The Baking Club (Part 2) - Easter orange spice biscuits, Yoghurt almond cake, Granadilla and lime tarts

Easter orange spice biscuits

Makes 25

180g butter

160g caster sugar

Finely grated rind of 1 orange

1 egg

300g flour

1 tsp mixed spice

½ tsp ground ginger

A pinch of salt

For decorating

Ready to roll white icing

1 egg white, beaten

Cake decorations of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 160⁰C. Place the butter, sugar and grated orange rind in a bowl, beat well, add the egg and beat for another minute.
2. Sift in flour, spices and salt, stir well to combine. Roll into a disc, cover with clingfilm, place in fridge for 1 hour.
3. Remove from fridge, dust a surface with flour, roll out dough and cut into desired shapes. Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack; allow to cool completely before icing.
5. To decorate: roll white icing out, cut into desired shapes, brush biscuits with egg white and top with icing shapes. Decorate as desired.

Makes 1 Bundt

250g butter, softened

200g golden brown sugar

4 eggs

280g self-raising flour

A pinch of salt

150g ground almonds

250g plain yoghurt

For the honey lemon syrup

½ cup honey

160g sugar

Juice and peel of 1 lemon

1 stick of cinnamon

¾ cup water

For the icing

130g icing sugar sifted

1 tbsp hot water

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Fresh raspberries to garnish

1. Preheat oven to 180⁰C. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl, beat until well combined, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
2. Sift together flour and salt, stir half the dry ingredients into butter mixture with the almonds and half the yoghurt, repeat with the remaining ingredients. Stir well to combine.
3. Pour batter into a prepared tin, bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven and gently pour over the honey lemon syrup.
4. Allow cake to cool in tin, remove and drizzle over icing.
5. For the syrup: place all ingredients in a small pot over a medium heat, stir until the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and simmer for 3 – 4 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly.
6. For icing: place icing sugar in a bowl, stir in water and zest, and drizzle over cake. Garnish with raspberries.

Makes 12

550g cake flour

2 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon, ground

A pinch of salt

10g instant yeast sachet

50g demerara sugar

100g butter

100g sultanas

200mk warm milk, plus 1 tbsp extra

For the glaze

3 tbsp water

1 tbsp caster sugar

For the crosses

35g icing sugar

1 tsp milk

1. Sift the flour, allspice, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl; stir in the instant yeast and sugar.
2. Rub butter into the mixture until well incorporated and the mixture has a crumbly texture. Stir through sultanas.
3. Stir in milk and mix to form a dough.
4. Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 5 min until soft and pliable.
5. Preheat oven to 200⁰C, place dough in a large bowl and allow to stand, covered, for 40 min, or until double in size. Remove, punch the dough down and divide into 12 balls. Place balls in a lined round or square cake tin, just touching each other. Allow to stand for an additional 20 minutes.
6. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden, remove from the oven and glaze immediately. Allow to cool, then ice with the crosses.
7. For the glaze: place the water and caster sugar in a pot, heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
8. For the crosses: mix together the icing sugar and milk, place in a piping bag, and pipe crosses onto the top of the buns.

Coconut & saffron cake

Makes 6

1 cup coconut milk

Pinch of saffron

4 eggs

320g caster sugar

280g self-raising flour

A pinch of salt

For the topping

250g fresh raspberries

2 cups cream, beaten

Icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 180⁰C. Grease 2 20cm cake sandwich tins. Heat the coconut milk and saffron in a small pot until almost boiling.
2. In a bowl beat eggs until fluffy, add sugar slowly, beating well for 3 – 4 min.
3. Sift flour and salt. Stir into the egg mixture and slowly pour in coconut milk, stir well to combine.
4. Pour into cake tins, bake for 35 – 40 min (do the skewer test). Place on a cooling rack; allow to cool completely.
5. To assemble: cut each sponge into two, top with cream and raspberries, stack, garnish with mint and raspberries. Dust with icing sugar.

Granadilla and lime tarts

Makes 6

For the ginger butter crust

200g ginger biscuits

75g butter, melted

1 tbsp flour

For the filling

¼ cup granadilla pulp

¼ cup lime juice

120g caster sugar

4 eggs

½ cup cream

Icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 140⁰C. for the biscuits base: place biscuits in a blender and blitz until smooth, add butter and flour, blitz to combine. Press biscuits into the base of 6 x 10cm tart shells. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Filling: place granadilla pulp, lime juice and sugar in a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water; stir till sugar’s dissolved. Remove from heat, let it cool slightly, whisk in eggs, cream.
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared pastry bases, bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until firm. Remove, allow to cool. Dust with icing sugar and garnish with extra granadilla pulp.