All-Star Vanilla Custards

One of the many things I love about weekends is that for me it is the perfect time to make some type of dessert or pudding for the family, when time is on your side and the hectic schedule of the week is behind you (at least for 2 days). So this weekend I decided to try a new recipe, All-Star Vanilla Custards, from The Weekend Baker (did I mention how good this book is?). These custards are different from a crème brulee; they are firmer in texture and less rich. The flavors and sweetness are gentle and soft and it soothes and satisfies you with every spoonful.

Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake

After a long week of baking I was looking for something simple and quick to bake for this weekend, so I opted for this nut-crusted chocolate-banana swirl cake from The Weekend Baker. This cake is another good excuse to use your overripe bananas and they must be very, very ripe. I used my new silicone Bundt pan which I purchased at TK Max for the bargain price of £6 (gotta love that store). Plain chocolate is stirred into half of the buttermilk-banana batter, and the two batters are gently swirled together in the pan. The nut crust topping makes this cake an elegant coffee cake to present to guests or family.

Recipe for Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake

Big-Time Peanut Butter Cookies

My garden on this wet, windy and miserable day!

It’s a miserable wet windy day today and I tend to like staying home on days like today and doing what I enjoy best, baking! So what better way to spend a dreary day than in the kitchen baking up some treats for the family. My boys love anything with peanut butter, especially baked goodies. I decided to try something new and make up these cookies from my new book The Weekend Baker (I love this book). There is no butter in this recipe and the only fat is the peanut butter, which turns the cookie creamy and moist. They are so easy and super fast to make up, just add all the ingredients into your mixer until the dough comes together, shape into balls, flatten with a fork and into the oven they go. You can use smooth PB or crunchy PB, if you want a bit of crunch.

Recipe for Big-Time Peanut Butter Cookies

Uncomplicated Fruit-Topped Yellow Cake

I really love the name of this cake, which is why it caught my eye. The reason why it’s called “uncomplicated”? Well you won’t come across an easier cake to make up on days when time is not on your side or you just want effortlessness. This is a very moist cake which can be topped with every type of fruit, the choice is yours! This cake would be gorgeous topped with apricots when they come into season in the summer. I have gone for the apple topping, and for me apples are the perfect fruit in winter. This cake can easily be doubled up as a dessert and served with lashings of hot custard, just the thing on a cold winter’s day!


This recipe is from, The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge. A must have in every cookbook addicts collection!

Warm Cinnamon-Spiced Blueberry Cake

It’s a glorious sunny winters day here in Surrey and nothing beats getting up early and baking your family a cake to wake up to. So this morning I did just that. I had spotted the perfect cake for just an occasion, Warm Cinnamon-Spiced Blueberry Cake from my new book, The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge. In this easy but wonderful recipe the blueberry topping is added partway through the baking so that some of it can sink into the cake to provide that delicious moist filling. My boys were welcomed with that beautiful cinnamon aroma when they awoke and it was the perfect start to our Sunday.