Simple Cakes: Mary Berry (E)

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Measure the cream cheese and flour into another bowl and beat with an electric hand-held whisk until smooth. Add the vanilla, eggs, sugar and double cream, whisk again until well blended, then pour the mixture over the crumb base. Get your kids to measure out all the ingredients and add them to a mixing bowl or freesttanding mixer. Begin this cake the night before you want to bake it. Place the cherries in a sieve and rinse under running water. Drain well then dry thoroughly on kitchen paper. Measure all the fruits and chopped peel into a large bowl. Mix in the brandy, cover and leave in a cool place overnight. Don’t forget to put the pastry in the fridge before you bake it so that it keeps its shape and texture.

Yes. The quantities we’ve listed in the ingredients will make 12 small fairy cakes. If you want to make more, of if you have the larger cupcake cases and still want 12 fairy cakes, use 3 eggs and 150g of the butter, flour and sugar.Get your kids to measure the baking powder out, and use their finger to level it off. If they are old enough, they should be able to do this themselves, otherwise you could hold the tub while they measure it or vice versa. The best part of this bake for my kids was getting to decorate them. If you have very young children, they’ll enjoy getting to do this even if they don’t make the fairy cakes themselves. There’s no need to pipe anything on to the little cakes. Spooning on the icing makes it a really simple job even very young children will enjoy. Measure the baking spread, caster and light muscovado sugars, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, milk, 3 tablespoons of the caramel and the salt into a large bowl. Whisk together for 2 minutes using an electric hand whisk. Start with the butter. Using a blunt knife, chop the butter into small pieces to make it easier to mix. If it’s not soft (we always forget to take it out the fridge), pop it in the microwave for a few seconds, but not long enough to melt it. If you’re using baking spread or margarine you can add it straight in. To make the icing, measure the icing sugar and lemon and lime juice into a bowl. Whisk until smooth, then spread the icing over the cake.

To fill. Melt butter in a medium pot and add all ingredients except egg white and demerara sugar. Remove from heat and add rum. Wait 3–4 hours or overnight before using the filling. Make the filling a few days in advance. Before filling Eccles cakes, let the refrigerated filling rest for 30 minutes.If you don’t have any self raising flour, use plain or all-purpse flour and add an extra ¾ tsp of baking powder. Bake for about 30 minutes, until well-risen and just set around the edges. Take out of the oven and rest for 10 minutes to allow the top of the cheesecake to become level and flat. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease two 20cm/8in sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.

Meanwhile, to make the icing, measure the butter and icing sugar into a large bowl. Whisk together with an electric hand whisk until pale and creamy. Add the salt and the remaining caramel from the tin and whisk until just mixed. Make sure you do not overbeat, as it could spilt. Measure all the ingredients for the cake into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well blended and smooth. If you’ve got an ice cream scoop they can sometimes dish out the perfect amount of batter, with a less mess. If you don’t have one, try soup or dessert spoons instead. Make sure they the batter is nice and evenly distributed so they bake evenly. Put large spoonfuls of both cake mixtures in the tin, then swirl the two together with a skewer to create a marbled effect. Fairy cakes rather than cupcakes were the bake of my childhood, although both are delicious in their own ways.Baking spread, (things like Stork), is just a non dairy margarine that’s perfect for baking. It makes cupcakes and cakes lighter and fluffier than butter, which means it’s a great, cheaper alternative. How long do these fairy cakes keep? To make the filling and topping, measure the butter, honey, almond extract and icing sugar into a bowl and mix well until thoroughly blended. And while cupcakes normally have a bit swirl of butter icing on top, fairy cakes are traditionally decorated with some plain icing and a few sprinkles. Gently flatten the cakes with the sealed edges on the bottom and the smooth surface on top. Don’t press too hard. Cut three parallel dough incisions with a sharp knife. Measure all the ingredients except the cocoa and icing sugar into a large bowl and beat well with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Put half the mixture in another bowl and add the cocoa powder. Mix well.

Eccles cake assembly. Roll the pastry to 1/8–1/4″ thin on a floured surface. Cut squares or rounds. The average diameter is 3.5 inches.

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Mix the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, food colouring and 100ml/3½fl oz water in a jug. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. The mixture should be bright red; it will get a little darker as it cooks. If it’s not as vivid as you’d like, add a touch more colouring.