Pinch Perfect

Mary Berry’s chicken and leek pie is an old-fashioned puff pastry pie filled with cooked chicken, leeks, portabella mushrooms and thyme in a creamy sauce made from apple juice, chicken stock and crème fraîche, baked at 200°C (180°C fan) for 35 minutes. Berry gives quantities for both 6 and 12 servings in the same recipe. …

Mary Berry’s toad in the hole is crispy, well-risen Yorkshire pudding batter baked around browned pork sausages, served with a rich onion gravy made from beef stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar. The individual toads bake at 220°C (200°C fan) for 15-18 minutes, or you can make one large version in a roasting …

Mary Berry’s parsnip soup is a creamy, honey-glazed soup made with 900g of parsnips, onions, celery, leek and vegetable stock, finished with double cream. The parsnips are fried with honey until caramelised before the stock goes in, which takes about 30 minutes from start to bowl. Berry calls this recipe “creamy and luxurious” in Cooks …

Mary Berry’s Christmas cake is a rich, dark fruit cake made with currants, sultanas, raisins, glacé cherries, dried apricots and candied peel, soaked overnight in brandy, baked at 140°C (120°C fan) for about 4½ hours. It should be made months in advance and fed with brandy at intervals to let it mature. Berry calls this …

Mary Berry’s Baileys cheesecake is a no-bake, chilled dessert with a buttery digestive biscuit base, a smooth dark chocolate and mascarpone filling laced with Baileys Irish Cream, set in the fridge for at least 6 hours. It serves 6-8 and needs no oven, just patience while it firms up overnight. Berry doesn’t have a Baileys …

Mary Berry’s coronation chicken is a creamy, mildly spiced chicken salad made with curry paste, red wine, apricot jam, mayonnaise and yogurt, served cold with rice and watercress. The sauce takes about 10 minutes on the hob, then you strain it, cool it and fold in the chicken. Berry’s version in the Complete Cookbook (2024) …

Mary Berry’s upside down apple cake is a golden, caramel-topped sponge made with thinly sliced eating apples, light muscovado sugar and butter, baked at 180°C (160°C fan) for about 45 minutes. Berry’s all-in-one sponge comes together in minutes, then you flip it onto a warmed plate so the sticky toffee apple layer sits on top. …