25TH BIRTHDAY CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with a little butter and base line with baking paper. In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cocoa, then lightly fold into the mixture.
• Add a little milk until you have a dropping consistency, then divide between the tins. It’s best to only fill the sandwich tins 3/4 full.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, then cool slightly. In a bowl, beat the butter and icing sugar together with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy, then fold in the melted chocolate.
• Spread some icing over 1 of the cakes, top with the other cake and the rest of the icing.

Steps:

• Turn the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Peel the potatoes and carefully cut them in half, then into quarters. Peel the carrots and cut each carrot into about 4 or 5 even pieces.
• Prick the sausages all over with a fork – this helps the fat to run out of the sausages, so that they don’t split open as they cook. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based casserole and fry the sausages, turning often, until lightly golden all over – this should take about 10 minutes. Remove the sausages from the pan and put them on a plate.
• Add the chopped onion to the casserole (there will still be some oil in the pan from the sausages) and continue to cook over a low heat for 5-10 minutes, until the onion is slightly soft. Add the garlic and paprika and cook for another minute.
• Add the chopped potatoes and carrots and stir everything around in the casserole so that the vegetables are coated with the oil.
• Add the tomatoes and stock (to measure the stock, you can use the empty tomato can – filled up, it will hold 400ml of stock) and the bay leaves. Bring to a simmer (so it’s just bubbling gently). Return the sausages to the casserole.
• Using your oven gloves, carefully put the casserole into the oven. Cook for 45 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through, and serve. Want more? Find our https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/collections/discover-one-pots/collection of one-pots here.