Chocolate sauce
A thick, glossy chocolate sauce made from store-cupboard cocoa and milk, ready in under 10 minutes. Pour it hot over vanilla ice cream, or let it cool and spread it on cakes and puddings.
37 recipes that use vanilla essence, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Chocolate sauce, takes 9 minutes. It is most often cooked with butter, sugar and milk.
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A thick, glossy chocolate sauce made from store-cupboard cocoa and milk, ready in under 10 minutes. Pour it hot over vanilla ice cream, or let it cool and spread it on cakes and puddings.
Proper pouring custard made the easy way with custard powder. It's thick, smooth and lightly sweet, just right with apple pie, crumbles, fruit salad and trifle. Serve it warm, or chill it for trifles.
Chewy brown-sugar cookies loaded with roasted macadamia nuts, white chocolate chunks, oats and coconut. A bakery favourite that is easy to make at home.
Warmly spiced butter biscuits with cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and a kick of freshly ground black pepper, made rich with ground almonds and cream. Dusted with icing sugar, they are perfect at Christmas.
A chocolate pastry base topped with a chewy brown-sugar, coconut and mixed nut layer, then drizzled with dark chocolate and cut into squares. Rich and satisfying with a cup of coffee.
Soft-centred chocolate cookies with chopped roasted peanuts in the dough and more on top. Yogurt keeps them tender. A favourite with children.
An eggless coffee sponge made with condensed milk, split and soaked in a cocoa, coffee and brandy glaze, then filled and covered with vanilla whipped cream, flaked almonds and grated chocolate. A grand party cake; use brandy essence instead of brandy for an alcohol-free version.
Small, soft eggless vanilla cupcakes in paper cases, topped with sugar sprinkles: just right for little hands and children's parties. The same mixture also bakes as one large basic cake in a 25 cm round tin.
A rich coffee and cocoa ring cake made moist with ground almonds and sour cream, spread with a coffee butter icing and toasted flaked almonds. Contains egg.
The book's basic eggless sponge, made with condensed milk and melted butter in one bowl. Sandwich it with jam and top with coconut, ice it any way you like, or use it for the Pinacolada cake. For a coconut cake, add 100 g desiccated coconut to the mixture.
A dark, moist eggless chocolate sponge, split and moistened with orange juice, filled and covered with whipped fresh cream, and finished with halved strawberries and grated chocolate. A show-stopping birthday cake.
An eggless, dark and spicy fruit loaf flavoured with cocoa, cinnamon and black treacle, with mixed nuts and dried fruit. It is brushed with brandy while warm and dusted with icing sugar. Serve in slices with fresh cream. Leave out the sherry and brandy for an alcohol-free loaf.
A simple, eggless fruit cake made with condensed milk, packed with mixed nuts, dried fruit and cherries and warmed with ginger and cinnamon. The book says it can be used as a wedding cake.
A classic buttery loaf cake dotted with glacé cherries and sultanas, perfect sliced at tea time. Toss the fruit in a little flour so it stays spread through the cake. Contains egg.
A homely eggless cake made with crushed Weetabix (wheat biscuit cereal), chopped apple, cashews and cinnamon, bound with condensed milk. Serve warm with ice cream.
A moist eggless cake made with semolina, coconut and yogurt, baked with slivered almonds on the bottom and top and moistened with orange juice. Serve with coconut ice cream or custard sauce.
An upside-down cake: poached apple slices, cinnamon, chocolate sauce and macadamia nuts go in the bottom of the tin, a vanilla sponge is baked on top, and the cake is turned out to show the apples. Serve warm with custard sauce. Contains egg.
Sweetened whipped cream with vanilla for coating cakes and piping decorations. An electric beater can be used, but for an inexperienced cook a hand whisk is safer: over-beating curdles the cream.
A modern layered barfi: a chewy base of dates, coconut, cornflakes, chocolate cereal and pistachio, a creamy top of condensed milk, cashews and almonds, and a marbled dark and white chocolate finish. It's rich, crunchy and silky all at once. Makes 35–40 rectangles; great for parties and gift boxes.
An eggless take on tiramisu: soft home-baked sponge fingers soaked in a Baileys and coffee cream, covered with whipped cream and cream cheese, and finished with grated white and dark chocolate and strawberries. It contains alcohol (Baileys Irish cream liqueur); see the last step for an alcohol-free swap. Make it a few hours ahead so it can chill and set.
A crisp almond pastry case filled with a smooth chocolate mousse that's set with agar-agar instead of eggs or gelatine, so it's fully vegetarian. Light whipped cream is folded through and the tart is finished with chocolate curls. Serve chilled.
A smooth, rich chocolate mousse made without eggs or gelatine: milk, cocoa and dark chocolate are thickened with custard and set with agar-agar, then beaten with sweetened cream. It's silky, chocolatey and fully vegetarian. Serve cold, decorated with whipped cream and chocolate curls.
A light cheesecake built on a soft orange sponge base, with a set filling of condensed milk, cream cheese, cream and orange juice, topped with whipped cream and sliced kiwi fruit. It's tangy, creamy and refreshing. The book sets it with gelatine, which is not vegetarian; the last step gives an agar-agar swap.
A cool layered pudding of ripe mango with cardamom and almonds, covered with a vanilla milk 'faluda' set with agar-agar. It's fruity, creamy and lightly spiced, and fully vegetarian. Make it in a glass dish so the layers show, and serve chilled with mango slices, cherries and almonds.
A five-minute layered pudding of whipped vanilla cream, crushed chocolate chip cookies and halved black and green grapes, served in a glass bowl so you can see the layers. It's creamy, crunchy and fresh. Serve chilled, sprinkled with brown sugar.
A no-bake layered pudding with the flavours of piña colada: tea biscuits soaked in pineapple syrup, layered with vanilla whipped cream, fresh coconut and crushed pineapple, and topped with toasted coconut. It's creamy, tropical and alcohol-free. Make it a few hours ahead and serve chilled.
A colourful no-bake pudding: a base of biscuit crumbs moistened with pineapple syrup and topped with fresh coconut, covered with a fluffy custard cream and finished with pineapple, cherries, kiwi, grapes and strawberries. It's light, creamy and fruity. Pipe whipped cream around the edge and serve chilled.
A rich no-bake dessert of ground brown bread mixed with drinking chocolate, nuts, dried fruit and brown sugar, soaked with cream and topped with a smooth white chocolate, cream cheese and sour cream layer. It's creamy, chocolatey and fruity. Make it in a glass bowl and serve chilled.
A no-cook pudding of crushed ginger biscuits soaked in apple juice, topped with fresh coconut, cashews, kiwi and grapes and finished with sweetened cream. It's fresh, creamy and gently spiced. Serve chilled; it's ready in minutes.
A no-churn cassata of three layers frozen together: vanilla with chopped nuts, strawberry, and mint with chocolate chips. The base is whipped cream and whisked frozen evaporated milk, so no ice-cream machine is needed. It makes about 3 litres; slice it for parties.
A tropical take on trifle: biscuits soaked in sherry or fruit juice, then layered with orange jelly, mango, kiwi and passion fruit, thick custard and softly whipped cream, finished with toasted almonds. It's fruity, creamy and colourful. Ordinary packet jelly is made with gelatine, which isn't vegetarian, and sherry is alcoholic; the steps give swaps for both.
A no-churn vanilla ice cream layered with home-made peanut crunch: roasted peanuts stirred into caramelised sugar, cooled and coarsely ground. It's creamy, crunchy and salty-sweet. Makes about 3 litres; the book also gives chocolate and cashew crunch versions.
The book's basic no-churn ice cream: whipped cream and whisked frozen evaporated milk, sweetened and flavoured with vanilla, then frozen. It's smooth, light and needs no machine. Serve it with chocolate sauce and roasted chopped nuts, or try one of the variations.
A soft, moist baked sweet in the style of basbousa: desiccated coconut, semolina and flour are mixed with melted butter, milk and vanilla, baked until golden, cut into diamonds and soaked in cold lemon syrup. Each piece is topped with an almond. Sweet, buttery and fragrant with coconut; serve at room temperature with tea or coffee.
A soft, moist cake made without eggs: self-raising flour and brown sugar are rubbed with butter, then mixed with milk and sour cream and studded with chopped dates, raisins and pistachios, with a warm hint of nutmeg and vanilla. Lovely with tea or served warm with cream.
A soft, moist low-calorie slice made without flour, eggs or refined sugar: ripe bananas are blended with sunflower oil, vanilla and cardamom, then cashews, desiccated coconut, oats and grated apple. Baked and cut into wedges, it is naturally sweet and good with tea or in a lunch box.
A creamy, dairy-free and low-calorie 'ice cream' made by blending frozen banana and strawberries with silken tofu, honey and vanilla until thick and smooth. Layer it with chopped fresh fruit and garnish with mint. Serve straight away.