Mary Berry

Mary Berry’s roast potatoes are floury main crop potatoes, parboiled and roughed up, then roasted in a mix of smoking-hot goose fat and vegetable oil until crisp and golden. The inside stays soft and fluffy, the outside shatters. They serve six and take about 50 minutes at a hot 220C. She lays out her method …

Mary Berry’s leek and potato soup is a smooth, gently savoury blend of sweated leeks, onion and potato in chicken stock, finished with single cream and a squeeze of lemon. Nutmeg and the green of the leeks give it colour and warmth. It serves four and takes about 55 minutes from board to bowl. This …

Mary Berry’s dauphinoise potatoes layer two kinds of potato, sweet and King Edward, in cream and stock under a Parmesan crust. The result is soft, savoury and just rich enough, with the sweet potato adding colour and a mellow edge. It bakes at a hot 220C and takes about an hour and five minutes, serving …

Mary Berry’s smoked salmon starter is a cold, composed plate of curled smoked salmon, prawns in a homemade cocktail sauce, sliced avocado and tomato, all finished with a mustard dressing. There’s no cooking at all, just 10 to 15 minutes of assembly, and it feeds six as an elegant first course. She plates these individually …

Mary Berry’s salmon en croûte is two salmon fillets layered around a mushroom and watercress filling, wrapped in crisp golden puff pastry and baked whole. A horseradish kick runs through the middle, and it’s served in thick slices with a bright watercress and pea sauce. It takes about an hour and a half start to …

Mary Berry’s salmon fish cakes are soft and flaky inside with a crisp golden crust, made with two kinds of salmon, mashed potato, and a sharp hit of horseradish. They’re bound with mayonnaise and fresh chives and parsley, then served with a cool horseradish sauce. From mixing bowl to plate is about an hour and …

Mary Berry’s vanilla cheesecake is a rich, dense baked cheesecake on a buttery digestive crust, smooth and just-set through the middle with a cool soured cream top. It’s made with full-fat cream cheese, caster sugar, eggs, and real vanilla extract. Start to first slice takes about 3 hours plus a long chill. This is Berry’s …

Mary Berry’s apricot and orange cheesecake is a no-bake, gelatine-set dessert with dried apricots simmered in orange juice. The filling blends apricot puree with cream cheese and soured cream, set on a biscuit base in a 23cm (9 in) tin. It serves 10. Berry opens this recipe in Baking Bible (2010) with a technique note …

Mary Berry’s chocolate, brandy and ginger cheesecake is a no-bake, gelatine-set dessert on a ginger biscuit base with demerara sugar. Dark chocolate, brandy, and fresh ginger run through a cream cheese and soured cream filling, set in a 20cm (8 in) tin. It serves 8. Berry calls it “a sophisticated cheesecake” in Baking Bible (2010). …

Mary Berry’s chocolate chip cheesecake is a no-bake, gelatine-set dessert on a muesli base. Melted dark chocolate and chopped chips run through a cream cheese filling, set in a 20cm (8 in) tin. It serves 8 at 628 calories. Berry publishes this in Cooking with Mary Berry (2016) with muesli instead of digestive biscuits. The …