Easter Baking

From the perfect, chewy cookie to a sky-high layer cake, we have something for everyone to enjoy this Easter

Little carrot cakes with orange & honey syrup

MAKES 12 PREP 15 mins COOK 20 mins EASY V

150ml sunflower oil, plus a little for the tin

175g light muscovado sugar 200g self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp mixed spice 1 orange, zested and juiced (save the juice for the syrup) 2 large eggs 50g natural yogurt 200g carrots, about 2 large ones,

peeled and grated For the syrup and icing

50ml runny honey, plus extra to drizzle (optional)

150g mascarpone

100g thick natural yogurt 75g icing sugar, sieved edible flowers or extra orange zest, to decorate

1 Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and oil a 12-hole muffin tin, or line it with muffin cases. In a large mixing bowl, mix the sugar, flour, bicarb, mixed spice and orange zest. Whisk together the eggs, oil and yogurt, then stir into the dry ingredients along with the grated carrots. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, or divide between the cases, if using, then bake for 20-22 mins until a skewer inserted in to the middle comes out clean. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and leave them to cool a little.

2 Meanwhile, to make the syrup, heat the honey and orange juice in a pan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for a minute until syrupy. Spoon a few tsp over each cake while still warm, then leave to cool completely. For the icing, mix the mascarpone, yogurt and icing sugar until just combined (if you over-mix, it will become runny). Use a palette or cutlery knife to swirl the icing on top of the cakes, drizzle with a little more honey, if you like, and decorate with edible flowers or orange zest.

PER SERVING 356 kcals • fat 20g • saturates 6g • carbs 39g • sugars 27g • fibre 1g • protein 4g • salt 0.5g

Easter egg cookies