Pinch Perfect

Mary Berry’s butterfly cakes are fairy cakes with the tops sliced off, halved and set into piped buttercream at an angle to look like butterfly wings, dusted with icing sugar. The sponges bake at 200°C (Gas 6) for 15-20 minutes and the recipe makes about 18 cakes. The buttercream uses 175g softened butter beaten with …

Mary Berry’s chocolate fairy cakes are small, light chocolate sponges made by swapping 25g of the self-raising flour for sifted cocoa powder, baked in paper cases in bun tins at 200°C (Gas 6) for 15-20 minutes. The recipe makes about 18 cakes using her all-in-one method, with everything beaten together in one bowl for 2-3 …

Mary Berry’s iced fairy cakes are light sponges baked in paper cases and topped with a simple glacé icing made from icing sugar and warm water, decorated with fancy sweets. The sponges bake at 200°C (Gas 6) for 15-20 minutes, the icing takes 2 minutes to mix, and the recipe makes about 18 cakes. Berry’s …

Mary Berry’s fairy cakes are light, golden sponges baked in paper cases in bun tins, made from a Victoria sponge mixture with margarine, caster sugar, eggs, self-raising flour and baking powder, baked at 200°C (Gas 6) for 15-20 minutes. The recipe makes about 18 cakes using her all-in-one method where everything goes into one bowl. …

Mary Berry’s red velvet cupcakes are moist, lightly chocolatey sponges coloured with red food-colouring gel, topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting piped through a star nozzle, baked at 180°C (160°C fan) for 20-25 minutes. The recipe makes 12 cupcakes using her all-in-one method, so everything goes into a single bowl. Berry’s headnote in Foolproof …

Mary Berry’s toffee cupcakes are sticky, caramel-flavoured sponges made with light muscovado sugar and black treacle, topped with a buttercream icing swirled with homemade toffee sauce, baked at 180°C (160°C fan) for about 20 minutes. The recipe makes 12 cupcakes and they keep for 1-2 days in an airtight container. Berry calls these “sticky toffee …

Mary Berry’s lemon meringue cupcakes are soft lemon sponges with freeze-dried strawberries folded through, filled with lemon curd and topped with a glossy Italian-style meringue browned with a blowtorch, baked at 180°C (160°C fan) for 18-20 minutes. The recipe makes 12 cupcakes and the sponges freeze well without the topping. Berry describes these as “strawberry …

Mary Berry’s gluten free chocolate cake is a rich, fudgy, flourless sponge made with dark chocolate, ground almonds, eggs and a touch of coffee, baked at 190°C (170°C fan) for about 50 minutes, then covered in a glossy chocolate and butter icing. Ground almonds replace the flour entirely, giving the cake a dense, moist texture …

Mary Berry’s ginger flapjacks are chewy, golden traybake squares made with porridge oats, demerara sugar, golden syrup, dark chocolate and chopped stem ginger, baked at 160°C (140°C fan) for 35-40 minutes. The recipe makes 24 squares from a 30 x 23cm tin and they keep for up to 2 weeks in a cake tin. Berry …

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. …