HOW TO MAKE PENGUIN CAKE RECIPES

Start by lining and greasing a 20cm deep cake tin and preheating the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C.

Pour the oil and sugar into a bowl and whisk together for 2 minutes till the mixture is combined and pale. Put the baking powder and apple sauce into a smaller bowl and mix together. Add to the oil-sugar mix and whizz together till well combined.

Now add the ground almonds and plain flour, then fold through till everything is well combined. You should have a dense, grainy batter. Spoon into the lined cake tin, smooth with the back of a spoon and bake for 30 minutes.

Make the syrup by putting the apple juice and sugar into a pan. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer for 10 minutes, till reduced by half. Take off the heat, add the mixed spice and stir through.

After 30 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/ fan 160°C and pop a sheet of foil on top of the cake tin to stop the top from browning too much. Bake for another 25 minutes.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes into it and pour the syrup mixture all over. Leave to cool completely in the tin.

Meanwhile, make the icing by putting the oil and icing sugar in a jug and blitzing until thick and well combined (or blend with a stick blender).

As soon as the cake is cooled, remove it from the tin, add the icing right on top and it’s ready to eat. This will keep in the fridge for 4 days.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/gas 7.

Lightly grease two baking sheets.

Measure the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and the dried fruit.

Break the egg into a measuring jug and beat, then make up to 150ml (¼ pint) with milk. Stir the egg and milk into the flour and mix to a soft but not sticky dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, knead lightly and roll out to a 1cm (½in) thickness. Cut into rounds with a fluted 5cm (2in) cutter and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the tops with a little milk.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until pale golden brown. Lift the scones onto a wire rack to cool.

Eat as fresh as possible.

Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C. Grease and line 2 x 20cm cake tins.

Start by putting the butter and sugar into a bowl and whisking till light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one by one till combined. Add the cocoa, food colouring, vanilla and almond extracts and mix till combined.

Add half the flour and the salt and mix through, then add half the buttermilk and mix through. Do the same again and add the rest of the flour and then the rest of the buttermilk.

When you have a smooth batter, mix the vinegar with the bicarb, then add to the batter. Mix into a smooth batter and divide between the two tins, level off and bake for 40 minutes.

Take out and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then on a cooling rack.

Make the icing by whipping together the butter and icing sugar. Add the cream cheese and vanilla and mix in.

As soon as the cakes are cooled, level off the tops and save the crumbs. Sandwich the cake layers with the icing and cover the top and sides. Crumble up the scraps and cover the base of the sides.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4. Grease two loose-bottomed 20cm (8in) sandwich cake tins and base line with non-stick baking paper.

Measure the flour, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then add the oil, carrot, mashed banana and courgettes to the eggs and stir. Add these wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together using an electric whisk until combined.

Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, or until well risen and lightly golden.

Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely. The cakes will shrink back a little when cooling.

To make the icing, place the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and half the icing sugar and whisk again until combined. Add the remaining icing sugar and whisk until light and fluffy.

Spread half the icing over one cake. Sandwich the cakes together, then spread the remaining icing on the top and swirl. Arrange the slices of banana in a spiral pattern.

Cut into slices to serve.

Mary’s tips:

Can be made a day ahead and iced on the day of serving.

Un-iced cakes can be frozen.

1. You can make this pastry by hand or in a food processor. Cream together the butter, sugar and a pinch of sea salt, then rub or pulse in the flour and egg yolks.
2. When this mixture has come together, looking like coarse breadcrumbs, add the cold milk or water.
3. Pat and gently work together to form a ball of dough. Lightly flour and push, pat and squeeze into shape. The idea is to get your ingredients to a dough form with the minimum amount of movement, i.e. keeping your pastry flaky and short (the more you work it, the more elastic it will get, causing it to shrink in the oven and be chewy – ooooh no, matron).
4. I normally roll the pastry into a really large, short and fat sausage-shape, wrap it in clingfilm and place it in the fridge to rest for at least 1 hour.
5. Carefully slice off thin slivers of your pastry (don’t try to slice frozen pastry) lengthways, around 5mm thick. (I personally like it around that thickness as it’s delicate, but you can make it thicker if you want, it just takes longer to cook.)
6. Place the slivers in and around the bottom and sides of your tart mould, just fitting them together like a sort of jigsaw. Then simply push the pieces together, level out, then tidy up the sides by pushing with your thumb and either cleaning off the excess pastry from the rim of the mould, or allowing it to hang over the edge – which is quite rough but I like it.
7. Once you’ve finished lining your tart mould you must again allow it to rest for at least 1 hour, preferably in a freezer (I always store my pastry in the freezer because it keeps so well).
8. I always line two tart moulds and freeze one for another day (or you could make more if you want, just double the recipe, as it takes no extra time).
9. It’s so easy to grab a tart out of the freezer, bake it in minutes and fill it with something simple or elaborate, and if guests turn up or you just want to make a nice dessert, it makes pudding a piece of cake!
10. To start with, I always bake tart shells for around 15 minutes at 180°C/350°F/gas 4, which will cook the tart all the way through, colouring it slightly.
11. Once completely cooled it can be filled with any of the uncooked fillings, such as Fruit-filled Mascarpone Tart and Simple chocolate tart, which will hopefully provide a basis for you to make up and vary your own.
12. With baked fillings such as Almond Tart or Lemon & Lime Cream Tart you’ll have to bake the tart blind first, which means cooking the shell at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 but only for about 12 minutes, so that it’s only lightly coloured but just cooked through.
13. Another way, commonly used, is to fill the tart shell with clingfilm or greaseproof paper and fill it with beans (you can use rice, lentils, peas, whatever), the idea being that you pack the beans in so tightly that they will stop the sides of the pastry from dropping.
14. Cook for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the beans and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes. Yes, this is a bit of a performance and I only ever do it when I’m having bad luck, quite honestly if you take your tart shell straight out of the freezer and place it in a preheated oven you shouldn’t have any problems.
15. After baking blind, you add your filling and bake further until the filling is cooked (see recipes for cooking times).