vegan

Gluten-Free Pear and Buckwheat Cupcakes are nutty and tender, not worthy — one grated ripe pear keeps the crumb moist, buckwheat flour gives a toasty depth, and white chocolate icing finishes them off. Sixteen little cakes, no gluten in sight. Looking for a...

Parsnip Cake with Horlicks Icing and Toasted Hazelnuts is carrot cake's sweeter cousin — 150g (5.3 oz) of finely grated parsnip, warm ginger, and ground almonds in the sponge, malted Horlicks icing, and a scatter of toasted nuts on top. Even the skeptics come...

Ultimate Mocha Cake with Cocoa Nib Icing is the coffee-and-chocolate birthday cake — a muscovado sponge loaded with 25g (0.88 oz) of instant coffee, soaked with a coffee glaze while still warm, and finished with bittersweet cocoa nib icing. The sea salt rounds off the...

The Ultimate Blackberry & Almond Crumble Cake folds 350g (12.3 oz) of fresh blackberries and a quick blackberry purée into a moist almond sponge. It's a long bake — 100 minutes — and every minute is what lets the deep center set while the edges turn faintly...

Wonderfully Moist and Fluffy Carrot Cake with Blood Orange Icing is an oil-and-egg sponge packed with raisins, candied peel, and walnuts, under a citrus-sharp blood orange icing. The dark muscovado sugar is what keeps it moist for days. Ready to bake the most...

Sweet and Savory Microwave Tomato Jam simmers 750g (26.5 oz) of ripe tomatoes with caster sugar, white wine vinegar, and a spoonful of tomato purée into a glossy, scoopable condiment in under an hour. The microwave does the reducing while you stir occasionally and...

Toasted Marzipan Custard is cold-weather comfort in a baking tray — marzipan browned and melted through whole milk, cream, and egg yolks until the whole thing tastes of toasted almonds. Budget 100 minutes total: most of it is unhurried baking and chilling. If you've...

Mint & Toasted Almond Drizzle blends flaked almonds toasted to gold with a big handful of fresh mint, a little icing sugar, and sunflower oil into a bright green sauce that dresses up simple desserts and fruit. It takes 25 minutes, most of which is toasting and...

Simple Strawberry Vanilla Butter takes five minutes and whips fresh strawberries, scraped vanilla pod seeds, and a sifted dusting of icing sugar into softened butter until it's pale and flecked pink. It's the compound butter that makes weekend breakfast feel...

Quick Microwave Red Onion Chutney turns a kilo of red onions, the juice of two lemons, and 150g (5.3 oz) of sugar into a glossy, jammy jar in 30 minutes, with no standing at the stove. The microwave does the reducing while you get on with everything else. Slather it...

Easy microwave pear jam takes Conference pears from fruit bowl to toast in about 45 minutes — no preserving pan, no thermometer, just pears, lemon juice, and white caster sugar cooked in microwave bursts. A potato masher gives you chunky-or-smooth control. Small-batch...

This sweet & savoury apple date chutney is homemade brown sauce in a jar — apples and dates cooked down with balsamic, onion, dark brown sugar, and a warm blend of ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and a pinch of cayenne. It is dark, sticky, and just sharp enough, done in...