Semlor or cream buns are incredibly popular in Swedish bakeries. Traditionally they are eaten on pancake Tuesday know as fettisdag or Fat Tuesday in Sweden. During winter taking a break for “Fika” the Swedish word for taking a break from the day to enjoy some coffee, tea and something sweet would normally include one of these cream and almond paste filled sweet buns.

Makes about 18 buns
700g plain flour
140g caster sugar
A pinch of salt
2 teaspoons of freshly ground cardamom
350ml milk
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
150g salted butter, softened
1 large free range egg

Almond paste:
250g of skinless, blanched almonds
225g caster sugar
A few tablespoons of milk
A little icing sugar to dust
750ml double cream, whipped

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and pour the milk in, heat until lukewarm. Mix in the yeast.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and the cardamom. Make a well in the dry ingredients and mix in the wet ones along with the egg. Bring a dough together and knead on a clean floured work surface for 4 minutes. Place back in the bowl and cling film and a tea towel and leave to prove in a warm, dark place for 45-60 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface, divide the dough into 18 pieces (80g each) and roll each into a ball. Put the buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the buns with a little beaten egg or milk and bake in the centre of the oven for about 10 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire wrack.

Prepare the almond paste by blitzing the almonds and caster sugar in a food processor. Then add a few drops of milk until you have thick smooth paste. Place in the fridge to firm up and become solid.

Cut a triangle out of the top of each bun and scoop out some of the insides, to make a small hole for the filling. Save the breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl. Grate the almond paste into the breadcrumbs and bring together a creamy paste using a few tablespoons of milk. Fill the buns with tablespoons of the filling and then pipe whipped cream on top.

Place the the tops back on, dust the buns with icing sugar and serve.

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I love the combination here of sweet and savoury, and it makes for an extremely delicious breakfast treat.

Makes 16 scones
1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil
250g of smoked streaky bacon, cut into 2cm pieces
450g flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
A generous pinch of salt
225g cold butter, cut into 1cm cubes
180ml maple syrup, plus a little extra for glazing
180ml of buttermilk
1 egg
Sea salt to sprinkle

Place a large frying pan over a medium high heat and fry the bacon in a little oil until crisp and sizzling. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and set aside to cool completely.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a fork or pastry cutter press the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a mixture with resembles rough breadcrumbs. Don’t worry too much if there are still some rogue lumps of butter.

Combine the maple syrup and buttermilk in a pyrex jug and pour this into the butter mixture along with the cool bacon.

Using a fork bring the dough together making sure not to over mix it.

When the dough has come together, turn it out on to a clean work surface sprinkled with flour.

Roll the dough out to about 6cm in thickness and cut out 5cm diameter circles. You may have to roll the dough out again to use it all up.

Place the scones on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and then place in the fridge to rest for about 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Whisk the egg in a bowl and set aside.

Before the scones go into the oven, brush a little beaten egg and sprinkle a little sea salt on each one, and then bake for 25 minutes.

Remove the scones from the oven and brush over a little maple syrup on each one. Place back in the oven for another 3 minutes and then remove to a wire cooling wrack.

Serve the scones straight away or parcel up in paper bags for a savoury breakfast snack!

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The original recipe uses 1/2 the can of both the pumpkin pure and condensed milk, so I’ve doubled it here to make two pies. After all two pies are always better than one! I’ve also added grated fresh ginger for an extra zing, but you could add ground ginger, mixed spice and ground black pepper.

Makes 2 x 9inch pies
Each pie serves 6
For the filling:
110g of sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 large thumb sized piece of ginger, finely grated
1 x 822g tin of Libby’s Pumpkin Puree
1 x 397g tin of condensed milk
4 large free range eggs

For the pie bases:
2 sheets of ready to roll shortcrust pastry
A little butter to grease
Tin foil
Ceramic baking beans or dried pulses

Preheat the oven to 220˚C and grease two 9 inch pie tins with a little butter.

Roll out the sheets of short crust pastry and press them into the two pie tins. Prick the bases with a fork and tidy up the edges by crimping them with your fingers, this doesn’t have to look perfect.

Place one sheet of tin foil or grease proof paper in the base of each pastry lined pie tin and tumble in some ceramic baking beans or any dried pulse will do.

Place the pie tins in the oven to cook for 10 minutes. Remove the tin foil and baking beans and place back in the oven for a further 3-5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

While the pastry is cooking, mix together all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl.

Divide the pumpkin mix between the two tins, reduce the oven temperature to 180˚C and place back in the oven to bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the pies come out clean.

Allow to cool before serving.

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These pies can be served with salad or coleslaw and a pint of cider, for a hearty lunch. These pies will keep for several days in the fridge, so make a larger batch and stock up.

Makes 12 individual pies
100g of pancetta or streaky bacon
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
A small handful of parsley, finely chopped
6 sage leaves, finely chopped
450g of sausage meat
A generous pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
2 sheets of ready to roll shortcrust pastry
1 egg, beaten to glaze

Preheat the oven to 200oC/gas mark 6.

In a large frying pan, over a high heat dry fry the pancetta until it is crisp and golden. Remove and pop in a bowl, leaving the oil from the pancetta in the frying pan.

Add in the onion and garlic and fry until soft and golden. Add to the bowl along with the herbs and sausage meat. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut out 12 circular discs, from the pastry, to fit in a cup cake tray and then 12 smaller discs for the lid. Press the larger pastry circles into the greased and floured tray and fill each pie with the pork mixture. Top with the small discs and press them together with a fork.

Brush the tops with beaten egg and place in the oven, cooking for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

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This is total free style BBQ dessert using ingredients I had to hand. You can adapt this with white chocolate and fresh berries for another tasty option. Or for a hard core retro taste try wrapping up bananas with a little smooth peanut butter and marshmallows!

Serves 4

250g of strawberries, sliced in half
200g of dark chocolate
200g of mini marshmallows
A little vanilla ice cream to serve
Tin foil

Cut four 30cm x 30cm squares of tin foil and arrange the strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows in the center of each square. Join the edges and scrunch up so you have a nicely sealed parcel. Place on a hot BBQ for about 10 minutes until the chocolate and marshmallows are melted.

Serve straightaway with a dollop of ice-cream on top.

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These mini pavlova pies have to be one of the best ways to show of ripe, red, summer strawberries.  The pavlova mix leaves a wonderfully crisp meringue with a chewy marshmallow interior.  Make this a day before you plan to serve them and they will happily sit in an airtight container for up to a week.

Serves 4
250g of icing sugar
4 egg whites
2 teaspoons of cornflour
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
300g of strawberries
300ml of cream, whipped
3 tablespoons of strawberry jam

Preheat the oven to 150°C/Gas Mark 2. Line two baking trays with parchment. Place the icing sugar and egg whites in a standing food mixer and whisk on high for 10 minutes until glossy white peaks form.

Using a spatula, gently fold in the cornflour and the white wine vinegar. Using a tablespoon, place 3in/8cm spoonfuls of the meringue mix on to the baking tray and flatten each one gently in the centre with the back of a spoon. Bake for 45 minutes.

Heat the strawberry jam in a saucepan until it has a loose pouring consistency. Layer the meringues with cream and strawberries and serve with a drizzle of jam.

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Right just to try and attempt to make this American classic somewhat healthier I am using oat flour! It is so simple to make. Pile a portion of rolled oats into a food processor and whizz it until it becomes fine. The flour gives a mellow sweet taste to the food it is used in and is a great way to add extra fibre to recipes. If you don’t have any oats on hand, substitute with plain flour. This mix also works great for use on waffle irons.

Makes approximately 8–10 pancakes
100ml/4fl oz milk
120g/4oz oat flour
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon of salt
1⁄2 teaspoon of cinnamon
100g of blueberries

Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.

Measure the milk in a jug and add the egg yolks. Whisk lightly to combine.

Add to the dry ingredients and mix until blended.

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they hold firm peaks. Fold gently into the batter until combined.

To cook simply add a heaped dessertspoonful of the mixture to a warm pan brushed with a little melted butter.

Plop in a few blueberries on the uncooked side and press them in gently, allow to cook until little bubbles start to appear and the edges become a little dry and then turn over to cook for about a minute until golden brown.

Serve with maple syrup, a dusting of icing sugar, bacon or whatever takes your fancy!

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This makes a great change to all the usual Christmas desserts and best of all it uses up any Christmas cake leftovers you might have after the big day. This recipe works well as a normal cheesecake mixture if you drop the cinnamon and baileys, so you also make it with a regular digestive biscuit base also.

Makes 1 large cheesecake

Serves 6-8
50g of butter, melted
250g of leftover Christmas cake, crumbled
250g mascarpone cheese
250g cream cheese
250ml of double cream, whipped
75g of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of baileys
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
100g of dark chocolate, in shavings

Combine the Christmas cake crumbs and the melted butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

Press the mixture into a springform baking tin with a removable base and place in the fridge to set while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Beat the mascarpone and cream cheese and fold in the icing sugar, cinnamon powder and baileys.

Gently fold in the whipped cream and spread over the top of the chilled base.

Place back in the fridge for at least two hours. Serve with the chocolate shavings.

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I think these blackberry crumb slices match the fruit perfectly! They are most definitely and bit more rustic looking than most cake slices, but are full of warm sponge and juicy flavours. Both the cake mix and the crumb topping are extremely easy to make and great for baking with kids!

Makes 24 delicious slices
115g butter, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
1 large free range egg
280g self raising flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
125ml milk
300g of fresh blackberries (you could use frozen if you’re stuck)

For the sweet crumb topping
115g caster sugar
85g plain flour
zest of 1 lemon
75g of butter

Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas Mark 5.

Grease a rectangular baking tin and line it with parchment paper. If you’re stuck for parchment paper you could probably get away with greasing the tin and flouring it instead.

Using a hand mixer, in a bowl beat together the sugar and butter until pale. Add in the egg whisking to incorporate the mixture little by little.

Using a wooden spoon fold in the flour, cinnamon and milk. Mix gently until you have a sticky dough like mixture.

Spread evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking tin, this requires patience as the dough can be sticky, but bear with it you’ll get there! Then arrange the blackberries on top. Set aside while you prepare the sweet crumb topping.

Add all the ingredients for the sweet crumb topping to a bowl and rub the dry ingredients into the butter with your fingertips as you would with pastry. Keep mixing until you have a mixture that resembles rough breadcrumbs.

Sprinkle the crumb topping over the blackberries in the baking tray and place in the oven on the middle rack for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into 24 pieces.

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Stoned summer fruits are whack bang in season at the moment and there are lots and lots of different recipes you can use to make the most of them, however I think keeping things simple brings out the natural juicy flavours and leaves you with far less washing up to do. A win win situation I think you’ll agree! If you can’t get vanilla sugar you can quite easily make a homemade batch by popping a vanilla pod in a jar filled with caster sugar. Or alternatively just use caster sugar and a splash of good quality vanilla extract.

Serves 4
8 peaches, halved with stones removed
3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar
2 tablespoons of water
Vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6.

Arrange the peaches in a non stick baking tray and sprinkle over the water.

Dust each peach with a little of the vanilla sugar until each one is nicely coated.

Place the peaches into the oven for around an hour or until the fruit is tender when pierced with a knife.

Serve the peaches with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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By dropping the cocoa powder from the original whoopie recipe and substituting flour you get left with really beautiful plain whoopie discs. As a filling I use a combination of nutella and smooth peanut butter but you could also use the chocolate frosting from the cupcake recipe.

Makes 16 whoopie pies
120g/4oz butter
190g/6 ½ oz caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
345g/12oz of plain flour
5g/1 tsp of baking powder
5ml/1 tsp of vanilla extract
250ml/8 ½ fl oz of buttermilk

For the filling:
80g of smooth peanut butter
80g of nutella

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350oF/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking sheets.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

In another bowl, using an electric whisk, cream the sugar and the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs gradually, mixing well to combine.

Add the vanilla extract to the buttermilk and, alternating with the dry ingredients, add to the bowl, mixing until everything is combined and you are left with a thick batter.

Spoon rounded teaspoons of the batter onto lined baking sheets, allowing space for them to spread while cooking. Place in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the topshave puffed up and spring back when lightly pressed.

When they are cooked, remove the mini pie halves from the baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on wire rack to cool.

Once cooled, spread a teaspoon of the nutella on the flat side of 16 of the pie halves. Spread a teaspoon of peanut butter on the remaining 16 pie halves and sandwich together with the nutella pies.

These little pies are heavy going so make sure to serve with a glass of cold milk.

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This batter makes really delicious and moist cupcakes which will give you more reason to have just one more! The batter is a lot more runny than normal cupcakes batters, but will rise so just make sure not to overfill the cases, halfway up is just perfect.

Makes about 16
175g Self raising flour
2 tablespoon of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda
150g caster sugar
2 eggs beaten
150 ml (1/4 pint) sunflower oil
150 ml (1/4 pint) semi skimmed milk
2 tablespoon of golden syrup

For the frosting
75g unsalted butter
175g icing Sugar
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
Drop of Milk

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.

Sieve the flour, cocoa and Bicarbonate of Soda into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well.

Make a well in the centre and add the syrup, eggs, oil and milk. Beat well with electric whisk until smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases about halfway up and bake for about 20 minutes or until they have risen and are firm to the touch. Remove from oven, leave to cool before turning out onto a cooling rack.

To make your butter icing, place the butter in a bowl and beat until soft. Gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder then add enough milk to make the icing fluffy and spreadable.

Top the cooled cupcakes with delicious frosting and enjoy!

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Desserts that can be made ahead are lifesavers when it comes to entertaining and ones which only take a few minutes to put together are even better! These individual cheesecake pots are perfect to pull out of the fridge at the end of a meal and with an extra kick from the ginger your guests will be singing your praises!

Serves 6
200g of gingernut biscuits
100g of butter, melted
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
450g of cream cheese
200g of white chocolate
100ml of cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of icing sugar

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until you have fine breadcrumbs.  Pour in the melted butter and ginger and process until everything is mixed through. Gently push the biscuit base into individual serving pots and set aside.  Don’t press down too hard as you want nice loose spoonfuls of biscuit with the cheesecake mix.

Slowly melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a small pot of simmering water. Put the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and add the white chocolate, cream, vanilla extract, and sugar. Beat all the ingredients together until you get a nice light mixture. Spoon the cream cheese mix into the serving pots, smooth the top and garnish with a sprinkling of thinly sliced white chocolate. Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

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This recipe again comes from aunt Erica, and is adapted from her fairy cake recipe. If you are making these to decorate with kids, and want to limit the time it takes to put everything together, it may be easier to make the cupcakes ahead of time

Makes approximately 8 cupcakes
175g of self raising flour
110g of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
110g of soft margarine or butter
2 large eggs
50ml of water/milk

For the butter cream frosting:
170g of softened butter
225g of icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180oC and line a cupcake tray with paper cases.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients.  Make a well in the center of the bowl and break in the 2 eggs and add the butter in small pieces.  Using an electric hand mixer beat all the ingredients together until combined.

Add in half the milk/water and beat again until combined.  You are looking for the batter to be light and creamy.  Add the rest of the liquid if you need it- you may not.

Divide the batter evenly into the paper cases and place in an oven for 15-20 minutes or until firm and light brown on top.

Allow to cool on a wire rack before applying the frosting.

In a bowl beat the butter and add the icing sugar bit by bit until it is all incorporated.  At this point you can separate the frosting into a few different bowls and stir through different food colourings.  Spoon the frosting into an icing bag and ice away!

Let your imagination go wild!

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What can make a naughty pie even naughtier? The answer… CRUNCHIE BARS! If you don’t live in Ireland or England, Crunchie bars are honeycomb bars covered in chocolate and are extremely delicious! But my favourite part of making this pie has to be the nervous and exciting moment of opening the tin of condensed milk after it’s been boiled for 2 hours to see if it’s perfectly caramelised, and then squidging the tin so that the content blubs out over the edge! Those words are probably not even in the dictionary but I feel they best describe the tin of gooey caramel perfectly!

Serves 6
297g can condensed milk
230g digestive biscuits, about 16 crushed finely
115g butter, melted
3 bananas
250ml of cream
3 crunchie bars, roughly chopped

In a small high sided pot, cover the tin and boil the unopened can of condensed milk for 2 hours, keep an eye on it making sure the water level is always above the top of the can.

While the can is boiling, prepare the base of the pie.

Mix together the crushed digestive biscuits with the melted butter until they are combined and then spread the mixture evenly over the base of a 18cm cake tin with a removable base.

Cover and chill for 2 hours in the fridge.

When the can has finished boiling remove from the water and allow to cool. When the can is cool to the touch, open and spread the caramelised condensed milk over the biscuit base.

Slice the bananas evenly and arrange over the caramel.

Whip the cream until it is just about stiff and spread on top of the bananas.

Sprinkle the crunchie bar over the top of the cream as artistically as you feel necessary!

Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

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This recipe is a fresh take on the Swedish Cinnamon Buns which have been so popular on the blog and in the book! Inspired by Leila Lindholm (my current hero!) who uses blueberries in the filling, I decided it would be great way to use up the last of my leftover frozen berries. This recipe makes a lot of buns, but they freeze really well in ziplock bags and can reheated straight in the oven.

Makes about 40 buns
400ml/14fl oz milk
110g/4oz butter
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
110g/4oz sugar
750g/1½lbs flour
½ teaspoon of salt
1 egg, beaten
A handful of flaked almonds

For the filling:
200g of butter, at room temperature
150g of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
450g of mixed frozen berries
2 tablespoons of icing sugar

Melt the butter in a large pot gently on a low heat and then add the milk. When the mixture is lukewarm, remove from the heat and add the two sachets of dried yeast, sugar and salt. Slowly incorporate the flour one cup at a time; be patient, as the mixture will eventually come together and you won’t be left with a sticky mess forever! You may need to add less or more of the flour to get the right consistency. When the dough has taken shape and is no longer sticky, turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes.

Leave the dough to rise in the bowl covered with a damp cloth for 45 minutes. Try and find somewhere warm, as the yeast will do its job a lot quicker.

While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. In a small bowl beat the butter with cinnamon and sugar until you get a light and creamy consistency. In another bowl combine the berries and icing sugar. You may have to zap the berries in the microwave to defrost them first.

When the dough has risen, cut it in half and roll it into a rectangle about 5mm thick, and then spread half the creamy butter filling all over. Top with half the berry mixture and spread evenly over the dough. Then, from the long side, roll the dough so you get a snail effect and slice into approximately 15–20 pieces. Repeat the process with the second half of the dough.

Place the slices in paper wrappers face up and bake the rolls in the oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for about 10–15 minutes or until they are a light brown colour. Remove from the oven brush with a little beaten egg and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Place back in the oven for another 5-6 minutes or until the buns are golden brown and the almonds are toasted.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack, if you can wait that long!

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