Large Bakes & Cakes

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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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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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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Orange & Cranberry Bundt Cake

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I’ve made this cake in a bundt tin as every now and then, I just love to use mine. I love the pretty shape that lifts any cake to another level and always makes them look so special.

I’ve used dried cranberries here and to get the full flavour and soften them a bit, I soaked the cranberries for a couple of hours in 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice.

It’s not a complicated recipe and definitely worth making. Step by step pictures included to help too.

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Sticky Ginger Cake – just like Jamaican Ginger Cake!

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You can’t beat a beautifully flavoured ginger cake. It needs nothing added to it other than a lovely hot cup of your favourite drink. This recipe results in a really light and moist cake full of flavour and the longer you leave it (difficult I know) the more sticky it gets.

The recipe is originally from the Great British Bake Off and honestly is one of the best ginger cakes I’ve ever made. This one’s a keeper and I wouldn’t dream of putting anything on it. It’s definitely best to leave it at least 24 hours before cutting and no fine thin slices … a good wedge is needed here!

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St. Clements Citrus Drizzle Cake

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A lovely combination using both oranges and lemons instead of the traditional single lemon makes this a delicious tasting cake, perfect for zingy cake loving people like me. It’s lovely to have with your cuppa but equally, can be dressed up as a gift to take for a friend. At the end of the video, I have some decoration suggestions you might like to try. (Link in main body)

The finishing touch is a sharp, sweet & tasty syrup and instead of adding it in the traditional way of heating first, this is simply mixed and drizzled over the cake, while it’s still warm, to give it a slight crunch once it fully cools.

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Classic Victoria Sponge Cake – Gluten Free Recipe

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A traditional and well loved cake which never fails to please and is so versatile. It’s elegant and can be as simple or fancy as you like. This gluten free version is so good it’s impossible to tell the difference and I’ve put some serving options at the bottom of the page if you would like to try them.

If you’re following a dairy free diet, this can be adapted also by a) replacing the margarine with dairy free spread, b) using almond or soya milk and c) dairy free cream for the filling. All are available in most supermarkets.

It will serve 8 to 10 and can be frozen without the cream. Sponge freezes so well.

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Lemon Curd & Blueberry Loaf Cake

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A wonderfully light and moist loaf cake which combines two of my favourite taste combinations – lemons and blueberries. The addition of Greek yoghurt helps to create a very light, tasty result.

You can choose to cover the entire cake with a lemon icing, drizzle it lightly over the top or leave it off completely. That’s the beauty of this lovely anytime recipe! It will adapt to most occasions. Serve it with some extra blueberries and a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

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Hidden Heart Cake – Standard and Gluten Free Options

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Soooo I’ve been looking at this cake for over a year now and really wanted to make it. The problem I had is the person I wanted to make it for is coeliac so I had to find a recipe that was gluten free and would work in holding up the style of cake. After a couple of attempts, I found a good one and it worked! I was so pleased with how it turned out that I sort of glowed happily for a while 😉

heart cake, hidden heart cake, gluten free heart cake, gluten free cake, sponge cake, gluten free sponge cake, valentines cake, heart cake, coeliac friendly bakingWith this cake, it’s not particularly difficult but it does take time. If you want, you can make it over two days. The issue is that each cake takes 65 – 75 mins to bake and can’t be made at the same time so plan ahead for this but otherwise, it’s so simple that it’s definitely worth trying to impress your loved ones.

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Gluten Free & Dairy Free Healthy Banana Loaf

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Talk about throw it all in the bowl and go …. this recipe is exactly that! Crazy how quick it all comes together and it’s in the oven before you know it!

You can use honey or maple syrup but I replaced these with agave instead and again you can choose walnuts or pecans, whichever you like best … or both!

As there’s no flour in the recipe, only ground almonds, I would be careful about adding dried fruits as there’s a good chance they will sink to the bottom. Let the bananas do the talking! Originally 2 bananas were called for but I added in another half to help bind it together and then sliced the remainer and placed on top. I sprinkled a teeny bit of raw can sugar on the slices just to finish them off.

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