baking with spice

I love anything with lemon in it so when I found out we had to make a drizzle cake lemon was the first thing that came to mind, but I spiced it up a bit to make it special. 

For this recipe you will need a 900g/2lb loaf tin and a food processor.

Pistachio, cardamom and lemon drizzle cake

grams/3½oz shelled pistachios,

milliliters/4fl oz sunflower oil,

grams/4½oz caster sugar

eggs

vanilla bean paste

green cardamom pods, seeds

grams/3½oz plain flour

grams/1 ounces ground almonds, sifted

salt

tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

grams/1¾oz soured cream

lemons, juice only

120 grams/4¼oz caster sugar

75 grams/2½oz icing sugar

lemon juice

rose petals

This easy gingerbread  recipe is great for baking with children, and it makes a lovely homemade Christmas present. Make gingerbread men or any other shape!

Each serving provides 161 kcal, 2g protein, 25g carbohydrates (of which 11.5g sugars), 6g fat (of which 3.5g saturates), 0.7g fibre and 0.3g salt.

Gingerbread Men

350 grams/12 ounces plain flour, plus extra for rolling out

tsp bicarbonate of soda

ginger

cinnamon

grams/4½oz butter

brown sugar

free-range egg

golden syrup

writing icing (optional)

cake decorations (optional)

Gingerbread men

Swirls of chocolate run through spiced dough – a great alternative to cake with a cuppa.

For this recipe you will need a 900g/2lb loaf tin.

Chocolate, cardamom and hazelnut babka

120 milliliters/3¾fl oz full-fat milk

grams/1¾oz caster sugar

1½ tsp fast-action yeast

tsp ground green cardamom seeds

softened,

dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

grams/½oz white chocolate, chopped into small pieces

grams/1 ounces hazelnuts, chopped into small pieces

130 grams/4⅔oz caster sugar

Make this ginger cake traybake in advance and you can freeze it before adding the icing - in fact freezing improves the taste.

Ginger and treacle spiced traybake

225 grams/8 ounces margarine, softened

sugar

black treacle

flour

tsp ground mixed spice

allspice

free-range eggs

tbsp milk

75 grams/2½oz icing sugar, sieved

tbsp stem ginger syrup

Mary Berry's ginger biscuits are simple to make, crunchy and very tasty. The mixture spreads out to give very thin, crisp biscuits, so they need to be spaced well apart on the baking trays. 


Ginger oat crunch biscuits

150 grams/5½oz butter, diced if cold

golden syrup (see recipe tip below)

grams/2⅓oz self-raising flour

grams/1¾oz semolina

grams/3½oz porridge oats (standard

Mary Berry bakes her delicious Ginger Oat Crunch Biscuits.

Ginger Oat Crunch Biscuits

An easy-to-make ginger cake that's sticky, sweet and subtly spiced. A perfect tea-time treat for the colder months.

Ginger sponge cake

55 grams/2 ounces margarine, plus extra for greasing

egg,

240 milliliters/9fl oz hot water

My version of Welsh cakes is spiced with fennel seeds, has tart dried blueberries, and is served with a fresh blueberry coulis.

Fennel Welsh cakes with a blueberry coulis 

225 grams/8 ounces plain flour,

golden caster sugar

½ tsp baking powder

tsp fennel seeds, crushed

grams/3½oz unsalted butter, cubed,

grams/1¾oz dried blueberries, roughly chopped

whole milk

blueberries

tbsp icing sugar

This rich, treacly gingerbread cake is addictively good. Try making it as an alternative to a traditional Christmas cake.

Gingerbread cake with orange icing

225 grams/8 ounces butter, softened

225 grams/8 ounces self-raising flour, sifted

225 grams/8 ounces wholemeal self-raising flour, sifted

tbsp stem ginger (from a jar), chopped

eggs,

300 milliliters/10½fl oz milk

icing sugar

orange, juice and zest

Lebkuchen are traditional German Christmas cookies. Whether you make traditional circles or cut into stars and hearts, friends and family will love these Christmas biscuits. 

You can decorate them in so many ways as well. My favourites are chocolate covered, closely followed by a thin icing - but if you like thick icing don't let me stop you!

Lebkuchen

runny honey

butter

100 grams/3½oz ground almonds

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

nutmeg

½ tsp ground cloves (optional)

cocoa powder (optional)

½ unwaxed orange, finely grated zest and juice

sea salt

grams/3½oz icing sugar

water

200 grams/7 ounces dark, milk

Taking tea in muffin form seems ideal for breakfast, and the warm spices of chai bring scented richness without heft. I’ve made these dairy-free, but if you want to, you can easily use semi-skimmed milk in place of the almond milk. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to make these, as this is a particularly splendid specimen of muffin.

Chai muffins

225 milliliters/8fl oz unsweetened almond milk

Chai teabags

white spelt flour

2½ tsp baking powder

150 grams/5½oz soft light brown sugar

75 grams/2½oz natural skin-on almonds, roughly chopped

150 milliliters/5fl oz sunflower oil

Most of the time I refer to this as my Cider and five-spice gingerbread, but I changed the name out of concern for those who expect a little more gingeriness from their gingerbead. If you want to intensify the ginger element, use 250ml/9fl oz ginger beer in place of the cider.

This cake is wonderful enough plain as it is, though I have something of a faiblesse for the gleaming accompaniment of the smoky salted caramel sauce, as you can see from the picture.

For this recipe you will need a 2½/4½ pints litre capacity bundt tin or a 20cm/8in square cake tin (approx. 5½cm/2¼in deep).

Cider and five-spice bundt cake

250 milliliters/9fl oz cider,

175 milliliters/6fl oz sunflower oil,

grams/3½oz soft dark brown sugar

grams/10½oz black treacle (use an oiled 1-cup measure for ease)

3cm/1¼in piece (15 grams/½oz) fresh root

300 grams/10½oz plain flour

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder

unsalted butter

grams/1¾oz soft light brown sugar

125 milliliters/4fl oz double cream

smoked sea salt flakes,

Most of the time I refer to this as my Cider and five-spice gingerbread, but I changed the name out of concern for those who expect a little more gingeriness from their gingerbead. If you want to intensify the ginger element, use 250ml/9fl oz ginger beer in place of the cider. This cake is wonderful enough plain as it is, though I have something of a faiblesse for the gleaming accompaniment of the Smoky salted caramel sauce, as you can see from the picture.

Cider and 5-spice bundt cake

This delicious afternoon cake is best served with a hunk of cheese and a hot cup of tea.

Top 12 baking with spice recipes from across the web

The most viewed baking with spice recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Pistachio, cardamom and lemon drizz...

Gingerbread Men

Chocolate, cardamom and hazelnut ba...

Ginger and treacle spiced traybake

Ginger oat crunch biscuits

Ginger sponge cake

Fennel Welsh cakes with a blueberry...

Gingerbread cake with orange icing

Lebkuchen

Chai muffins

Cider and five-spice bundt cake

Dundee cake

Top 12 baking with spice recipes from across the web

The most viewed baking with spice recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Pistachio, cardamom and lemon drizz...

Gingerbread Men

Chocolate, cardamom and hazelnut ba...

Ginger and treacle spiced traybake

Ginger oat crunch biscuits

Ginger sponge cake

Fennel Welsh cakes with a blueberry...

Gingerbread cake with orange icing

Lebkuchen

Chai muffins

Cider and five-spice bundt cake

Dundee cake

The most viewed baking with spice recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine