COFFEE & WALNUT CUPCAKES

Coffee and walnut cake, coffee and walnut cupcakes, both are in my top ten favourite cakes.

Some time back I was invited to the launch of Kenco Millicano. Designer Patrick Cox and Patissier Eric Lanlard teamed up with Kenco Millicano to create a Kenco Millicano 'Cake Pop'. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend because it was in London, and an evening event. I'm ok, honest, but I'm still not over missing out on this!

Kenco Millicano is a 'wholebean instant coffee': a combination of instant coffee and finely-milled Arabica coffee beans. Just perfect for making my coffee and walnut cakes.

Makes: 12

You will need: 12 hole muffin tray lined with muffin cases.

150g softened unsalted butter, 150g caster sugar, 175g self-raising flour, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon Kenco Millicano.

1. Mix 1 tablespoon of Kenco Millicano in 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Leave to cool whilst you weigh out the other ingredients.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas Mark 4.
3. Put all the cake ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes until light and creamy. Divide the mixture evenly among the cake cases.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and leave to cool in the bun tray.

Buttercream

You will need: 150g softened unsalted butter, 250g icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons hot water.

1. Put the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and beat until light and smooth.
2. Add the vanilla extract and hot water, beat again.

Thank you Kenco Millicano and Mel.

BLUEBERRY AND ELDERFLOWER SYLLABUB

This dessert is perfect for hot weather days. It doesn't take long to prepare and needs only four ingredients to make the perfect dessert.

I made this dessert last weekend when the weather was really sunny. It would have been lovely to eat outside, but the wasps were out in force, and I wasn't going to share my dessert with any crafty wasps!

Serves: 4

You will need: 4 serving glasses

4 tablespoons caster sugar, 175g blueberries, 8 tablespoons elderflower cordial, 250ml double cream.

1. Pour 4 tablespoons of water into a saucepan and add the sugar. Place the pan over a medium heat and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Add the blueberries to the pan and bring it to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.
2. Strain the syrup from the blueberries into a measuring jug and add the elderflower cordial. Make the quantity up to 100ml with water, if necessary.
3. Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the blueberry and elderflower syrup until the mixture holds it shape. Divide about half the blueberries between the serving glasses and divide the mixture between the glasses. Spoon the remaining blueberries and any juices on top. Put the syllabub in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

MERINGUES

Violas from my garden were used to decorate the meringues. The flowers can be crystallised, but on this occasion I thought they looked lovely just as nature intended them to be.

In past blog postings I have used flowers to decorate cupcakes and cakes and I always think just how pretty they look.

These filled meringues need to be eaten as soon as possible after assembling but the meringue shells can be kept for a week in an airtight tin.

Makes: 12 to 15 Sandwiches

You will need: a large, or two small baking trays, lined with baking paper.

2 egg whites, 100g caster sugar, food colouring, 300ml whipping cream.

1. Preheat the oven to 110°C, 100°C fan, gas ¼. Put the egg whites and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 10 minutes until the mixture is smooth, glossy and stands in firm peaks.
2. Whisk in the food colouring. Put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe rounds about the size of a walnut onto baking trays. Or alternatively, spoon walnut size blobs of meringue onto the lined baking tray.
3. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until the meringues are dry and firm. For drier meringues, switch off the oven and leave the meringues to cool inside.
4. Sandwich the meringues together with whipped cream and decorate with flowers.
5. The filled meringues will need to be served within two hours.

CHOCOLATE FRIDGE CAKE

Chocolate Fridge Cake is usually made with melted chocolate but this recipe uses cocoa powder. There are only a few ingredients used, and to get the best out of this rich cake, use good quality cocoa powder. The cake will last well in an airtight tub stored in the fridge.

The fridge cake is very rich and you only need a small piece. If you have lots of people to feed and not much time, this cake will go a long way.

It's best if the tin is lined with either greaseproof paper or cling wrap to help you lift the cake out of the tin. I used a 20cm x 20cm baking tin lined with overhanging cling wrap.

You will need:

200g unsalted butter, 100ml golden syrup, 50g cocoa powder, 400g digestive biscuits (broken into small chunks), 100g raisins (optional).

1. Place the butter, golden syrup and cocoa powder in a large saucepan over a medium heat and melt until smooth, stirring occasionally.
2. Put the biscuit chunks and raisins in a large bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over, mix well to combine the ingredients.
3. Press the mixture into the baking tin and using a spoon to flatten. Cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper, then a plate. Top with jam jars to apply pressure on the cake. Leave to cool completely, refrigerate for a few hours. Store in the fridge.
4. Cut into small slices to serve and dust with icing sugar, if you like.

HONEYCOMB

Honeycomb is ridiculously easy to make, so why have I never made it before? Perhaps Lorraine Pascale, with her easy to watch television programmes, has given me some renewed inspiration.

Yep, it's calorific, but then most good things are. I have stored mine in a ziplock bag (no expense spared) and it's definitely a keeper. Lorraine's recipe is different from most because she uses butter in the recipe. You can also crumble the honeycomb and sprinkle over vanilla ice cream or even as a decoration on cupcakes. This honeycomb has a lovely buttery caramel taste, it looks beautiful and is very moreish!

The recipe is taken from Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale, a book for both the new baker and those of us looking for some baking inspiration.

A great collection of both sweet and savoury recipes, including old favourites such as Sticky Toffee Pudding and Jam Roly Poly to Omelette Arnold Bennett and Chicken Pies. New favourites include Red Velvet Cake, White Chocolate Panacotta and beautiful Macaroons.

Here is the link to the Honeycomb recipe on the BBC website.

TOBLERONE SWEET

This recipe is adored by my family and friends and is the most talked about dessert that I have ever made. I haven't made it since my children were small, and I also used to make it for good friends of mine when they brought their daughter with them for dinner. Their daughter even mentioned it to me on her wedding day and said can we meet up some time to eat Toblerone Sweet!

I wasn't sure if we would still enjoy this dessert, as you move on through life your tastes change, and I didn't want to spoil fond memories. I'm delighted to say though this dessert is still wonderful.

Please note this recipe contains raw eggs.

You will need: Lots of bowls!

1 x 200g Toblerone, ½ pint double or whipping cream, 3 eggs, 8-10 teaspoons hot water.

1. Grate 2 teaspoons Toblerone for decoration.
2. Melt the rest of the Toblerone gently in a basin over hot (not boiling water).
3. Whip the cream lightly.
4. Separate the eggs. Whip the egg whites until stiff, but not dry.
5. Whip the cream lightly in a large bowl.
6. Add the egg yolks gradually to the cooled chocolate, then mix in 8-10 teaspoons warm water, so that the chocolate is runny.
7. Fold the egg whites into the cream. Add the chocolate mix. Fold in from the bottom of the bowl, be careful mixture does not curdle.
8. Pour mixture into either a 1 pint serving dish or individual glasses. Decorate with the grated Toblerone. Leave to set covered in the fridge.