Trusted British chef recipes, tested at home
Mary Berry’s Christmas flapjacks are chewy oat squares made with butter, demerara sugar and golden syrup, studded with ruby dried cranberries. The recipe makes 24 squares, and takes about 50 minutes, plus cooling in the tin. The recipe is the Cranberry Flapjacks variation in Mary Berry Cookery Course (2015). Her base recipe uses sultanas, and …
Mary Berry’s chocolate trifle is layers of jam-filled trifle sponges, pears and ratafia biscuits soaked in Baileys, set under homemade custard and whipped cream, and finished with grated dark chocolate. It serves 8, and is best chilled overnight before serving. Berry calls it Baileys and Chocolate Trifle in Mary Berry’s Traditional Puddings and Desserts (2009). …
Mary Berry’s tea loaf is a dark, moist fruit loaf made with dried cranberries and sultanas soaked overnight in strong Earl Grey tea, then mixed with self-raising flour, light muscovado sugar and an egg. It bakes for about 1 hour 40 minutes and is served sliced and buttered. The recipe comes from Mary Berry’s Simple …
Mary Berry’s marmalade is a classic Seville orange marmalade made with just four ingredients: Seville oranges, sugar, lemon juice and water. It makes 2.7kg (about 6lb), enough for a cupboard of jars, and keeps for up to 6 months. The recipe comes from The Complete AGA Cookbook (2015), where Berry cooks the whole oranges until …
Mary Berry’s mushroom quiche is a creamy egg and Cheddar filling with soft onions and chestnut mushrooms, baked in a tortilla wrap instead of pastry. It serves 4, and goes from fridge to table in about 45 minutes. The recipe comes from Mary’s Foolproof Dinners, her BBC series, where it’s published as a fast quiche. …
Mary Berry’s chicken and leek casserole is honey-browned chicken breasts baked over leeks and new potatoes in a creamy apple, thyme and crème fraîche sauce. It serves 6 and takes about an hour and a quarter, with 35 minutes in the oven. Berry calls it Chicken Breasts with Leek, Potatoes and Thyme in The Complete …
Mary Berry’s Christmas vegetable gratin is parsnips, butternut squash, potatoes, leeks and broccoli baked in a creamy crème fraîche sauce under golden Parmesan. It serves 6 and takes about an hour, with only 20 to 25 minutes in the oven. Berry calls it Gratin of Winter Roots and Broccoli in Mary Berry’s Family Sunday Lunches …
Mary Berry’s mincemeat and marzipan tarts are crisp orange pastry cases filled with mincemeat and chopped apricots, topped with grated marzipan that bakes golden. The recipe makes 12, and takes about 55 minutes from start to finish. Berry calls them Mincemeat and Orange Feathered Tarts in Mary Berry’s Absolute Favourites (2015). Instead of a pastry …
Mary Berry’s cranberry sauce is a glossy, sharp-sweet sauce of cranberries simmered with sugar, orange, port, cider vinegar and warm spices. It’s ready in about 20 minutes and serves 6, either warm or cold. Berry calls it Scarlet Confit in her Christmas Collection (2013), and says: “This is my version of cranberry sauce – it …
Mary Berry’s sage and onion stuffing is a soft, savoury stuffing made with simmered onions, fresh sage, butter and white breadcrumbs, baked until golden and crisp on top. It serves 8 and takes about 55 minutes, mostly hands-off. The recipe comes from Mary Berry’s Christmas Collection (2013), where she calls it “a really good recipe …
