Barmbrack Recipe – Gluten Free option included

Barmbrack is a traditional Irish fruit cake, not unlike a sweet bread and usually made at Halloween. It’s very similar to a tea brack but with the addition of whiskey. This recipe makes a really beautiful, moist loaf, packed with flavour from the mixed spice and dried fruit, which has soaked overnight in cold tea and whiskey. There is another version which includes yeast but I personally feel it’s not as moist as this one.

Notes for Gluten Free Barmbrack method in the recipe below

This is the gluten free version:

The fun in making a Barmbrack is deciding what surprises you’ll pop in for people to discover. The ring, the lucky coin, the not so lucky pea or piece of cloth! Let’s keep with the positive vibe and only put in positive charms! Just remember to wrap any additions very well in greaseproof paper!  For me, there’s only one way to eat this …. thickly sliced with lashings of good Irish butter … oh and a cup of tea. Yes indeedeee 😉

Ideally try to make this recipe at least 1 or 2 days before you need it. It needs a little settling time to be perfect for slicing.

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Syrupy Biscuits – Gluten Free Version Available

These yummy biscuits are full of all those childhood taste memories. Golden Syrup, Oats, Condensed Milk, Cornflakes and Custard Powder …. they are just so delicious and the bonus is they literally take minutes to make, less than 15 mins in the oven and a bit of cooling time.

I adapted the recipe to make it Gluten Free but I’ll list it as given and put the gluten free options and additions in brackets. They will last for up to a week in an airtight container.

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Doughnut Muffins

What’s the next best thing to a deep fried doughnut?? One of these heavenly and totally delicious Doughnut Muffins which are simply divine and really do taste like doughnuts but they are baked in the oven! Must be better for you right??

Eat them warm from the oven for a little slice of heaven!

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Apple Cake

Cannot recommend this recipe highly enough! It’s a Bord Bia award winning recipe. It’s simple and gorgeous and I can’t say enough about it. So light, so lovely, so perfect for afternoon tea, morning coffee …. oh anything really!

No mixer needed, no special ingredients … just pure and simple perfection! You may have guessed, I’m a fan 😉

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Mixed Berry Drizzle Loaf Cake

Such a delicious loaf cake which is easily adapted to whatever berries you have in your fridge. The only ones not to use are strawberries as they go totally mushy and will ruin the cake. You still want to be able to bite into bits of berries with each slice.

The sugary berry coating on top finishes it beautifully with bright, jewel colours and a little crunch!

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Banoffee Bites


If you love Banoffee Pie but don’t have time to make the traditional version, here’s a very quick, very simple, no bake recipe which will fit the bill perfectly and the bonus is they are surprisingly light so you don’t feel very full after one or two 😉

You only need 4 ingredients, some freezer time and a quick 60 seconds in the microwave. What could be easier?!

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Gluten Free Pistachio & Almond Cake with Limoncello Icing

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This is a lovely cake, baked in a loaf tin which uses ground almonds and pistachio nuts for it’s main flavour. Originally the topping used lemon juice but I replaced it with Limoncello for an extra kick and it worked beautifully but you can use lemon juice if you prefer. I’ve adapted it from a book called Ginger & White.

Making it again, I would reduce the ground almonds to 100g and increase the guten free flour to 70g and for my fan oven, I would set it 150C as the top can brown quite easily but you can guage yourself what works with your oven.

The only slightly testing part of this recipe was removing the shells off the pistachio nuts and realizing that you need twice the weight that you bought after removing said shells! So when you go to buy the pistachio nuts, you will need 200g to get 100g of peeled, ground nuts.

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Lemon Kisses

These gorgeous little bites of lemon heaven are very simple to make but do make sure to leave them chill in the fridge for 30 mins before baking. The only other thing to remember is to try and buy or make really good quality lemon curd to fill them. You need that sharp and lemony bite to make all the difference.

I put them back into the fridge after making them to set the icing and so the lemon curd would take a hold of the biscuits and not slide off. They were pretty delicious cold too! The recipe called for the zest of 2 lemons and to use only one in the batter and the other to decorate the biscuits but I added the zest of both to the batter as you’re coating them with a lemon icing and there is no such thing as too much lemon 😉

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Cherry Almond Cake

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Sometimes, you just want a proper cake. You know? Just a proper tasting cake of what cake used to taste like and this recipe is just that. It’s crying out for a dainty plate and a cup of tea for pure nostalgic perfection.

Looking pretty impressive doesn’t hurt either 🙂 and it’s got ground almonds in it which helps to keep it  moist and not become too dense or dry. The wonderful surprise is the layer of delicious cherry jam in the centre of the cake – perfect!

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Ultimate Chocolate Cake

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This is a recipe from the U.S so it’s originally given in cup measurements. I’ve adapted it slightly as some of the products are not available here and the oven temperature and timing were guessed at so you will have to keep an eye on it and see how it works with your oven. I weighed each of the ingredients as I measured them so if you like, you can use the equivalent weights given in grams next to the cup measurements but they are only approximate so it’s up to you. Just don’t mix them. Use either cups or grams.

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Lemon Meringue Ice Cream (Limoncello adaptation)

Another great recipe from the unbeatable Mary Berry!  It’s such an easy ice cream to make, it’s no churn which is a huge bonus if you don’t own the machine and you can use broken up meringue pieces or shop bought. It’s not a big deal. It’s traditionally made in a loaf tin as you can then cut into slices as needed but it can also be made in an 8″ square tin to cut into perfect slices for wafers.

Add some mixed berries and a little cream for a delicious dessert or pop it over your favourite hot brownie … oh yes indeed. Lemon …. a wonderful thing!

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