Episode 3 Best Bakes Ever

The wonderful smell of bread just out of the oven.

The perfect piecrust.

The snap of a biscuit. And of course, cakes.

Cakes of all shapes and sizes and for every occasion.

We've got something for all the senses here,

as we celebrate some of the best bakes ever.

Hello and welcome to our terrific selection of bakes from

some of our favourite chefs.

Today's treats include an old-fashioned

but still effective flowerpot bread...

the great Antonio Carluccio reveals

the secret of his purse of mushrooms....

ANTONIO SIGHS CONTENTEDLY

The smell that comes from them, just wonderful.

..and the Hairy Bikers make a crab and leek tart.

Of course, there are puddings too,

and they are guaranteed to be special.

Raymond Blanc shows us how to make a compressed apple terrine...

That goes into my terrine very nicely, with the butter Calvados.

..Lorraine has a simply delicious tart recipe...

..Nigel Slater makes a beautifully spiced bread and butter pudding...

and we finish with Mary Berry's fantastic four-tier lemon cake.

I think of all the flavourings there are,

lemons must be my most favourite.

I think I'm known for lemon drizzle cake,

but I think it's a lovely idea to use the whole lemon.

But we start with an unusual recipe that involves two stages of baking.

It's necessary to achieve the right texture.

Here's Paul Hollywood

to explain everything.

This biscotti might look like a biscuit,

but it's actually a sliced up loaf, and it's easy to make.

These sweet and tasty treats date back to the 13th century.

A biscotti - which basically means "twice baked".

That's why they are so hard and crunchy.

I'm going to show you how to make three flavours,

with a beautiful, hot mocha-dipping sauce.

My three biscotti are chocolate, almond and orange,

pistachio and cranberry, and hazelnut and date.

Biscotti - a classic, classic Italian bake.

You need to bake this thing twice to get that crunch.

This gives you a very crispy mixture indeed.

Add six eggs to the plain flour and sugar.

Into this I am going to add a teaspoon of baking powder,

it's going to be your rising agent.

I'm just going to start getting my hands in there now.

A baker can't resist getting his hands into mixes,

cos then you really remember what it should feel like.

I'm feeling for something that is going to bind it together.

Not too liquid, if it's very liquid, you have to mix it for

a long time to try and build-up some sort of stability.

Don't worry about your hands getting dirty, it's part of the trade.

The mere volume of sugar in this will make it quite sticky.

Although this is a fatless mix,

it's got lots of sugar in it, so don't kid yourself

into thinking you're going to get slim by eating it.

I'm splitting my dough into three for three flavours.

For the pistachio biscotti, add the zest of a lemon.

A little bit of bite from the lemon really adds to this flavour,

adds a little bit of authenticity of Italy.

Add some roughly chopped pistachios and dried cranberries,

then mix together.

For the hazelnut and date biscotti, again, start with lemon zest.

Then add chopped hazelnuts and dates to the dough mix.

The final one...is a bit special.

For the chocolate, nut and orange biscotti, add chopped almonds,

some extra flour to the dough and some melted chocolate.

The general law is, once you've got a good, consistent base mix,

whether that's bread, cake or anything,

if you add a liquid to it, you must counter it with something dry.

So I've added the flour to cancel out the liquid of the chocolate.

Chop up some almonds.

With the addition of the almonds to this,

it really adds to the texture, but also to the flavour.

That blended with the chocolate - gorgeous.

Add a dash of vanilla essence, the zest of an orange

and some chopped up chocolate.

And that really adds to the biscotti.

You're going to get an overall flavour,

but then you're going to hit this chunk.

Shape the three biscotti mixtures ready for the first bake.

Place that straight... onto a baking tray.

Bake for the first time at 160 degrees for about 35 minutes.

And whilst they're in the oven, you can make your dipping sauce.

I'm making, basically, a chocolate sauce to go with the biscotti.

I'm adding...some cream...

..some coffee...

a good squirt of honey.

Once that's warmed, I'll begin to add my chocolate.

You've got to be careful, because you want to melt the chocolate,

you don't want to burn it.

Then your marshmallow finally goes in, and then it's ready.

Once baked for the first time, cut into slices and cook again,

turning halfway through.

Get creative with your flavours.

These are my three versions of biscotti,

ideally served with a hot mocha dipping sauce.

I think it's more than moreish. I think it's a must.

Now, this next recipe isn't just a really good baking one,

you get a delicious soup thrown in as well.

It's an old-fashioned way to bake and lovely to do with children too.

Making bread and watching yeast do its magic is a great way

to introduce them to the science of baking.

And cooking it in a flowerpot makes it even more fun.

Now, home-made bread doesn't have to be complicated,

because when I'm at home, I use some of this stuff.

It's a ready-made dry mix really.

Grab a packet like this, good pinch of salt, and 300ml of warm water.

The secret with making bread also...

is get the water right.

You can make it with cold water, it just takes longer to prove.

One thing you don't want to be using is too hot a water,

because it actually kills the yeast.

We're just going to mix this altogether, and really,

with bread doughs, you kind of

follow a recipe, but it's all in your fingers.

And it's only through experience and having a go at it that you

actually understand what you are trying to achieve.

The problem is most flours react differently

to different amounts of water.

It changes so much, whether you buy flour in the winter or the summer,

whether you buy it abroad as well.

Different flours absorb different amounts of liquid, so it's not

really one-recipe-fits-all, you've got to get the moisture into it.

If it's dry at this stage, it's going to be really dry

when it comes out of your oven.

But you just roll it up like that.

You got this nice ball of dough really.

You can tell when it is ready,

if you just press the top of it, if it springs back...

which that is doing there, that means the dough is ready.

You can buy great bread mixes from most supermarkets,

and it's a brilliant way to take some of the guesswork

out of making the perfect loaf.

The dough needs an hour to prove, so while that's happening,

I'm preparing my baking tins -

flowerpots.

Great for baking these little loaves in,

and they certainly add the wow factor to any pick-me-up meal.

Coat the insides with butter and line with grease-proof paper,

and then it's back to my dough.

Then you can, what we call, knock the dough back. Watch what happens.

When you chuck your hand in, the dough collapses.

There you go, it almost decreases in height by half.

So once you get to this stage... And already you can smell the dough.

It actually smells like sourdough, that great-tasting bread,

and you can see the texture of it, this is what it should be.

So roll that out.

Ideally, for these little pots, you want 150g bowls,

but something about that size.

When you're moulding it,

the best way to do it is to put the bread, fold it in on itself,

turn it over, and just using the power of your hand, push down...

..and cup your hand at the same time.

So flatten down first, and then gradually cup your hand up

so it comes up to a ball like that.

And then just pop these into the bottom of the moulds.

And then just sprinkle it with a bit of flour, no eggwash needed.

Just a touch of flour over the top. And then leave this to prove.

This is what we call a secondary prove.

So you allow these sort of pots to rise up again.

And you can see, you've already knocked it back,

and they'll rise up again like what we've got here.

And these are just about ready to go in the oven now.

For a little decorative finish, cut a slice in the top of the loaves,

then put in a very hot oven for about ten minutes.

That was simple, and now for the easy bit.

For my nutritious soup, all I need is a diced butternut squash...

..a finely sliced onion...

and a frying pan with some butter.

What you need to do is cook it quite quickly, so for this soup,

when you dice it this size,

it'll take no more than about five minutes to cook.

Add some veg stock...

..and some milk. Full fat of course.

Salt and pepper.

Bring this to the boil and cook this for about five minutes.

And the key to this is to not overcook the veg.

Like in any soup really, you wouldn't overcook carrots

if you serve them for Sunday lunch, well, don't overcook them

when you turn it into a soup.

Cos you want all that flavour in there,

that fresh flavour of these wonderful veg.

What we'll do now is just blend it.

So once it's nice and finely blended...

Now, the key to this is, you don't need to

pass it through a sieve.

See how smooth it gets, that's because you've cooked it nicely.

But also, what you've got to do is finish this off.

I'm going to use some lime zest and lime juice,

which I think goes amazingly with butternut squash.

So a good amount of lime juice and lime zest.

In there. And always what you've got to do with soup is season it.

Make sure you've got plenty of seasoning in there.

What the lime will do is really freshen up this soup.

It's a great addition, and also, you can put it in with carrots

and all manner of different stuff.

Just really lifts up the flavour.

And then, of course, you've got your bread.

I just think this looks fantastic.

Lovely and simple.

These little pots, certainly the soup, just think it's simple,

it tastes great...

..it's full of flavour, and of course, when you're at home...

..you can be a bit poncey.

Just got a little bit of watercress...

..on the top.

And there you have it. Sort of a butternut squash and lime soup.

With home-made bread.

The lime is really key to this, it makes it really come alive.

Butternut squash is great as it is, but when you put it in there,

it really lifts the soup.

Now, from an unusual way to bake bread to

an unusual dish from Lorraine Pascale.

With figs and shortcrust pastry, it's halfway to being a pudding,

but add cream cheese and mint,

and you've got yourself a great main course.

I always think shortcrust is a patchwork pastry,

cos it always falls apart.

And you're always patching it together when it's in the tin.

But that's OK, it's just very crumbly.

OK, and again, a palette knife.

Good if it's sticky, slide it underneath like that.

And then...

..carefully fold it over.

So just lay it over the tin and very gently...

There. OK, now ease it down.

I like to get a little ball of pastry

and then use that to get it into the corners.

That way I don't stick my finger through.

Take a knife, and just cut off the excess.

So I just take the wooden spoon, bit of flour,

and go all the way round in the grooves,

and it gives it a lovely finish when it comes out of the oven.

OK, that's good.

So this is going in the fridge now for 15 minutes,

or until it's nice and firm.

When the tart shell is rested, it gets blind-baked,

which means baked without a filling.

Get the baking paper slightly bigger than the tin, scrunch it up,

then un-scrunch it and line the tin with it.

And we do this because it helps the paper sit snugly in the tin.

Fill it with baking beans, or dried beans, to weigh the pastry down,

so you get a nice flat base.

Get it into the oven at 180 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

OK, so the tart is cooked, now to make the filling.

It's such an easy filling to make. You need 250ml of cream...

I'm using a whipping cream, you can use double cream.

You just want to whisk it until it starts to stiffen slightly.

The beauty of this is it's a no-cook filling, it's just so fast.

So I'm adding 165g of cream cheese.

And then mix it all together, you want it all to be incorporated.

It looks a bit lumpy at first, then it will go smooth.

OK, then I need a tablespoon of Marsala.

Optional, of course, but Marsala is my favourite ingredient.

It's a sort of sweet fortified wine from Sicily.

Then some honey, three squidges of honey.

Gives it a lovely sweet flavour.

Just dollop that into the case.

Make sure all the bottom of the case is covered.

All right, now that's ready for the figs.

So these figs are going to get cut into quarters

and then laid on top of the tart.

It really is such an easy, simple topping, and so, so stunning.

Start lining them up, and it's all how you present them.

I just think that's so pretty, we have them standing upright.

That lovely red and green together. OK, now for the next 15.

We need some mint. Snip some over the top.

And you can also use basil, rich basil, over this,

but I just think mint goes beautifully.

And lastly, some pistachio nibs.

OK, that's ready, so easy.

-ALL: Mmm.

-Looks incredible.

-OK, who's first?

-Looks too good to eat.

LORRAINE LAUGHS

-Mmm!

-Mmm!

-That's divine.

-Really, really good.

We move on now to another tart recipe,

this time from the Hairy Bikers.

It combines a pastry crust with some seafood. My favourite - crab.

The sweet, white meat here pairs up beautifully with some leeks.

Here's how to make our best of British crab and leek tart.

All tarts start with a pastry base,

and this one is half wholemeal, half flour.

-Take a leek, Kingy.

-I'm on me way!

DAVE HUMS GERMAN NATIONAL ANTHEM

I'll crack on with them.

What we're going to do is saute those off in a frying pan

with a little bit of butter.

Now, the important things is, we don't want any colour on them.

We simply want them to sweat.

Take wholemeal flour...

..in a processor, mix with plain.

To your wholemeal and plain flour, add little knobs of butter.

Like so.

You can put it into cubes and it looks all posh,

but there's no need to.

It's a very quick and easy tart, this, it's really nice,

and it tastes immense.

It's fantastic, innit? But leeks, you know...

# They make you si-i-i-ing! #

-Oh, Gawd.

-No, it is. They're meant to be good for your voice.

Emperor Nero believed - and he was very vain about

his singing voice - that leeks made him sing better.

So he ate loads, and his nickname was Porophagus,

-which means "leek eater".

-It doesn't.

# La-la-la-la-la-la-laaaaa.... #

-You'd better get going, son.

-I've eaten loads in my time.

-Not enough.

-Oh...

Blitz the flours and the butter in a food processor

until you get fine crumbs.

Then add the egg in a thin stream until it all comes together.

This is a short pastry.

It's shorter than Ronnie Corbett wearing sandals, this one.

-Butter your tin liberally.

-Put your leeks in for about three minutes.

You don't want any colour on them, you want them to sweat.

Sweat, sweat, sweat, sweat.

Think Benidorm.

So just roll that flat and put that great big lump in your tin.

Now, you could try rolling it out, get yourself in a kerfuffle.

Just press it in with your fingers in an even way. It's so easy.

It's short, it's full of butter, it's going to be tasty.

Because sometimes, wholemeal pastry, if you don't have

loads of butter in, quite frankly, can be like a beer mat.

That's them. Take them off the heat, let them cool.

See? No colour on them, and we just sweated them.

Look at that, hands of a master.

Just get it nice and even.

It's so much easier than trying to wrestle with a rolling pin.

-And, you know, it's a personal touch.

-It is a personal touch.

See? Beautifully even.

What we do is we prick this with a fork,

and just pop this in the fridge for half an hour to chill down.

Before we blind bake it. Look at that, beautiful.

Ow! Ooh! Eeh! Ooh! Ah!

If you've just tuned in you may wonder,

"Why is he baking a bean pie?" It's not.

This is a process known as blind baking.

What happens is, we pre-bake the base, and as you can see,

the beans will hold the pastry to the sides of the tin.

Also, apart from giving us a pastry case with a good shape,

it's going to make sure that it is cooked,

-so you'll never get a tart with a soggy bottom.

-No.

That's wrong.

-Right, mate, the filling. Let's crack on.

-Now...

-Thank you.

-Now...

-DAVE HUMS TUNE

We need three eggs whisked slightly and then...

Creme fraiche, look at that.

That's going to make the tart rich, tasty and unctuous.

The creme fraiche falls in a certain way.

Look at that bit there.

And this is truly island life. An island of creme fraiche

in a sea of egg.

I wonder how different life would have been

if we had been connected to mainland Europe

and there hadn't been the English Channel. Do you know what I mean?

-We'd be German.

-Well, they wouldn't have invaded.

-Right, mate, next.

-The brown crab meat.

Crab comes in two parts.

The back, which is full of the brown stuff, which, personally,

I think is one of the great gastronomic gifts to mankind.

-Oh, yeah.

-And the white meat. The brown meat goes into the base.

OK, so we've got now eggs,

creme fraiche, and now we put the brown crab meat.

Oh, don't forget the base. Take the beans out...

Taking care not to burn yer mitts.

That's cooked lovely.

What we still need to do is to firm it up a bit more.

Pop that back into the oven without the beans for ten minutes.

But keep an eye on it, we don't want to burn it.

-Oh, lovely, mate.

-Yep.

Look at that.

It's like a well-formed digestive biscuit, which is what we want.

-Now, in here, our leeks go.

-Put me beans back.

And again, just whisk them in.

The white crab meat mixture goes into the base and the leeks

and brown meat mixture on the top.

Starting from the middle...

-Look, a couple of little 'uns, Kingy.

-Perfect, dude.

Right, it's what you call cook's perks. Waste nowt.

-It's a thing of joy, isn't it?

-It's lush, man.

And top with grated cheddar. Cook's perks, cook's perks.

We're not worried about these overflowing,

these are just for us.

Pop back into an oven for about half an hour at 160 degrees Celsius.

-Ready...

-Steady...

-Go.

-Oh, smells great.

-It does, that is... Oh, look at that, man.

-Oh, it's epic! Yes.

-That's beautiful, isn't it?

Look how it's bubbling away there, Dave.

The crust is perfect.

-You could serve this one, couldn't you?

-You could, you could.

I think it needs to cool a little bit, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it just needs to be, like, blood-warm.

-Yes, it does.

-Cup of tea then?

-Aye.

-Might as well.

Time for snackeroonies.

-Ooh, the leek and crab tart.

-Mr Myers.

-Thank you.

Ooh, it's a good cutter, isn't it?

-And that base is so thin.

-Oh, yes. It's crisp, the bottom's crisp...

-Beautiful.

-Right, bon appetit.

You know, our great British eating crab, it's punching through

all of those flavours and keeping a taste of its own.

Yeah, it is.

-A truly great British harvest of the sea, that is.

-Mmm.

-Fantastic.

Now, a recipe from the great Raymond Blanc.

Raymond is famous, of course,

for making his food look as special as it tastes.

And this pudding is a great example.

Here he is with a spectacular apple terrine.

The dish I'm going to do is a compresse of apple.

It's simply just apple slices which I've cooked for three hours.

Of course, food we all know, is about complicated simplicity.

Picking the right apple for this technique is vital.

They must be firm, a floury apple will break down into a mush.

Varieties like the Cox and Braeburn are low in sugar

and high in the natural gelling agent pectin, making them

the perfect choice for a terrine.

About eight or ten apples according to size, OK?

We laugh, but I always think an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

But it's very important to get the right thickness.

That is the right thickness.

It's about 1mm, 1.5 maybe.

But not too thin, because it will puree, and not too thick,

because it will stick together. Voila.

I cut a bit of grease-proof paper the size of my terrine.

Blend melted butter, dash of Calvados.

It goes into my terrine very nicely, bit of butter Calvados.

So then sideways.

It's like, really, a builder's job, it's very simple,

you're just building a simple terrine, layers of apples.

So, basically, what is fantastic about it is no sugar

but the apples, they're all fructose.

The natural pectin in the apples is a jellifying agent, very simple.

When you make jam, that's what you are doing,

you add pectin to strengthen the thickness of the fruit.

After slow-cooking, the pectin will set the terrine as it cools.

Two-step cooking.

The first step will be to cook the terrine

and to lose minimum juice as possible.

Tres bien.

Double wrapping the terrine will stop the juice evaporating.

It's all-important,

as it will caramelise the apples as they slow cook.

That's a process of slow-cooking.

Going to break down the fibres of the apple, so the juices are going

to come out, of course the pectin is going to break down as well.

So you place your terrine on a tray in the middle of the oven,

preheat it at 180 degrees centigrade.

It will take one hour and a half for the first cooking,

then you move your terrine out,

remove the paper and let the steam go away.

BIRDSONG

Look, the terrine has already lost about one quarter of its volume,

the apples are collapsing, and they are also browning.

I'm going to put it back into the oven for another

hour and a half to finish the cooking,

but mostly to let the steam escape

so the apple experience is even stronger.

For a professional decoration to accompany the terrine,

a perfect apple crisp.

I'm becoming a champion at apple slicing, look.

Make syrup from 100g of water, 50g of sugar and a dash of lemon juice.

Pour it over the apples. The syrup will part-cook them.

Drain, then bake them flat in the oven

for 45 minutes for a restaurant-style trimming.

After its three hours in the oven,

the terrine needs to be left to cool,

allowing the apples to compress further and the pectin to set.

That's really wonderful what I see here.

Look how compressed the apples have been.

Very, very gently...

Place a little cake board right in the middle here.

And then turn it around, voila. Look how gorgeous it is already.

The slow-cooking has melted the individual apple slices

into a stunning terrine bursting with flavour.

And for a crisp base,

puff pastry cooked between two baking sheets to stop it rising.

What you have here is really melting, beautifully scented apples.

Obviously it's very beautifully textured pastry.

Just...

..close.

Bit of caramel sauce. Just water and sugar.

Brand-new ice cream, home-made. And then...

voila.

Ah, magnifique. And we're staying continental with this next recipe.

Here's Antonio Carluccio demonstrating how to make

a traditional Italian pastry purse to fill with your favourite ingredients.

And he's chosen some rather delicious-looking mushrooms.

For this recipe, I use the chestnut mushroom.

And it's called chestnut not because of the smell

or the taste of chestnut, but because of the colour.

I would suggest you never peel them, because most of the people,

I don't know why, they have been brought up to peel mushroom.

In peeling mushroom, you take away the goodness.

This dish, it's easy,

and no excuses, as the mushrooms are available in your supermarket.

To begin, I chop them in half

and lightly saute with some olive oil and garlic.

So, I put garlic with this mushroom here

because it's quite complementary.

And I put it in now, and also a little bit of chilli. I like chilli.

A little sea salt, a handful of chopped parsley,

and already my simple mushroom feast is coming to life.

It's fantastic,

but you could use it also as a side dish to a wonderful steak.

They are cooked.

Ohh. The smell that comes from them is just wonderful.

Which leaves enough time for a little story.

You know the story of the lady that was in court

because she smashed the hat off her husband?

With a hammer.

And the judge, looking at the lady, said,

"Tell me, out of your file I can see you were married four times before,

"and all the previous husbands died with mushroom poisoning.

"So what happened,

"why did you have to smash the head of your fifth one?"

"Your honour, the fifth one didn't want to eat the mushrooms."

They don't call me a fungi for nothing.

Now, I take some filo pastry, brush with melted butter

and add my mushrooms.

Ahh, the smell.

Then gather the four corners to make the purse,

before popping in the oven to crisp the pastry.

And after 15 minutes, wonder of nature, look at this.

Oh, that's fantastic. Don't tell me you can't do that.

So, I give you my purse of mushrooms.

A quick, tasty supper, rich in flavour but easy on your wallet.

Go to the supermarket, buy whatever you like, and do it.

It's just wonderful, delicious.

JANE: More puds now, and it's that old favourite,

a bread and butter pudding.

Here's Nigel Slater's version, which comes with his own twist.

Sometimes things really take you by surprise.

I remember ordering bread and butter pudding once

and thinking I was on very safe ground.

But...I got something very surprising.

A traditional bread and butter pudding

that was full of wonderful spices and coconut milk.

Although it was a dish I recognised and was very happy to eat,

it just came with this wonderful variation,

and I've never forgotten it.

You might think something as classic as good old

bread and butter pudding can't be improved on, but trust me,

a few aromatic spices and some rich coconut milk will transform

a familiar dish into something new and wonderful.

I'm starting by making the custard base.

I need egg yolks...and some coconut milk.

It's got a richness to it that will work

very, very nicely with the spices.

And some ordinary milk.

Now, the reason that this pudding was so wonderful

was because of the sweet spices.

They were unexpected, and the first one that went in was vanilla.

You can use vanilla extract, but I quite like using a whole pod.

Just scrape some of the seeds out, drop them into the custard.

I'm going to put the split pod in there as well,

cos you'll get masses of flavour in there.

The next spice to go in is possibly my favourite of all.

If I could only take one spice to my desert island, it would be cardamom.

There's something magical about the smell of this stuff,

it's a warming smell, then there's this hit of the exotic about it.

Cinnamon is the last spice to go in, and some sugar.

I'm using muscovado, as it's got a rich butterscotch flavour.

There are so many breads that you can use in this pudding.

I think I've used every bread that there is, including hot cross buns.

And they've all been delicious.

Spread the bread with some soft butter.

How you arrange the slices is up to you,

but I do think it's nice to cut the crusts off.

Just on the top, a little bit of demerara sugar.

Sometimes I feel I could cook just for the smell of cooking alone,

and this is one of those moments.

Have the oven quite low, so the custard bakes slowly.

As a treat, I want to make a caramelised banana topping

to go with my pud.

You'll need two or three quite firm fruits.

Cook them slowly in butter with a generous sprinkle of sugar.

So once the bananas are sizzling and starting to brown a little bit,

they're going to get a bit of grated orange zest.

It's simply just that last bit of freshness,

with something that is homely and warm and baked,

just that little zip to bring the whole thing to life.

If you shake the pan, you'll see when it's ready, because it quivers.

Slightly. Almost blancmange-like.

So I've got toasted bread...quivering, sweet,

spicy custard, and a bit of fried banana.

It's just the smell of the sweetness and the spice,

it's like you've opened up a whole spice cupboard,

but then you've got this backnote of lovely, sweet butterscotch sugar.

It really is gorgeous.

It's blissful.

Adding the coconut milk is a brilliant way to

ring the changes with such a familiar pudding.

What else you add is up to you.

Favourite spices, dry fruits - whatever takes your fancy.

Now, Nigel is a great one for suggesting that you improvise

with a recipe, throw in a bit of what you fancy,

and often that can work beautifully.

But sometimes it's important to follow your favourite cook precisely,

and particularly with cakes,

measurements and method can be crucial.

I suggest you stick pretty closely to the recipe

if you try out this tea-time treat from Mary Berry.

A celebration tea party calls for a big cake,

and this four-tiered lemon cake

uses two lemons, skin and all, and more in the icing.

So it's full of zesty flavour.

These two lemons I have simmered very gently

until they're all squidgy and soft. That'll take about half an hour.

So I'm going to cut those in half...

and make sure the juice doesn't spurt all over me!

Remove the pips, then place the lemons in a processor,

but don't chop it too finely, the small chunks of lemon

will give you a nice texture when you bite into the cake.

Now make the cake mixture using 275g of butter, self-raising flour

and caster sugar,

along with four eggs and two level teaspoons of baking powder.

Then add half the lemon and blend briefly.

I'm going to put that into two cake tins, and they want to be

eight inch sandwich tins, and they're quite deep.

I think, of all the flavourings that there are,

lemons must be my most favourite.

I think I'm known for lemon drizzle cake,

but I think it's a lovely idea to use the whole lemon.

Level out the mixture then place the tins

on the same shelf in the oven

and bake for around 30 minutes at 160 fan.

Whilst the cakes are cooking, whizz up 175g of icing sugar

with 50g of butter, add 250g of full-fat mascarpone and blitz again.

Then finally mix in the remaining lemon pulp.

Once the cakes have cooked and cooled completely,

you can start to cut them up.

Get down level with it so you can really see what you're up to.

And hold the knife absolutely flat and cut through.

It helps to have the cake really, really cold.

Take your time, don't be rushed.

And if any of the members of the family want to watch you,

tell them to go.

It's easier to do it without their advice.

When both the cakes have been halved,

start to spread on the icing.

So that's about a third.

It's a good thing to make this a bit ahead

because the lemon will sink into the cake.

Now, I'm going to put the piece that came off gently over the top,

then we put another third on top.

I really don't think it's a good idea to make a cake

any taller than four layers, that's plenty.

It's lovely to see those chunky bits of lemon in amongst this

lovely, creamy mixture.

And to crown the whole cake, I'm going to

do some lemon icing on the top.

Slowly mix in two tablespoons of lemon juice to 175g of

fondant icing sugar.

Fondant icing sugar is a fairly new product,

and it has an excellent shine to it.

So I'm going to put the whole lot on, right in the middle there.

Then be patient and just gently edge that over.

And I don't mind a bit if it trickles down,

in fact, I'll just encourage little drizzly bits to fall down.

Which I think looks as though you've made it at home.

And so, to finish my cake, in this jar I've got some lemon zest.

And what you do is put it in a pan with just a little water,

a sprinkling of caster sugar

and cook it for just about two or three minutes.

And then I just leave it to dry out in an oven temperature

of about 110 for about half an hour.

And I just keep it for decorating perhaps a lemon cold souffle,

or a mousse, or when a cake needs a lift like this one.

Mary's great-looking cake makes a real highlight to end our selection.

And it is our final bake of the day.

I hope you've seen lots to inspire and excite you, and do join me

again for more fantastic baking next time. Bye.