Country recipes: teatime treats

Raspberry and vanilla sponge

Preparation: 40 minutes Cooking: 35 minutes

Serves 12

Flavourless oil for greasing

125g vanilla caster sugar, plus extra for dusting

125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

½ teaspoon baking powder

4 medium eggs, at room temperature

55g unsalted butter, melted and cooled a little

2 tablespoons sugar syrup

1 dessertspoon Bramley and Gage Raspberry Liqueur

450g raspberries

300ml double cream

1 good-quality meringue nest, roughly crushed

icing sugar, for dusting

1 Heat oven to 190ºC (170ºC fan oven) gas mark 5. Very lightly grease a deep 21cm cake tin with oil and line the base with baking parchment. Dust the edges with caster sugar, then flour, shaking out any excess.

2 Sift the flour and baking powder three times and set aside.

3 Put the sugar and eggs into a large wide bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water. Using electric hand-held beaters, beat the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes until doubled in volume and light and creamy in colour.

4 Remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking for another 10 minutes - this length of beating time helps to stabilise the eggs.

5 Pour in the cooled butter around the edge of the bowl - so you won't knock out valuable air in the egg mixture - then very gently fold into the egg mixture using a large metal spoon.

6 Sift half of the flour over the mixture and fold in carefully and quickly. Fold in the remainder. Pour into the prepared tin, swirling any little pockets of flour with the tip of the spoon as you go. Bake for 30-35 minutes until risen and golden brown. Set on a wire rack upside down to cool. You can freeze the cake at this point.

7 When completely cold, slice the cake horizontally into three pieces. Mix together the sugar syrup and liqueur and brush over the bottom and middle layers. Pick out a dozen of the best-looking raspberries and set aside for decoration.

8 Whisk the cream until it just holds it shape, then spread half over one cake layer (this will be the base). Cover with half the raspberries. Top with the middle layer. Mix together the remaining cream and the meringue. Spread over the next layer and cover with the remaining raspberries. Top with the final layer.

8 Dust liberally with icing sugar and decorate with the remaining raspberries.

Fondant fancies

Preparation: 50 minutes Cooking: 40 minutes Makes 15

125g very soft butter, plus extra for greasing

125g caster sugar

150g self-raising flour

1 level teaspoon baking powder

2 medium eggs

2 tablespoons milk

Grated zest of 1 lemon

For the decoration

2 tablespoons passionfruit jam

icing sugar, for dusting

225g natural marzipan

300g fondant icing powder

Juice of 1 lemon juice

Assorted food colouring pastes, such as yellow, pink and green

Unsprayed rose petals to decorate

1 Heat the oven to 190ºC (170ºC fan oven) gas mark 5. Lightly grease and line an 18cm square baking tin with baking parchment.

2 Put all of the cake ingredients in a large bowl and beat for 2 minutes with hand-held electric beaters until smooth and paler in colour.

3 Pour into the prepared tin, level the surface and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and cooked through. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to go completely cold.

4 Cut the cake in half horizontally and spread half of the jam over the bottom layer. Cover with the top layer.

5 Lightly dust the worktop with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan into a square 3mm thick and large enough to cover the top of the cake. Brush the cake surface with the remaining jam and lay the marzipan over the top. Trim the cake to neaten the edges. Lay a large board on top to flatten slightly while you make the fondant icing.

6 Mix together the fondant icing powder with water in a heatproof bowl according to the packet instructions. Add the lemon juice and set over a pan of very gently simmering water - the temperature of the fondant should reach 55ºC. Do not overheat or it will lose its sheen. It should be thick enough to coat but not so runny it slides off the cakes. Divide between separate bowls and add your chosen colourings.

7 Cut the cake into 15 3½cm squares. Put on wire racks set over large pieces of foil. Spoon over the icing so that the tops and sides are completely covered. Excess icing will drip through on to the foil and you can scrape this up and use it again. Decorate with each cake with a rose petal. Leave to set before moving or fine cracks may appear on the surface.

Shortbread rings

Preparation: 15 minutes Cooking: 15 minutes

Makes 15

100g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

25g icing sugar

100g plain flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 Heat oven to 190ºC (170ºC fan oven) gas mark 5. Lightly grease one or two baking sheets.

2 Beat together the butter and icing sugar with hand-held electric beaters until soft and fluffy and lighter in colour.

3 Briefly beat in the baking powder and the flour - just enough to blend until smooth. Put into an icing bag fitted with a medium star-shaped nozzle.

4 Pipe 15 4cm rings onto the baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes until slightly golden. Cool on a wire rack. Keep for up to a week in an airtight tin.

Summer-fruit tartlets

Preparation: 35 minutes, plus chilling Cooking: about 12 minutes

Makes 24-26

170g plain flour

85g butter, softened and diced, plus more for dusting

85g caster sugar

3 medium egg yolks

Few drops vanilla extract

2 tablespoons rose-petal jam

300g mixed summer fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, redcurrants and peaches

1 Sift the flour onto the worktop. Spread the flour out from the centre into a 25cm circle. Put the butter in the centre with the sugar, eggs and vanilla on top. With the fingers of one hand, peck at the mixture until they are combined and smooth.

2 Using a palette knife, gradually draw in the flour, chopping the mixture together with the edge of the blade. Keep doing this until there is no trace of dry flour and the mixture forms lumps.

3 Bring together into a ball, flatten into a disc then wrap in clingfilm and chill until firm enough to roll easily.

4 Lightly flour the worktop and roll out the dough to 2mm thickness. Use to line a selection of mini tartlet tins - about 6-8cm wide. If you have the time, pop the tartlets in the freezer until frozen. If not, chill for at least 30 minutes.

5 Heat oven to 200ºC (190ºC fan oven) gas mark 6. Line each tartlet case with a square of baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Arrange the tins on baking sheets. Either cook from frozen or chilled for about 8 minutes until the pastry has set. Remove the baking beans and paper and return the pastry to the oven for 3-4 minutes until cooked through, making sure they don't colour. Cool on a wire rack.

6 An hour or so before serving, assemble the tartlets. Gently heat the jam with a splash of water, then sieve to remove any lumps. When the pastry cases are cold, brush the insides with the jam. Fill with your chosen fruit, then finish with another glazing of jam.

Lincolnshire Poacher Scones

Preparation: 20 minutes Cooking: 20 minutes

Makes 16

50g butter, diced, plus extra for greasing

225g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch English mustard

50g Lincolnshire Poacher cheese, grated

125ml whole milk

1 tablespoon natural yogurt

1 Heat oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan oven) gas mark 6. Lightly grease one or two baking sheets.

2 Sift the flour, baking powder and mustard in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the cheese.

3 Mix together the milk and yogurt then pour in just enough water to make a soft but not sticky dough.

4 Turn out on to a lightly floured worktop and knead very briefly to bring the dough together. Pat out into a circle about 2½cm thick. Using a 4½cm fluted pastry cutter, cut out circles of the dough and arrange on the baking sheets, spaced well apart. Brush the tops with milk and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden brown. Serve with good quality unsalted butter.

Smoked salmon and chive pinwheels
(pictured above)

Preparation: 15 minutes

Makes 15

50g softened butter

2 tablespoons finely chopped chives

squeeze of lemon juice

3 slices thin brown or wholemeal bread

50-75g smoked salmon

1 In a small bowl, mash together the butter and chives and season to taste with the lemon juice.

2 Spread the herb butter over the bread and cut off the crusts.
3 Lay the salmon over the top of each slice, leaving 1cm gap along one edge. Tightly roll up the bread from the opposite edge to the gap and press lightly to seal. Using a bread knife, cut each roll into five slices and serve.

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