed – you could use frozen but fresh are better)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan) gas mark 4. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl and set aside.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 tbsp of the flour mixture and then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat well.

3. Gradually add in the flour mix and the yoghurt until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chopped apple, oats and cherries and then pour into a lined tin – I used my brownie pan which was the perfect size. Level the mixture with a palette knife.

4. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, cover and then bake for a further 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin.

Enjoy! It is delicious on its own or with custard!

The post Martha’s apple and cherry traybake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This recipe comes from the BBC Good Food Magazine website, and originally appeared in the magazine in January 2002.

Ingredients

For the cake

225g softened butter, plus extra for greasing

225g golden caster sugar

4 medium eggs

2 limes, grated zest and juice

250g self-raising flour, sifted with a pinch of salt, plus extra flour

25g ground almonds

100g each blueberries and raspberries

For the syrup

8 tbsp lime juice (about 4 limes)

1 lime, grated zest

140g golden caster sugar

Method

1. Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8in square cake tin (not loose-based) with greaseproof paper and butter the paper. Set oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan oven 160C.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour towards the end to prevent curdling. Beat in the lime zest, then fold in the flour and almonds. Fold in enough lime juice – about 3 tablespoons – to give you a good dropping consistency (the mixture should drop easily from the spoon when tapped).

3. Fold in three quarters of the blueberries and raspberries and turn into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface, then scatter the remaining fruit on top – it will sink as the cake rises.

4. Bake for about 1 hour (cover with foil if beginning to brown too much), or until firm to a gentle prod in the centre. A skewer pushed into the centre should be clean when removed.

5. Meanwhile make the syrup: put the lime juice, zest and sugar in a small saucepan. Put over a gentle heat and stir, without allowing to bubble. The sugar should dissolve a little. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer then spoon the syrup over it. To store, cool before wrapping in paper and/or foil.

6. Carefully remove the cake from the tin, discard the lining paper and cut into 12 pieces to serve. Enjoy!

The post Raspberry and blueberry lime drizzle cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I haven’t done any baking for such a long time because we’ve been trying to eat more healthily recently, but we had a couple of days off this week and I just fancied doing a bit! I decided to look for a new recipe with fresh raspberries and came across this one – these cupcakes are quite tangy and so moist, so if you’re looking to make something that isn’t too sweet, these are perfect. Serve them warm with some creme fraiche – yum!

This recipe comes from the BBC Good Food website and was originally published in Good Food Magazine in July 2005.

Ingredients

200g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs
200g caster sugar
3 tbsp milk
50g ground almonds
zest of 1 medium orange
150g punnet raspberries, lightly crushed, plus extra to decorate

For the sugar crust
juice of 1 medium orange
4 tbsp caster sugar

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases.

2. Tip the first 8 ingredients into a large bowl and beat with electric whisk until smooth (or use the usual creaming method if you’re like us and you don’t have a mixer!)

3. Fold the crushed raspberries through the batter.

4. Divide the batter between the cases (they should be about half full) and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden and just firm.

5. Whilst the cupcakes are in the oven, make the topping by mixing together the orange juice and sugar until well blended.

6. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool a little. Drizzle each with the orange and sugar crust mix. Top with the extra raspberries to serve.

Enjoy!

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