Recipes

Who says a sandwich needs to be made with bread? Biscuits work far better!

Whenever I’ve done demonstrations that involve getting the audience up on stage to bake something from scratch, I’ve used madeleines. There’s a reason for this: they’re easy and they’re fast. Real fast!

This recipe is an example of what I call modular baking. To see how relaxed these little tarts are to make, all you need to do is break the recipe up into wee parts. The pastry. Obviously, you can buy it if you don’t want to make it. Go for the “all-butter” stuff if you can. And ready rolled? Even lazier, even better. If you do decide to follow my recipe and make your own, good on you. It’s nothing more than flour, butter and water. The lemon filling. This is actually just a really good recipe for lemon posset, and doesn’t require any extra baking once you’ve filled your tart shells. If you’ve got some left over, you can pour it into wee glasses and leave it to set in the fridge for an alternative, pastry-free dessert. It’s just cream, lemon juice and sugar. The candied lemon. An optional flair, but a nice one nonetheless. You could just top each tart with a little raspberry or blackberry, but I like canided (or ‘confit’) lemon. It’s as simple as sugar, water and fresh lemon slices. Please feel free to take any of these aspects and use them in other dishes, and on their own. They’re great wee recipes in their own right.

The posh French alternative to Scottish coconut macaroons. These indeed are the little, delicate things that everyone thinks are really hard. Well, let me tell you, they’re not. They’re ridiculously easy, in fact.

Surely the world isn’t in need of another Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe? Uh, it definitely is. Especially this one!

A really simple, no-knead bread recipe.

This tart is as simple as tarts get. The key here is seasoning.

A delicious citrus tart, perfect for any summer’s day!

This recipe doesn’t require any actual baking – it’s just biscuits, butter, cream and chocolate.

They’re hideously healthy, easy, quick and cheap; perfect for everything from picnics to posh appetisers.

A tarte tatin is like an upside-down cake, but using puff pastry instead of cake mix. And the title does not lie: when you try this tart, you’ll be hit by two flavours in abundance: pear and vanilla.

The star of this recipe is undoubtedly the gingerbread itself. Gingerbread is a really simple biscuit to make, and this recipe is the perfect compromise between time, simplicity and taste.