Cherry & Coconut Loaf Cake

200g tub of glace cherries, drained of syrup, halved

150g butter, softened

150g caster sugar

3 medium eggs, lightly beaten

30 ml milk

200g self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

75g dessicated coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin with baking parchment.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together, then slowly add the eggs while mixing thoroughly. 

3.  Stir in the milk.

4. Sift in the flour and cinnamon, with the cherry halves in the seive (this coats them in flour so they won’t sink to the bottom of the cake as it cooks). Then fold in the flour.

5. Fold in the coconut, then fold in the cherries.

6. Bake for about 45-55 minutes. It’s cooked when a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

7.  Optional:  Mix half a cup of icing sugar with a teaspoon at a time of water until it can be spooned and smoothed onto the cooled cake. Sprinkle with dessicated coconut & allow to set.

Good Old-Fashioned Crumpets

Makes 14-16 crumpets

350 ml milk

225g strong white flour

125g plain flour

2 tsp dried yeast

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150 ml warm water

sunflower oil for cooking

You need some crumpet rings (or egg rings or cooking rings), 8 cm diameter and a crêpe pan (or frying pan or flat griddle).

1.  Whisk together the milk, flour, yeast, salt and sugar until the batter is thick and smooth.

2.  Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm, draft-free place for 1 - 2 hours, until thick and slightly bubbly.

3.  Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the warm water and mix into the batter. Cover and leave to rest for half an hour. 

4.  Put some sunflower oil in a small bowl to a depth of 1 cm or so, then put the crumpet rings in and swirl round to coat well. Place rings in the crêpe pan over a low to medium heat.

5.  Fill each ring with a tablespoon of batter. Leave to cook for about 5 minutes, until bubbles start appearing and the top starts drying out. Remove the rings, then flip the crumpets over for 30 seconds to cook the top. 

6.  Remove to cool on a rack. Repeat until you have used up all the batter.

Serve hot with lots of butter.

The crumpets will keep in an airtight container for 2 - 3 days. To use, put them in a toaster for a couple of minutes to crisp them up again.

(If you have a bread machine, you can use the dough setting for steps 1 and 2).

Walnut & Dulce de Cabello de Ángel Pastries

Dulce de Cabello de Ángel is a traditional Spanish sweet jam made from Angel Hair Squash. If you can't get it, use a jam or pie filling such as peach or apricot instead.

Makes 8 Pastries

1 packet (2 sheets) of ready-rolled puff pastry

1 tin of Dulce de Cabello de Ángel

100g shelled walnuts

1 egg, beaten

60g icing sugar

1tsp water

1.  Preheat the oven to 220°C.

2.  Lay the pastry out on a floured surface, cut each sheet into 4 squares. 

3.  Brush the squares all over with beaten egg, then make a diagonal cut from each corner of the square to within 1 cm of the centre. Fold alternate cut corners to the centre to form a windmill shape. 

4.  Add about 1 tbsp walnut pieces to the centre of the pastry windmill, top with 1 tbsp Dulce filling. Brush any exposed pastry with beaten egg.

5.  Place the pastries on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, cook in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool on a rack.

6.  Mix the icing sugar and water in a small pan over a very low heat until the mixture is transparent. Immediately brush over the pastry tops.