bakesandcakes

This pretty twist on a classic German Christmas bake is lightly spiced, filled with mixed dried fruit and marzipan, then dusted with icing sugar

Spiced stollen plait

fruit

tbsp brandy, dark rum or orange juice

milk

tbsp clear honey

butter

flour

sachet fast-action dried yeast

½ nutmeg

cinnamon

tsp mixed spice

lemon

orange

marzipan

almonds

icing sugar

Put the dried fruit in a bowl with the brandy, rum or orange juice, cover with cling film and microwave on High for 1 min. Set aside to cool while you make the dough.

Pour the milk and honey into a pan and heat until they just come to the boil, then remove from the heat, add the butter and set aside to cool a little, swirling now and then to melt the butter. Meanwhile, mix the flour, yeast, spices and ½ tsp salt in a large bowl.

When the milk has cooled to body temperature, pour into the flour bowl. Add the egg and zest, and mix together with a spoon, then with your hands, until the mixture comes together as a dough. If it’s a little sticky, add a little extra flour.

Tip out onto your lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 mins or until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a clean, lightly greased bowl, cover with greased cling film and leave to prove for 2 hrs or until doubled in size. You can put the dough in the fridge for up to 2 days at this point; just bring back to room temperature before continuing.

When the dough has doubled in size, tip out onto the work surface and knock out the air bubbles. Knead in the soaked fruit.

Roll the dough into a square, roughly 40 x 40cm, then cut into 3 long strips. Break the marzipan into 3 balls, then roll each to the same length as the strips of dough. Put 1 marzipan sausage on top of each strip of dough, then pinch the sides of the dough together to encase the marzipan – so you have 3 long sausages of marzipan-filled dough. Flip the dough over so the seams are underneath, then pinch the 3 ends together. Tightly plait the dough, pinching together to seal when you finish. Place the plait on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, tucking the ends under for a neat finish. Cover loosely with a sheet of oiled cling film, leave to prove for 30 mins-1 hr or until doubled in size.

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Uncover the plait, brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle over the almonds. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 mins until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and dust with icing sugar before serving. Will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed container.

This malted drip cake is smothered in cream cheese icing and drizzled with a dark chocolate ganache – a stunning multi-layered centrepiece for a big occasion

Chocolate drip cake

unsalted butter, softened,

golden caster sugar

eggs

plain flour

powdered malt drink

tsp baking powder

natural yogurt

tsp vanilla extract

cocoa powder

dark chocolate, melted and cooled a little

butter oil,

golden syrup

tsp bicarbonate of soda

pack Maltesers

pack slightly salted butter

tbsp powdered malt drink

tub full-fat cream cheese

dark chocolate, finely chopped

milliliters double cream

First make the malt sponges. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the bases of 2 x 20cm cake tins with baking parchment. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well between each addition. Tip the flour, malt and baking powder into the bowl with ¼ tsp salt and fold together, then add the yogurt and vanilla, and give everything a final stir. Divide the cake mixture between the 2 tins, level the tops and bake on the middle shelf for 25-30 mins or until a skewer pushed into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Cool for 10 mins, then remove from the tins, peel off the baking parchment and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Wash the tins.

Now make the chocolate sponges. Grease and line the base of the tins as before and boil the kettle. In the same bowl (don’t worry about washing it), cream the butter and sugar as before, adding the eggs, one at a time, and mixing until combined. Sift in the flour, cocoa and baking powder with ¼ tsp salt. Fold the mixture together, then add the yogurt, melted chocolate and 100ml boiling water. Stir until combined, then divide between the tins. Bake for 25-30 mins, testing with a skewer as before. Cool in the tins for 10 mins, then turn out, remove the baking parchment and cool completely. The sponges can be made up to 2 days before being iced, cooled and wrapped tightly in cling film.

Make the honeycomb. Grease a baking tray with a little butter or oil. Put the sugar and golden syrup in a large pan. Warm over a medium heat and leave to bubble to a liquid caramel, but don’t stir. When you’re happy with the colour (the darker it gets, the more intense the flavour will be), add the bicarbonate of soda and quickly stir into the syrup. Before the bubbles die down, pour the foaming mixture onto the baking tray, then set aside for 30 mins to cool and firm up.

Make the icing. In your largest mixing bowl, beat the butter with half the icing sugar, the malt and vanilla until smooth. Add the remaining icing sugar and the cream cheese, and beat again until well combined – don’t overmix or the icing may become runny.

You’re now ready to assemble. Put one of the sponges on a cake stand or cake board, sticking it down with a small blob of icing. Use ¼ of the icing to stack the cakes, alternating between the malt and chocolate sponges. Place the final sponge on top, flat-side up. When assembled, use a palette knife to cover the entire cake with a thin layer of the icing, filling any gaps between sponges, but don’t worry about completely covering the sponges at this stage. This is called a crumb coat and ensures that your final layer is crumb-free. Make space in your fridge and chill the cake for 30 mins to firm up the icing.

Once the icing is chilled, use the remaining icing to completely cover the cake. This is easiest if you pile the icing on top of the cake, then use a palette knife to ease it over the edge and down the sides. You can make it as smooth or as rough as you like. Chill for another 30 mins.

Make the drizzle. Meanwhile, put the dark chocolate in a bowl and heat the cream in a small pan until just steaming. Pour the cream over the chocolate and leave to melt for 5-10 mins. Stir to make a glossy ganache, then set aside to firm up a little – you want the ganache to be pourable but not too runny, to make drizzly droplets down the side of the cake.

When the ganache is the correct consistency, remove the cake from the fridge and spoon the ganache over the top edge of the cake, encouraging it to drizzle down the side with your spoon – start at the back of the cake to get the hang of it. Fill in the middle of the top of the cake with chocolate too.

Break the honeycomb into tall shards and stack them on top of the cake. Finish with whole and halved Maltesers, adding a few around the base, along with some honeycomb crumbs. The cake is best served within 2-3 hrs of assembling, but will still taste delicious for up to 3 days. Store leftovers in the fridge and allow to come back to room temperature before serving.

This fruity bake has a whole orange whizzed up and added to the batter for a zesty teatime treat

Orange & coriander drizzle cake

coriander seeds

polenta

self-raising flour

To make the cake, put the orange in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hr or until you can pierce the orange easily with a knife.

Drain, leave to cool, then cut the orange into quarters. Cut each quarter in half so that you have 8 pieces, and remove any pips. Put 75g of the sugar in a small pan and add 100ml water and the orange pieces. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat and simmer for 10 mins. Allow the orange to cool slightly, then either blitz with a stick blender or liquidise to a pulp. Crush the coriander seeds using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder, then add to the warm orange pulp along with the polenta. Stir to combine, then leave to cool.

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease and line the base and sides of a 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Put the butter, flour, baking powder, eggs and the remaining 100g caster sugar in a large mixing bowl along with the cooled orange pulp. Mix until thoroughly blended using an electric hand mixer. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 35-45 mins or until springy to the touch – a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean. The cake should be pale in colour and just leaving the sides of the tin. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the decoration. Using a potato peeler, peel half the zest from the orange into large strips, then slice very thinly so that you have lots of orange zest shreds (like you would for marmalade). Put the caster sugar and 100ml water in a small saucepan set over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then add the orange shreds. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 8-10 mins until the shreds are quite soft. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside on a tray lined with baking parchment.

When the cake has cooled, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Juice the orange and add enough of it to the icing sugar to make a runny icing. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake and scatter the orange shreds on top.

Give mince pies a makeover with this alternative recipe - all the festive flavour wrapped up in sheets of filo pastry and baked until crisp

Mincemeat samosas

apple

dried ready-to-eat apricots chopped

pistachios

dried cranberries

sultanas

nutmeg

brandy

Mix together the fruit, dried fruit, nuts, spices and brandy. Leave the mixture in the fridge for 30 mins to allow the flavours to develop, then stir in the honey. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Arrange the filo sheets with the short side facing you and, using scissors, cut the stack in 3 vertically, to make long strips. Brush the top 3 strips with melted butter.

Working quickly, put 1 heaped spoonful of mincemeat at the top of the first strip. Fold one corner of the pastry over it to form a triangle, then continue folding alternately left and right to form a triangular package, until you’ve used up all the strip. Repeat with the other strips, brushing with butter before folding.

Place on a baking sheet and brush each one with more melted butter. Bake for 15-20 mins until crisp and golden. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm (reheat later in a low oven if necessary).

Replace sugar with xylitol and swap butter and oil for a puréed whole orange in this light and zesty cake, with ground almonds and polenta

Moroccan orange & cardamom cake

oranges scrubbed

green cardamom pods crushed

pack xylitol (we used Total Sweet)

pack ground almonds

2tsp baking powder

Greek yogurt

Put the whole oranges in a pan, cover with water and boil, covered, for 1 hr until a knife easily pierces them. If the oranges won’t stay under the water, place a small saucepan lid directly on top to keep them submerged. Remove the oranges from the water and cool, then quarter and remove any seeds and obvious pith where the stalk was. Blitz the oranges to a rough purée with a hand blender or in a food processor and put in a large bowl.

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and line the base and sides of a 21cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment. Beat the cardamom, xylitol and eggs into the orange purée, then mix the ground almonds with the polenta, flour and baking powder, and fold in until well blended. Scrape the mixture into the tin, level the top and bake for 40 mins.

After 40 minutes, scatter over the almonds, quickly return to the oven and bake 20-25 mins more until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the tin and leave to cool. Serve sliced as a cake, or with Greek yogurt or cream as a dessert.

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Spiced stollen plait

Chocolate drip cake

Orange & coriander drizzle cake

Mincemeat samosas

Moroccan orange & cardamom cake

Top 5 bakesandcakes recipes from across the web

The most viewed bakesandcakes recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Spiced stollen plait

Chocolate drip cake

Orange & coriander drizzle cake

Mincemeat samosas

Moroccan orange & cardamom cake

The most viewed bakesandcakes recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine