COOKBOOKS GALORE

This is a lovely big sharing cake. It's very moist and uses a lot of apples- great for windfalls! I used Gala Apples, but you could use Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or an apple of your choice. My friend gave me the recipe, and it's really easy to make. You can never have too many apple cake recipes! You need: 1kg sliced apples, 400g caster sugar, 2-3tspn cinnamon, 190ml vegetable oil - I used sunflower, 3 eggs, 250ml orange juice, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 375g plain flour with 2 tspn baking powder and 1/4 tspn salt. Preheat oven 180C/gas 4                Grease a 23cm round cake tin well and line base. My dil had my round tin on loan, so I used a 23x30cm cake tin, and it worked out fine. Toss the apples with 100g of the sugar and the cinnamon. Blend the rest of the sugar with the oil, then add the eggs, orange juice and vanilla extract. Fold in the flour mixture and beat to make a batter. Put half the batter into the cake tin and top with the apples. Spoon the r

I was pleased to find some Victoria plums in my local market. They're my favourite sort after Mirabelles. The polenta makes a change from flour, and gives the cake a bit of crunch. Topping: 8 plums 75g light muscovado sugar Juice of 1/2 a lemon For the cake : 120g butter, softened 125g caster sugar 2 eggs, lightly beaten 75g ground almonds 75g fine polenta 1 tsp baking powder zest of 1 lemon          Preheat oven 190C/gas5               Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin, not a loose bottomed one as the juice might run out of the plums. if you only have this kind of tin, wrap a double laye of foil round the outside of the bottom of the tin.         Halve the plums then cut into 1/4s. Put the sugar and lemon in a bowl and stir the plums through to coat. Put them in n overlapping layer in the bottom of the cake tin. If there's any syrup left in the bowl, spoon it over the plums.         Cream the butter and sugar together till nice and fluffy. A

I went to a friend for tea recently and she made this cake. It's more of a dessert than a cake, but had to ask for the recipe as it was delicious. It's a nice change from a normal chocolate cake and it's easy to make, always a plus for me. I used Green and Black's chocolate, as I think you need a good quality for this recipe. 200g  dark chocolate  200g unsalted butter, cut into cubes  250g granulated sugar  5 large eggs  1 tbspn plain flour Preheat the oven 190C/gas5, and grease and base line a 20cm cake tin Chop the chocolate and melt it with the butter in the microwave or over simmering water and stir to mix. Add the sugar and stir in then leave to cool for a couple of mins. The mixture will look rather gritty, but don't worry this is fine. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each one - this time the mixture looks rather slimy so add the flour. Beat until you have a nice smooth, dark batter. Pour into your tin and bake for about 25m

            I like recipes that are quick and easy to make, and this is one of those. I always think   of  it  as'healthy' because it's made with oil and yoghurt!  I suppose the amount of            sugar  makes it unhealthy nowadays!  There always seems to be a lime or lemon or 2 in my  fridge  and this is a good way to use them up.  You need: 250g Greek yoghurt, 80ml sunflower or rapeseed oil, 200g caster sugar ,4 tbspn lime juice and the zest of the lime, 250g plain flour with 11/2 tspn baking powder and a pinch of salt. For the topping – 1 tbspn lime zest and 2 tbspns sugar [so 2 limes altogether]          Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a 22cm cake tin and line the base. Mix the yoghurt, oil , sugar, lime juice and zest together in a bowl. In another bowl mix the flour,   baking powder and salt together then add to the oil mixture and mix well till combined. Don't overmix  or your cake will be tough.