These raspberry muffins couldn't be easier to make and taste beautiful, with the sharpness of the raspberries and the sweetness of the cake and cream.

Ingredients you will need:

- 6 oz/ 170g caster sugar

- 6 oz/ 170g self- raising flour

- 6 oz/ 170g soften butter or margarine

- 3 free-range eggs

- 1 tsp baking powder 

- handful of fresh raspberries (leaving a few to decorate with)

- around 400ml double cream

- some raspberry coulis

- about 1 tbsp icing sugar

- white chocolate for decorating

Method: 

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 180ºC fan, then measure out all your ingredients. I think this is the best way to make this recipe quick and simple and clutter free as you can put everything away before you have even started. 

Step 2: Put the soften butter or margarine into a bowl, add the sugar and whisk together (I used a half held whisk) until light and fluffy. 

Step 3: Add the flour and baking powder and gently mix until combined. Then add the eggs and starting slowly, whisk until the mixture is fully combined.


Step 4: Put the handful of raspberries, you can add as many as you would like really, to the mixture and gently fold in.








Step 5: Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cases and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. You can check if the muffins are cooked by placing a skewer into the middle of one and if the skewer comes out clean the muffins are cooked, if not just leave in the oven a little bit longer.

Step 6: Once the muffins have cooked, leave them in the baking tray to cool for around 5 minutes and then transfer the muffins onto a cooling rack and leave until completely cooled.

Step 7: Time to decorate! Pour around 400ml of double cream and 1tbsp of icing sugar into a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. The cream with continue to stiffen as you mix in the raspberry coulis. Then add some raspberry coulis until you have the colour you want, I chose a very light pink to just add a hint of colour and flavour. 

Step 8: Now put the cream into a piping bag so it is easier to put on the top of the muffins and pipe a swirl onto each one. I then sprinkled over white chocolate flakes that I made by using a peeler and running this down the edge of a bar of white chocolate and added a raspberry that I filled with the extra coulis I had left over and that was it!

Step 9: Enjoy!

As valentine’s day is rapidly approaching, I thought it would be right to post something festive. So here is a cute cake and although not the easiest, it is rather impressive! 

Ingredients you will need: 

(Cake 1)

• 150g self-raising flour
• 175g caster sugar
• 175g unsalted soften butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 85g ground almonds 
• 100ml milk
• 2 tbsp cocoa power
• Red food colouring 
• 1 1/2 tsp strawberry flavouring - you can use vanilla instead if you wish

(Cake 2)

• 175g self-raising flour                                     
• 175g caster sugar
• 175g unsalted soften butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 85g ground almonds 
• 100ml milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

Method:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 160°C (140°C if fan assisted). Now grease a 900g loaf tin and line with greaseproof baking paper. 

Step 2: Next put the sugar and butter for cake 1 into a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, it is easiest to do this either in a electric mixing bowl or using a hand held electric whisk.

Step 3: Then beat together the 3 eggs and add to the butter and sugar in small amounts, mixing in-between until all is combined.

Step 4: Now sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa into the bowl, add the almonds and gently fold into the mixture. 

Step 5: Now combine the milk and flavouring (either strawberry or vanilla) and add to the batter. Then add small amounts of food colouring until the mixture is evenly coloured and at the colour you want.

Step 6: Then pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. You will know it is baked if you insert a skewer into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean. Now cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Step 7: When cool, cut the cake into about 4cm slices and then using a 5cm cutter, stamp out the hearts. 

Step 8: Now for cake 2. Use the same loaf tin as before and grease and line it again. Now repeat what you did for cake 1 but you won’t have cocoa or food colouring in this batch and your strawberry flavouring will also be vanilla. Stop when all the ingredients are combined in the bowl.

Step 9: When you have got to this stage pour 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Next push the bottoms of the hearts into this batter in a tight row. Then cover the hearts with the rest of the mixture covering the hearts as much as you can. 

Step 10: Bake for 1 hour at the same temperature as before and again use the skewer technique to check it has baked properly. Cool for around 10 minutes in the tin and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Step 11: Decorate however you choose! Dust with icing sugar and valentines sprinkles for a simple but effective look or smother in chocolate icing, its really up to you!

Step 12: Enjoy! 

(Original recipe on the BBC Goodfood website)

These delicious chewy Rolo© cookies are so tasty and super easy to make. 

Finished cookies

Ingredients you will need: 

- 115g soft butter
- 115g demerara sugar
- 175g self-raising flour
- 100g rolo© chocolate
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract






Method: 

- Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

- Step 2: Put the sugar and butter to the bowl and whisk together until light and fluffy.

- Step 3: Add the golden syrup and vanilla to the sugar butter mixture and whisk together.

- Step 4: Next sift half the flour into the mix and also add the chocolate. Mix together and then add the rest of the flour and combine using your hands.

- Step 5: Divide the mixture into equal sized parts and roll into cookie dough balls. Don't flatten the balls and place onto the baking tray, fairly spaced apart as the dough can spread.

- Step 6: Bake for around 10 to 15 minutes, until the cookies had spread and turned slightly golden.  Take out of the oven and leave on the baking tray to cool for about 5 minutes. The cookies will still be soft when taken out of the oven but they will harden as they cool. After 5 minutes, transfer the cookies onto cooling racks and leave until completely cooled.

- Step 7: Enjoy!

Chocolatey orange goodness. 

Ingredients you will need: 

For the cheesecake 

- 900g of soft cream cheese at room temperature (Philadelphia works well)

- 200g of golden caster sugar

- 4 tablespoons of cocoa, sifted

- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 2 tablespoons of Cointreau

- the rind of 1 orange

- 3 eggs

- 284ml soured cream

- 284ml double cream

- 100 g dark orange chocolate, melted

- chocolate curls or whatever you would like to decorate the cheesecake with

For the biscuit base

- 100g melted butter, plus a little extra for greasing

- 14 plain chocolate digestives, finely crushed

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to fan 160ºC. Line the base of a 25cm springform tin with baking parchment and then mix the melted butter and biscuit crumbs until well blended. Press firmly onto the base of the tin and bake for 10 mins.

2. Take the cheesecake base out of the oven and turn oven temperature up to fan 220ºC. Put the cream cheese and sugar in an electric whisk and beat until smooth and creamy. Then whisk in the cocoa, vanilla, Cointreau, eggs, soured cream, orange rind and half the melted orange chocolate. Stir enough milk into the remaining chocolate to make a sauce consistency, then set aside until ready to decorate the cheesecake.

3. Put a little melted butter on some kitchen paper and use it to butter the sides of the cake tin, then pour in the cheesecake mixture and smooth the top. Bake for 10 mins, then turn the heat down to fan 90ºC for 25-30 mins, the filling should be set, but with a slight wobble in the centre. Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, then leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven for 2 hrs. After take the cheesecake out of the oven and chill until ready to serve.

4. To decorate the cheesecake, carefully remove it from the tin and strip the lining paper from the base. Lightly whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then swirl it on top and drizzle with the reserved chocolate sauce, rippling the sauce through the cream with the end of a spoon. Serve as is or pile with chocolate curls or any other decorations you wish.

What more do I have to say? 

Finished chocolatey brownies. 

Ingredients you will need:

- 150g dark chocolate
- 100g milk chocolate (chunks if preferred)
- 100g white chocolate (chunks if preferred)
- 225g self- raising flour
- 125g caster sugar
- 255g butter
- 4 eggs

Method:

Step 1: First pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/ 350ºF. Then line your baking tray (around 20cm²) with greaseproof paper and butter. 

Step 2: Put about an inch of water into a pan and heat it to a simmer. Then place a heatproof bowl on the pan, making sure that the water doesn't touch the bowl. Next add the butter and the dark chocolate and heat gently until all melted and combined together. Then remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. 

Step 3: Sift the flour into a bowl and then stir in the sugar. 

Step 4: Whilst the chocolate and butter mixture is cooling slightly it is a good time to chop up the chocolate if you are using chocolate bars. I like doing this as it allows you to have control over the size of the chunks and you can mix up the sizes as you wish. 

Step 5: Crack the 4 eggs into a bowl and whisk slightly. Add the eggs into the chocolate and butter mixture and next add the flour and sugar mixture. Then beat well, the mixture will look dry and unappealing at first but if you persist it will soon turn into a chocolatey, fudgey mixture. Next add the white and milk chocolate chunks and stir well.

Step 6: Pour the brownie mixture into the pre-prepared baking tin and place in the middle of the oven for 30 - 35 minutes. Take out of the oven when the brownie has risen, the top looks shiny and papery and the edges are coming away from the side of the tin. Leave to cool in the tin for around 20 minutes.

Step 7: Carefully remove the brownie from the tin and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack. When completely cool, cut up that brownie and dive in!