Crave: Brilliantly Indulgent Recipes

3 Melt the butter in a large frying pan or griddle pan over a medium–high heat. Dip each stuffed slice of brioche into the egg mixture and allow to soak briefly until saturated. Fry each slice until browned and caramelised on the bottom, then flip over and cook for a further 1–2 minutes on the other side. Remove from the pan and keep warm while you fry the remaining pieces.

4 Heat the marmalade and orange juice together in the frying pan until bubbling. Allow to bubble for 1–2 minutes, then return the French toast slices to the pan with the marmalade and coat them in the glaze. Serve immediately.

Lime and ginger drizzle cake traybake (#ulink_d657291d-e484-532d-b731-684fb79d20a1)

Changing the type of drizzle on a cake is now commonplace, but don’t forget that you can change the cake, too – don’t just stick to vanilla sponge! Ginger cake is already deliciously moist, but drenching it in lime juice mixed with demerara sugar only improves it further. Citrus flavours like lemon or lime lighten warm spices like ginger and make each square of this cake really refreshing.

MAKES ABOUT 16 SQUARES

PREP TIME: 15 MINS PLUS COOLING

COOKING TIME: 30–35 MINS

200g butter, plus extra for greasing

250g soft dark brown sugar

50g treacle

100g golden syrup

100ml milk

2 eggs

1 ball stem ginger from a jar in syrup, finely chopped

Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lime

250g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground ginger

DRIZZLE

Juice of 3 limes

100g demerara sugar

25g crystallised ginger, cut into small cubes (optional)

You will also need a 20 × 20cm cake tin.

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4, grease the cake tin and line it with baking parchment.

2 Place the butter, sugar, treacle and syrup in a large saucepan over a medium heat and stir continuously until the butter has melted and the sugar has completely dissolved.

3 Remove from the heat and pour the milk into the saucepan of hot butter and sugar mixture, whisking until combined. This will cool the mixture down before you add the egg, preventing it from scrambling. Beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time, then stir in the chopped stem ginger and most of the lime zest, reserving some for decoration.

4 Mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger in a large bowl. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the saucepan and beat until well combined.

5 Pour the batter into the lined tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 30–35 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

6 While the cake is baking, prepare the drizzle. Mix the lime juice and demerara sugar together in a small jug. Just 5 minutes after the cake comes out of the oven, while it’s still in the tin, pour over the drizzle and spread it right to the edges of the cake. Sprinkle over the crystallised ginger cubes (if using) and remaining lime zest, then leave to stand for at least 15 minutes so the drizzle can soak into the sponge properly. Remove from the tin and cut the cake into squares. This cake will keep for up to 1 week.

Lemon and poppy seed pancake stack (#ulink_9d7efd35-d014-5ada-9eaa-dd11bae54f30)

This is lazy weekend food, for those times when towering stacks of fluffy pancakes dripping in syrup are the only thing worth crawling out from under the duvet for. The lemon juice in the batter serves two functions: it gives the pancakes a beautiful flavour, and its acidity reacts with bicarbonate of soda to make them rise up into soft pillows.

MAKES 8 PANCAKES

PREP TIME: 10 MINS

COOKING TIME: 15–20 MINS

150g plain flour

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tsp bicarbonate of soda

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tsp baking powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg

100ml milk

100g natural yoghurt

Grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

1 tbsp poppy seeds

25g butter, plus extra for frying (if needed)

Whipped cream or mascarpone cheese, to serve

LEMON SYRUP

100g caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon