Notes about Recipes in this book

• Coffee & walnut sponge cake

  • ania.s on April 26, 2020

    Mascarpone topping not very sweet. Much better with regular coffee icing which works better with the coffee flavour of the cake.

• Very fruity Irish tea cake

  • FJT on October 09, 2020

    You really can't go wrong with Delia! I was looking for a tea bread recipe that reminded me of one I used to make when I was a child and this fit the bill perfectly. I made this with two thirds sultanas and a sixth each of dried cranberries and chopped dried apricots as that's what I had in the cupboard. Very easy to make and totally more-ish.

• Fresh lime & coconut cake

  • sharifah on June 09, 2013

    Very zingy fresh cake - because of all the lime that was used! I'm a little disappointed with it, the photo made it look like a 'wow' cake...but my cake didn't rise as much as Delia's. I would guess that the desiccated coconut within the cake mixture, soaked in lime juice would make it a bit heavy to rise. My icing was a little runny. Apart from the desiccated coconut within the cake, I couldn't really taste the coconut within the icing, just a bit of grittiness because the coconut powder isn't as fine as the icing sugar. It's nice but I'm not sure I would make it again.

• Caraway seed cake

  • sharifah on November 01, 2015

    Easy to make cake, very nice too. As Delia says, it tastes better after a day or two. Difficult to try and make it last that long! Mine looks a touch more brown compared to the photo. Next time I'll check it at 50/55 minutes rather than an hour.

  • Lepa on May 11, 2020

    This was a hit with my family. It's a plain, simple cake but the seeds give it such flavor. I have tried several seed cakes but I especially liked this one with the almond flour and almond topping. 60 minutes was plenty of time. Please note that if you are using regular butter you will need to add some salt to this recipe. I added 1/2 teaspooon.

• Madeira cake

  • sharifah on January 19, 2014

    Basic cake, easy to follow and quick to make. Delia said use 2-3 Tbs milk but I used 4 Tbs. Quite alarmed at how stiff the cake mixture was, but it turned out ok and was very nice indeed.

• Chunky apple cake

  • sharifah on October 07, 2017

    Super delicious! Moist, not too sweet, very Apple-y with citrus & cinnamon notes. Hard to stop at just a slice! Took 50 minutes only in my fan oven, not an hour.

• Good old rock cakes

  • sharifah on June 28, 2013

    Works perfectly, very nice and very addictive. Best rock cake recipe that I have come across so far

• Oat & raisin cookies

  • sharifah on June 27, 2014

    Very stiff mix, I didn't think it would form a dough. I used porridge oats instead of medium oatmeal. Very moreish, can taste the salt and it doesn't taste too sweet despite the amount of dark brown sugar in it. Similar to Delia's ginger oat biscuits, these don't spread as she said they would. So I flattened them properly before they went into the oven. Delicious.

• Chocolate chip cookies

  • sharifah on September 15, 2013

    These were okay, nothing special......

• Crystallised ginger oat biscuits

  • sharifah on September 02, 2013

    These were like crispy gingery flapjacks - seriously yummy, and quite filling because of the oats. Quick and easy to make. But mine didn't look like Delia's because I followed what she said which was form into balls and press down 'a little bit' and they will expand during baking. Well, mine didn't expand and they looked like punctured golfballs rather than flat biscuits. Next time remember to press down quite a bit to flatten them!

• Fresh gooseberry & elderflower muffins

  • eeeve on September 15, 2019

    Lovely muffins, nice crumb and nice rise. Very fruity, as quantity of gooseberries quite high. Like that not much sugar goes in due to the elderflower cordial being used. Will make again, though will definitely double the quantities to make 12 muffins and not just 6.

• Spiced apple & cider cake

  • KarinaFrancis on May 08, 2016

    This was a very nice cake, really liked the apple flavour which was amped up the cider. I thought the instructions not to peel the apple was odd, but it worked. I didn't make the topping because I wanted to ice the cake, which might have been a mistake. I'd like to try it again with the crunchy apple topping...or maybe substitute pears for the apples.

• Almond biscotti

  • KarinaFrancis on August 21, 2021

    These were great and super crunchy so perfect for dunking. It looks like it won’t come together but trust in Delia! I doubled the recipe because it only makes 16 and in lockdown that’s not enough even though there’s only 2 of us.

• Chunky marmalade muffins

  • digifish_books on June 05, 2015

    These were delicious even though I just used regular orange marmalade and not the Seville chunky marmalade listed. I didn't follow the suggestion to top the cooked and cooled muffins with extra marmalade. The muffins were sweet and 'citrusy' enough without this addition and I'm not sure how well they'd keep with a wet topping.

• Blueberry & pecan muffin cake

  • digifish_books on June 05, 2015

    I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before - using muffin batter as cake mix...delicious! If using frozen blueberries make sure they have defrosted before adding.

• Spiced apple muffins

  • anneskitchentv on May 30, 2015

    I didn't really like these - turned out quite stodgy. I later find out that a "dessertspoon" equals two teaspoons - I had only used one teaspoon of baking powder (instead of two). Why does Delia use such a totally uncommon measurement? I've never seen dessertspoons used in cookbooks and I think it's frankly quite misleading.

• Apricot, apple & pecan loaf

  • Lepa on February 07, 2020

    This is so full of nuts and fruit that it doesn't hold together very well but it tastes delicious (if a bit too sweet).

• Old-fashioned cherry cake

  • Lepa on May 20, 2018

    We weren't crazy about this cake. It is too sweet, dry and the flavor lacks dimension. I think it needs a bit of salt. Perhaps the butter Delia uses has salt? I am paging through the book and notice none of her recipes call for salt. If you bake with unsalted butter, like me, I recommend adding a bit of salt to balance the flavors. Note: the recipe suggests using an 18 centimeter pan but I think that would be too small. I used a 9 inch pan and it was perfect.

• Marmalade cake

  • Lepa on October 07, 2021

    If you like marmalade, this is a marvelous little cake. It's a bit dry and crumbly because it doesn't contain eggs but that's not a criticism. It's a dense cake perfect for eating with coffee or tea and not a fluffy cake. We loved having it for breakfast!

• The ultimate carrot cake

  • danielh7645 on October 06, 2015

    This is my go to cake for birthdays - everyone loves it

• Easter simnel cake

  • Lilyinthevalley on April 12, 2023

    Absolutely delicious!