Notes about Recipes in this book

• Apple cake with sage caramel

  • MsMonsoon on January 24, 2024

    Really interesting! A few steps because you make the apple chip garnish, make the applesauce, make the caramel, make the frosting… but none are too difficult. I thought it made too much caramel and frosting, leaving leftovers, but I wish I had been more generous in my drizzling of the caramel on top of the cake, because it’s fabulous — sweet, salty and sage-y! I am not experienced with caramel and I got some lumps that made for a few hard candy pieces in the caramel.

• Pecan & burnt honey cake

  • leilx on August 18, 2021

    Loved this cake.

• Peanut butter banana bread

  • Lepa on December 08, 2021

    This is a really nice banana bread. I was half way through making it before I realized it didn't have any eggs. I was a bit worried, especially as I mixed the very dense dough. But it is a lovely, rich cake with a plush, chewy texture. We all really liked it. Note: I used whole milk because I didn't have almond or soy milk on hand.

  • Thorium0232 on January 13, 2026

    Made the loaf and it was tasty but it required a lot more cooking than the recipe called for and my center still didn't set. Maybe my bananas were too large so it added more liquid. I also added chocolate chips though that is unlikely to have caused the setting issues. Still would make again.

  • anyapeach on March 09, 2026

    Added chopped dark chocolate into the batter. Had to bake for 10 mins and cover with foil to prevent from burning and drop temperature to 130

  • Thorium0232 on March 22, 2026

    I made the bread for a second time today. I realized that the last time I made it I baked it in a 1 lb pan rather than a 2 lb one. This time it baked up great and fully set. I also added peanuts and chocolate chips for some extra texture.

• Hazelnut & tahini caramel cake

  • Lepa on November 20, 2021

    The icing and caramel for this cake were outstanding. The cake part was not sweet, which went well with the sweet icing.

• Almond brittle cake

  • MsMonsoon on April 30, 2025

    Delicious cardamom-spiced cake with a crunchy nut topping. Great recipe if you need to use up lots of flaked almonds! There is a lot of butter in the topping -- gives a bit of a soak to the uppermost part of the cake, which is nice. Used a springform pan and had to use a palette knife to detach the cake from the pan base.

• Cardamom cake with mulled wine jam

  • rachelblair on September 17, 2023

    This recipe seems to be missing a line in the instructions where it should say to whip the cream and vanilla together before folding it into the mascarpone and sugar mixture. Otherwise you’ll end up with a soggy mess like I did. Super annoying since the flavours are good but it’s a huge gap that really affects the final result.

• Spiced sweet potato loaf with cream cheese frosting

  • MsMonsoon on April 15, 2024

    Wonderful spiced cake made extra interesting with the ground caraway seeds. I've made this twice. The first time I made it, despite following the weight measurements, the loaf was terribly underbaked and raw in the middle. There is a lot of sweet potato in this -- 1 3/4 cups. I thought it could have been that my baked sweet potato was too wet, or my dark loaf pan was to blame, or that I needed more time. The second time I used a lighter USA loaf pan and baked until the internal temp was 200 F. This was probably almost 80 minutes, when the recipe calls for 50 - 60 min. (I have an oven thermometer, but probably have hot and cool spots in the oven.) Crumb was pretty perfect the second time!

• Plum & black pepper cake

  • MsMonsoon on July 17, 2025

    Quite a damp cake. I may have underbaked but the surface got quite brown and a toothpick was coming out clean. The plums sank all the way into the cake. I'm not sure if this is expected or not as the photo in the book is of the cake before it is baked -- I think! Perhaps whipping the butter a little less will provide a denser batter that can support the plums. Flavor is good! I was skeptical of a cake with 4 teaspoons of black pepper, but it's pretty subtle.

• Hawaij coffee cake

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on September 18, 2022

    Nice and spicy, very nice combination with the coffee topping. There is a discrepancy between the amount of tablespoons and grams of espresso powder, I used the tablespoons and that was more than enough coffee flavor for me.

• Chocolate Guinness bundt with yogurt glaze

  • MsMonsoon on March 27, 2024

    This is very similar to the Chocolate Guinness cake in Nigella's 'Feast.' The ingredients' volumes are a little less and this one (just) fits into a 10-cup Bundt pan. I was skeptical about the yogurt topping, thinking it wouldn't be as good as a cream cheese frosting, but it was really good! It also makes the recipe slightly healthier. I used full-fat yogurt (European style, not Greek).

• Lime, coconut & mango lamingtons

  • Astrid5555 on November 10, 2022

    Very distinct mango flavor, delicious. A little messy to work with but very good and less time-consuming than jam-filled lamingtons.

• Clementine cake

  • Nancy402 on March 06, 2021

    This turned out very well. Moist and tasty. Baked in springform pan as there was too much batter for my regular cake pan.

• Lemon, ricotta & thyme mini-loaves

  • Robolovesfood on October 20, 2020

    This recipe got rave reviews from my friends. They are ready for me to make it again.

  • MsMonsoon on July 14, 2025

    Very nice and very easy. Even though I was generous with the thyme, it wasn’t too much and wasn’t weird. Makes 8 perfect mini loaves if using the 8-well USA mini loaf pan.

• Citrus poppy seed cake

  • nicolemarian on February 25, 2023

    I think there may be an error in the recipe: it calls for a 2 lb loaf pan. I used a 1 lb loaf pan and it was fine. I would think it would be so thin w a 2 lb

• Earl Grey & blueberry tea cakes

  • MsMonsoon on August 18, 2025

    The recipe name sounds delightful, but this may be the first recipe from the two Benjamina Ebuehi books I own (The New Way to Cake and A Good Day to Bake) that didn't wow me. I don't think the bergamot scent or flavor makes its way into the cake, though you do get the black tea flavor (and color). This recipe uses a cup of butter for just 10 cakes/muffins (I got 12), and that seems like too much to me. The color of the cakes are brown, too, which just makes the muffins look they are whole wheat, even though they aren't.

• Chamomile cake with honey crème fraîche

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on September 26, 2021

    Excellent cake! Very moist cake with a nice fresh touch of crème fraîche.

• Honey loaf with sweet dukkah

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on August 14, 2022

    The texture and taste of this cake were brilliant, unfortunately I used a mold with to many details and it broke when we tried to get it out. Will definitely make again!

• Fig, blackberry & tahini cake

  • Laurel21 on September 09, 2021

    I made them for my 50th birthday, it's delicious! I made them individual and swapped the blackberries for raspberries. It was difficult for me to unmold, so next time I will do it in a large mold with silicone paper.

• Eat Your Books by Jenny Hartin

  Experiment with new flavors and textures with the GBBO series 7 quarter finalist.

  Full review