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Baking doesn’t need to be taxing – as our simple guide shows.

Here are five delicious cakes made the easy way. From a cappuccino creation to a drizzle of lemon, these recipes are worth the calories!

BROWNIE BANANA BREAD

Serves 8

150g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

125g unsalted butter, cut into pieces

200g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

200g self-raising flour

50g cocoa powder

2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

Brownie banana bread

Brownie banana bread

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a 900g loaf tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

Put 100g of dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl with the butter and melt over a pan of simmering water, ensuring the base of bowl doesn’t touch the water. Or microwave in 20-second bursts. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the sugar and eggs until frothy. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt, and fold to combine.

Fold in the melted chocolate mixture, bananas and rest of chocolate chunks.

Scrape the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 minutes until puffed up and a skewer inserted into middle comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for ten minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

LEMON DRIZZLE BUNDT CAKE

By Jane Dunn

Serves 12

300g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra, melted, for greasing

300g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

300g caster sugar

6 eggs

Grated zest of 3 lemons

For the drizzle

75ml lemon juice

75g caster sugar

To decorate

100g icing sugar

1-2tbsp lemon juice

Grated lemon zest

Lemon drizzle bundt cake

Lemon drizzle bundt cake

Preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan /gas 3.

Very generously grease and flour a 2.5 litre bundt tin. The best way to do this is to brush or spray the tin with melted butter or cooking spray. Douse in flour, then gently tap out the excess.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, flour and zest and beat until combined. Pour into the tin. Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the drizzle. In a pan, heat the lemon juice and caster sugar over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.

Remove the cake from the oven, poke a few holes in the sponge and pour the drizzle over. Leave to soak in for 15-20 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate, mix the icing sugar and lemon juice to a paste. Drizzle over the cake. Sprinkle with lemon zest.

CAPPUCCINO CAKE 

By Eleanor Maidment 

Serves 10-12

175g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 5 tbsp whole milk

3 tbsp instant coffee

175g light brown soft sugar

3 large eggs

175g self-raising flour

1⁄2 tsp fine salt

For the topping

100g mascarpone

60g icing sugar

100g double cream

10g dark chocolate, grated

Cappuccino cake

Cappuccino cake

Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3.5. Grease a 900g loaf tin with some butter then line with baking parchment.

Heat the milk and coffee in a small saucepan until warm and stir to completely dissolve the coffee; leave to cool.

In a large bowl, using electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the coffee mixture. Then beat in the flour and salt until you have a smooth batter.

Scrape this into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted at the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin.

Using a hand whisk, whisk the mascarpone and icing sugar until combined. Add the cream and whisk until it just holds soft peaks (don’t overbeat or it may split). Swirl over the top of the cake and decorate it with grated chocolate.

NO-BAKE SIMPLE CELEBRATION CAKE

By Jamie Oliver

Serves 8-10

1 x 750g panettone

2 x 225g fresh strawberries

500g ricotta cheese (cold)

1tbsp runny honey

3 heaped tbsp lemon curd

No-bake simple celebration cake by Jamie Oliver

No-bake simple celebration cake by Jamie Oliver

Unleash the panettone from its packaging and slice off 3 chunky rounds, roughly 2.5cm thick (save the rest of the panettone for lovely breakfasty things).

Very finely grate 3 strawberries into a bowl and stir in 1tsp of extra-virgin olive oil, then spread this over one side of each of the 3 rounds and leave to soak in.

Whizz the ricotta in a food processor with the honey until silky-smooth, then divide between the rounds and ripple each with lemon curd (give the lemon curd a stir in the jar first, to loosen).

Hull and finely slice most of the remaining strawberries (leaving a few pretty ones aside for decorating later), then arrange over two of the layers.

Stack up the layers, using a mixture of whole and sliced strawberries to decorate the top. Chill in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

COOK’S TIP: If you feel like you want to do something exciting, pour a quarter of a jar of honey into a pan and place over a medium heat. Leave to bubble away until you have a dark caramel (never touch it!). Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully dip in whole strawberries, holding each above the pan so the caramel drips down, to create wisps of spun sugar. Place upside down on greaseproof (so they don’t stick) to set, then use to decorate your cake. To clean the pan effortlessly, pour in 2.5cm of water, pop the lid on and simmer for 5 minutes.

MOSAIC BISCUIT-TIN CAKE

By Liberty Mendez

Serves 8-10

For the cake

350g self-raising flour

a pinch of fine sea salt

225g caster sugar

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

2 tsp vanilla paste

½ tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

For the icing and decoration

200g unsalted butter (or dairy-free butter/spread), softened

400g icing sugar

3 tbsp milk (regular or plant-based)

1 tsp vanilla paste

300g biscuits (vegan or dairy-free, if needed), a quarter roughly chopped and the rest sliced in half through the middle if filled (I used a mixture of bourbons, custard creams, Party Rings and Jammy Dodgers)

Biscuit-tin mosaic cake

Biscuit-tin mosaic cake

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease two 18cm round sandwich-cake tins with oil and line the bases with baking paper.

For the cake, put the flour, salt, sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil, vanilla, vinegar and 250ml water until you have a smooth batter.

Tip the batter into the two lined tins, dividing it evenly. Level using the back of a spoon. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted at the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin for five minutes, then invert on to a wire rack, top sides facing down (this will help them flatten if they have risen in the middle) and leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the icing. Using an electric whisk, stand mixer or wooden spoon and some muscle, beat together the butter and icing sugar in a bowl until pale and smooth. Beat in the milk and vanilla paste. Set aside.

Take one of the sponges and place on a plate or cake board, spoon half of the icing on to the middle and spread out evenly. Make a dip in the middle using a spoon or palette knife, dragging some of the icing outwards. Put the chopped biscuits in the middle and press into the icing. Place the other sponge on top.

Spread the rest of the icing around the cake, on the sides and the top, using a palette knife in swiping actions. It doesn’t need to be neat as it’ll be covered. Take the remaining biscuits and press them on to the sides of the cake, breaking up some to fit in the gaps, so that the sides and the top are covered in a mosaic of biscuits. Store in an airtight container (or wrapped) for up to three days.

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Post source: Daily mail