Notes about Recipes in this book

• Chocolate fudge icing

  • eliza on May 09, 2023

    Made this for her chocolate cake in the same book. Half recipe to fill and top the 7” cake. Used semi sweet chocolate. Really good icing!

• Walnut and maple syrup flapjacks

  • ChelseaP on July 13, 2022

    Delicious and moreish. Keeps really well so we’ve been nibbling on it all week. Pam had posted the recipe on her Instagram and it was so good that I had to buy the book!

• Fruit, nut and honey bars

  • Pimlicocook on April 28, 2025

    These are very good: though they have some sugar and honey, they’re not too sweet, while loads of seeds and nuts (I used sunflower, pumpkin, linseed, hemp, sesame seeds and walnuts) give them texture and substance. Made half the recipe and used a loaf tin; 25 minutes was perfect.

• Shortbread

  • Pimlicocook on March 16, 2024

    I've never used rice flour in shortbread before, but it works a treat: the texture of this shortbread is silky soft. In fact, this could be my go-to shortbread recipe from now on and I look forward to trying some of the variations (eg with thyme).

  • demeter on January 17, 2026

    I used cornflour in place of the rice flour (as mentioned as a possibility in the intro to the recipe). It definitely makes a difference to the final texture vs using only regular plain flour

• Hazelnut shortbread

  • eeeve on November 12, 2015

    Made these with walnuts instead of hazelnuts - not bad at all made as written, but really really good with an added pinch of salt. The walnuts give them a very intense flavour and they don't seem as sweet as regular shortbread.

• Christmas tree biscuits

  • anniecc on December 16, 2025

    Foolproof recipe for gingerbread biscuits, great for making with kids. If you want to hang them you need to make the holes bigger than you think.

• Gingerbread men

  • eeeve on November 14, 2019

    A mildly spiced butter biscuit, and a breeze to make (did mine in the KitchenAid). Added 1tsp of mixed spice for a more pronounced wintery flavour. Much shorter baking time than stated. Big hit with the family.

• Carrot gnome cakes

  • eliza on January 25, 2016

    These were nice little cakes made to celebrate a friend's birthday. The texture is totally different from a regular muffin, being more reminiscent of an angel food cake. They are quite sweet, so I would reduce sugar a bit next time. I used simple water icing instead of the one in the recipe.

• Blackberry and apple muffins

  • eliza on April 11, 2019

    This recipe makes a tender and not too sweet muffin. The author gives lots of variations and adaptations; I used apple and blueberries and also substituted sugar for the honey and oil instead of the butter. Very nice muffins.

  • Lepa on May 05, 2019

    I liked the fact that these were not too sweet but we thought these muffins would benefit from some spice. I'm not sure if I'd make them again, as I have several other muffin recipes that I love, but if I did I'd add some ginger or cinnamon.

• Coffee and walnut cake

  • Sophph on July 27, 2022

    This is my go-to recipe for coffee and walnut cake. Perfection every time.

• Chocolate cake

  • eliza on May 09, 2023

    Made half recipe for a smaller cake (7” diameter). Baked 30 min 350 fan. Resulting cake looked great; rose evenly so would make a good multi layer cake. This was a delicious cake, and along with her chocolate fudge icing (p. 63) was enjoyed by everyone in our group. Will definitely repeat this.

• Apple cake

  • lils74 on November 18, 2018

    Moist and delicious. Made this a week and a half ago to bring to a friend's local holiday party; it was well received. I realized too late I was out of ground cloves, and I did cut back on the nutmeg a tiny bit - I think I used 1 1/2 teaspoons instead of the called for 2, because I was afraid the flavor would overwhelm the cake. It did taste strongly of nutmeg, but it a good way - ie that was something people really said they liked about it. Used thin slices for the top rather than rounds as the book says, because I thought it would make it easier to cut into multiple pieces for a party. Also used baking paper to line the cake pan, which was a good move; I think it would have been hard to get out otherwise. We served it with a warm custard, which complemented it well.

• 'Men only' lemon drizzle

  • saladdays on January 23, 2015

    A brilliant lemon drizzle cake. It is the best one I have made for years, having lost an inherited family recipe that was on a sheet of paper. It was a prizewinner in a 'men only' cake competition and I can see why as all the ingredients are very well balanced and the 'drizzle' is spot on.

  • anniecc on January 19, 2024

    Really good lemon drizzle recipe. I used a 20cm round tin and the cake was a bit too domed in the middle - possibly a bit too much raising agent - although taste was perfect. I made it for a special occasion and served it with the mascarpone elderflower icing from a different lemon drizzle recipe in the Honey&Co baking book, this was a fantastic combination!

• 'Hebegebe' cake (courgette and chocolate)

  • peterward on September 11, 2021

    Page 163

• Rhubarb pudding cake with custard

  • eliza on May 29, 2024

    It’s rhubarb season here and I am trying a few new recipes. This is definitely a pudding cake, very moist, and not overly sweet. I used some soured milk since I had no yogurt. I made 1/2 a recipe in a 6” pan and baked 35 min at 350 F. This might be nice served with the fruity whipped cream from Stella Parks. Very nice cake; I didn't care for the custard powder in this and will use cornflour next time I make it.

• Banana bread

  • sharifah on July 12, 2015

    Was a bit sceptical about the addition of ground cardamom but I couldn't really taste it or smell it in the finished cake. However, in my search for the best banana cake, this must be in the top three best banana cakes that I've made. Perhaps the cardamom 'brings' out the banana flavour. Lovely, gorgeous cake, a little bit on the sweet side. I used a large egg. I may reduce the sugar to 100g next time.

  • eliza on January 11, 2016

    A lovely banana bread; like Sharifah I didn't really taste the cardamom but it added something to the bread. I did reduce sugar a little. I also replaced some of the raisins with dried apricots. Nice and moist and will make this one again.

  • eeeve on March 25, 2020

    A nice tasting banana bread, though I did make a couple of boo-boos: used 2 eggs instead of 1 because I didn't read the recipe properly, and I forgot to add the raisins in, even though I'd weighed them out. I only used 75g of sugar which then wasn't very sweet, but perfect for us. I used whole seeds of cardamom (not in the pods obvsly) and I quite liked these occasional bursts of spice.

• Seasonal fresh fruit cake (no sugar)

  • eeeve on September 08, 2019

    This cake is more a flapjack than a fruit cake, albeit a rather nice one (probably the first healthy muesli type bar I’ve made that doesn’t taste of cardboard). It doesn’t taste sweet at all, though the fruit do lend some sweetness. I only used half amount of dried fruit and added a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder. Might reduce the amount of oil next time.

• Boil and bait fisherman's cake

  • eliza on October 12, 2025

    This cake was so easy to make, adaptable, and very tasty. I used butter (recipe states you can use oil for the butter), soft brown sugar, and golden syrup. For the dried fruits, I used organic dried apricots, golden raisins, and sultanas. For the self raising flour, I used the formula and added 3 tsp baking powder and about 1/3 tsp fine salt to the plain flour. Baked in a 6” square pan, I covered with foil to limit browning, and it took 80 min at 325 fan. This recipe says that it improves after a few days (I plan to serve it in 3 days), however my taster slice the next morning was very good and the slice came off neatly. I can see varying the dried fruit, perhaps adding candied ginger, and some pecans to the mix. Will repeat.