Three simple and customisable desserts that even a novice baker can make

Jane Dunn's book of recipes is the easy baking bible you've been waiting for

Food blogger Jane Dunn's first book of recipes features 100 delicious bakes, cakes and treats, including gooey cookies and fluffy cupcakes

If you need motivation to stop scrolling through pretty food pictures on Instagram and actually bake up a storm yourself, a new recipe book filled with Instagrammable inspiration and instructions will light a fire in you - and in your oven too.

Food blogger Jane Dunn has been sharing recipes and food inspiration online since 2014 and her first book of recipes features 100 delicious bakes, cakes and treats has just been published. Full of dreamy creations like gooey cookies and fluffy cupcakes, this is the easy baking bible you’ve been waiting for.

During the pandemic, Dunn saw the popularity of her recipes soar as more people turned to baking while spending more time at home. Her blog now has over 350k subscribers, and she has 470k Facebook followers and 690k followers on Instagram.

Dunn trained at Ashburton Chefs Academy and says while there she realised her "favourite part of the course was the sweeter side of things". Her first book, named Jane's Patisserie after the blog that developed from that course, is full of practical, no-nonsense tips as well as the best advice of all for would-be bakers: don’t be scared.

Dunn is all about teaching people how to adapt and customise recipe based on their taste preferences and what’s currently in the store cupboard. For example, she highlights that the blueberries in the below loaf recipe can be swapped for any other berry and the caramel in the gooey cookie recipe can easily be swapped for spreads, such as chocolate and hazelnut spread or biscuit spread.

No-bake lemon posset tart

This is a very simple dessert to make – all you do is mix cream and sugar together, heat and then add the lemon zest and juice.

Servings

12

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• For the biscuit crust: 

• 300g digestive biscuits

• 150g unsalted butter, melted

• For the lemon posset filling:

• 600ml double cream

• 200g caster sugar

• Zest of 3 lemons

• 85ml lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

• For decoration:

• 150ml double cream

• 2 tbsp icing sugar

• 5g freeze-dried raspberries

• Biscuit crumbs

Method

1. I have always adored lemon posset – who knew that combining sugar, cream and lemon could lead to something SO good? This favourite from my blog is a very simple dessert to make – all you do is mix cream and sugar together, heat and then add the lemon zest and juice. The tart base here is a classic cheesecake base of digestive biscuits mixed with melted butter.

2. Blitz the digestive biscuits in a food processor to a fine crumb or bash them in a bowl with a rolling pin. Add the melted butter and mix together until combined. Spread onto the base and sides of a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. I usually start on the sides, and then cover the bottom last to make sure it’s a secure biscuit case. Set aside while you make the filling.

3. Pour the double cream and caster sugar into a large pan and heat gently over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat up to medium and heat the mixture until it starts to boil gently, stir frequently to stop the mixture from catching on the bottom. Let it simmer for 1 minute and then turn off the heat.

4. Stir in the lemon zest and juice and then pour onto the biscuit base – refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight so it has time to set properly.

5. When you are ready to serve, whisk together the double cream and icing sugar until you have soft peaks. Pipe the cream onto your tart, then sprinkle on some freeze-dried raspberries and some biscuit crumbs to decorate.
   
   How to customise:
   
   The filling can be used to make 12 individual lemon possets – simply pour into 12 ramekins or small glasses and leave to set.
   
   You can use different citrus flavours such as orange or lime – use the zest of 2 large oranges or 4 limes, and the same amount of juice.
   
   You can add some raspberries to the mix, or some other berries if you want to add another texture to this no-bake dessert.
   
   Recipe from Jane's Patisserie by Jane Dunn

 

Salted caramel-stuffed NYC cookies

These cookies have a molten caramel centre that is absolutely incredible, along with a salted cookie dough.

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 44 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 4 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 125g unsalted butter

• 175g soft light brown sugar

• 1 egg (medium or large)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 300g plain flour

• 1½ tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 250g milk chocolate chips or chunks

• 8–16 soft caramel sweets

Method

1. Beat the butter and soft light brown sugar together until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again.

2. Add the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt and combine until a cookie dough is formed, then add the chocolate chips or chunks and mix until they are evenly distributed.

3. Portion your dough out into eight balls – each should weigh about 110g. Once rolled into balls, flatten slightly and put 1 or 2 soft caramels in the middle, then wrap the cookie dough around the caramels and re-roll into balls. Put into the freezer for at least 30 minutes, or in the fridge for an hour or so. While the cookie dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
4. Take your cookies out of the freezer or fridge and put onto the lined trays (I do four cookies per tray) and bake for 12–14 minutes. Once baked, leave the cookies to cool on the trays for at least 30 minutes as they will continue to bake while cooling.
   
   How to customise:
   
   You can substitute the caramels for spreads, such as chocolate and hazelnut spread or biscuit spread. Simply freeze teaspoons of spread for at least 30 minutes, then wrap the cookie dough around the frozen spread in the same way.
   
   The milk chocolate can be switched to white or dark chocolate.
   
   Make the cookie dough chocolate by using 250g plain flour and adding 35g cocoa powder.
   
   Recipe from Jane's Patisserie by Jane Dunn

 

Blueberry lime loaf cake

Baking with blueberries always brings out their flavour and creates a delicious texture, and when topped with a simple buttercream frosting it’s even better.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 55 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 25 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter

• 200g caster sugar

• 200g self-raising flour, plus 1 tbsp for dusting

• 4 eggs

• Zest of 1 lime

• 200g fresh or frozen blueberries

• For the buttercream:

• 125g unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 250g icing sugar

• Juice of 1 lime

• For decoration:

• 100g blueberries

• Lime zest

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan and grease and line a 900g loaf tin with parchment paper.

2. Put the butter and caster sugar into a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the self-raising flour, eggs and lime zest to the bowl, and mix again until combined.

3. Put the tablespoon of plain flour into a bowl and add the blueberries, mixing until they are coated (this stops the blueberries all sinking to the bottom of the cake). Fold the blueberries through the cake mixture, then pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50–55 minutes, or until baked through. Remove the cake from the oven, and leave to cool fully in the tin while you make the buttercream.

4. Add the butter to a bowl and beat on its own for a few minutes to loosen and soften. Add the icing sugar and beat again until combined. Finally, add the lime juice and beat again.

5. Pipe or spread the buttercream onto the loaf cake, then sprinkle over the blueberries and lime zest.
   
   How to customise:
   
   The blueberries can be swapped for any other berry you like, such as raspberries or blackberries.
   
   The lime can also be switched for another citrus fruit, such as orange or lemon.
   
   If you don’t want to make a buttercream topping, make a lime drizzle instead by mixing 200g icing sugar with 3–4 tbsp lime juice.
   
   Recipe from Jane's Patisserie by Jane Dunn