Author: cozebakes

Best Banana Loaf Recipe

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I love how versatile this recipe is and it’s so easily adapted to suit your own personal taste. It’s originally from BBC Good Food and I’ve made it with chocolate chips, with pecan pieces, walnut pieces and for a more decadent taste, with cut up dates. Just delicious!

If like me you prefer to reduce sugar quantities in your bakes, then make sure your bananas are really, really ripe – black actually as they will be so sweet that you can easily reduce the sugar content and it won’t be noticed. The original recipe had a substantial sugar content and I found it extremely sweet so that the banana flavour was almost lost.

If you are looking for a gluten free option, just search the gluten free category for another delicious banana loaf recipe which will impress!

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Nutella Chocolate Traybake

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I’ll give you a little warning before you make this cake. It’s rich, it’s full on and it’s for true chocolate lovers. It’s really gooey and has a surprise centre of soft, creamy Nutella just for extra decadence!

I make this recipe in a baking tray so it can be cut into squares to share out.

You need 16 tablespoons of Nutella and it’s easiest to spray the measuring spoon with some oil beforehand to make it simpler to measure out without ending up covered in sticky Nutella 🙂

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Lemon Victoria Sponge Cake

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This fantastic recipe comes from the legend that is Mary Berry. Her sponge cakes are one of the best I’ve ever made. The secret to a wonderful sponge is not so much the ingredients as the method. There are a couple of things to do and they will result in a lovely light sponge that rises beautifully. What else could you ask for?!

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Celebration Chocolate Victoria Sponge Cake

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This is a lovely light sponge cake and can be made in the “all in one” method. Personally, I still like to give the butter and sugar a separate beating first but with this great Mary Berry recipe, you can add the rest of the ingredients and just mix really well. A hand mixer is fine too.

As I was going to be adding buttercream in the middle and the top, I felt this light chocolate cake was a better choice than a rich, dark one. Instead of all buttercream filling, I used my cream cheese filling in the centre to combat the sweet buttercream around the edges and on the top. It worked really well too.

I made some rippled meringue kisses so used those to decorate plus a few Lindt Strawberry filled chocolates and finished with freeze dried raspberries.

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Lemon & Blueberry Madeira with Cream Cheese Frosting

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This is a basic madeira cake recipe that never fails to be perfect with a cuppa. As I’m such a huge lemon fan and had a punnet of blueberries in the fridge, I decided to add these in for a little change to the plain madeira recipe. I also had one tub of Philadelphia Cream Cheese in the fridge which was going to run out of date, so that became the icing.

Definitely worth making this cake. It’s a perfect tea time treat, a lovely birthday cake and great to bring to someone’s house as a gift. If you don’t want to have a Cream Cheese Frosting, just make up icing using Icing Sugar and a little water or lemon juice and once the cake is cool, drizzle this over the top.

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Cherry Shortbread Hearts – Gluten Free

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~ cozebakes ~ 2 Comments

Tried out these gluten free shortbread hearts as they looked so delicious and gluten free shortbread can be difficult to get right. A few things needed to be adapted to get it right but after that, they worked really well and are totally delicious and addictive!

They don’t have to be heart shaped but they do look just lovely like this and are a great gift to box up and give to someone you love.

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Iced Lemon Traybake

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This is a recipe from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. It’s a traybake which always work so well when you have a crowd or when you have to transport your bakes as they can be left in the tin till ready to serve.

You get the lightest, just like pieces of lemony clouds once you follow the steps. It’s a very simple recipe which has never failed to go down really well. The topping originally is a lemon flavoured icing but if you prefer, make up a drizzle with caster sugar, heated with a little water to which you add the zest of a lemon and spoon over the top of the still warm sponge. Deelish!

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Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake

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Totally delicious and a real show stopper! This is how you impress your guests! This is a fantastic recipe which is perfect for a party or a celebration cake. It’s a twist on Sticky Toffee Pudding in cake form and it keeps really well, wrapped in tin foil (out of the fridge) for several days.

See the bottom of the page for alternative serving suggestions and a tip or two that might help

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Iced Lemon Polenta Mini Cakes

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~ cozebakes ~ 1 Comment

A very delicious gluten and wheat free recipe full of gorgeous lemon flavor and topped with a fabulous lemon icing. These Iced Lemon Polenta Cakes look so dainty and lovely. Topped with an edible viola each, you will have a perfect Afternoon Tea treat for you and your guests.

They do have a more crunchy texture due to the polenta and some people find this different but it’s a good different 🙂

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Hot Cross Bun Cupcakes

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When I read this recipe from Baking Heaven, I was really happy to see that you don’t need yeast to make them so you still get all that lovely Hot Cross Buns flavour but a much lighter result and if you have issues with yeast like I do, then you don’t miss out either 🙂

I used baking cups but you can also use cupcake cases and you will need a piping bag and plain nozzle to get the cross effect on the finished cupcake. If you don’t have them, use a sandwich bag and cut a small piece off the end.

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Raspberry, Blueberry & Lime Drizzle Cake – Gluten, Wheat & Dairy Free

~ cozebakes ~ 3 Comments

Where do I start about this gorgeous recipe? It’s impossible to tell the difference between this and a cake made with traditional ingredients and I’ve made enough to know. I’m always dubious about people claiming their cakes made with all sorts of strange ingredients taste exactly as a normal one as I’ve yet to have that experience, but this recipe delivers and how.

You can keep it dairy free using a dairy free or soya spread but if not, just use Stork. The flour is Doves Farm which I always use and it’s gluten and wheat free, comes in both self raising or plain.

If you’re going to try gluten and wheat free baking, then you will need to have Xanthan Gum in your larder. It’s essential to hold together cakes and pastry and stop them from crumbing. It’s easily available in most supermarkets and mine is the Doves Farm one.

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Best Rocky Road Recipe

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~ cozebakes ~ 2 Comments

This is my standby, never fails Rocky Road recipe. I use it as a base to make different types of Rocky Road and it always delivers. It’s just sweet enough, just chocolatey enough, just rich enough and really so easily adaptable. Everyone loves it!

I’m going to put the basic recipe down and give a couple of ideas for you to try if you like. This recipe will become a firm favourite in your house as it is in mine.

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