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There’s nothing better than baking for loved ones in the comfort of your kitchen, says The Great British Bake Off winner, John Whaite
John Whaite recipesAt home is where our baking stories most often begin. In our own kitchen, surrounded by evocative smells and familiar faces, we experiment with flavours and techniques. We play our favourite music as we whip cream or melt chocolate and the soothing rhythm of creation takes hold. We are safe. We feel safe. After creation, comes pleasure. I adore gobbling down a dessert, but the biggest pleasure I derive is seeing my family’s and friends’ faces as they serenely and silently relish the bake of the week. And the fact that this was created in my own home – well, there can’t be a greater sense of comfort and safety.

So, choose a recipe, relish the time you spend creating something delicious, and, more importantly, savour the time you spend with your loved ones. The food might only last a few greedy minutes, but the memories will last a lifetime. 

John Whaite Bakes At Home by John Whaite, with photography by Matt Russell, is published by Headline Books, priced £20.

SHERBET LEMON CAKE(pictured top)

Serves 8-10

For the candied lemon topping
  • 2 lemons
  • 600ml water (in batches of 200ml)
  • 100g sugar
  • 100ml water
  • 75g golden caster sugar

For the cake
  • zest of 3 lemons
  • 4 eggs
  • 225g golden caster sugar
  • 225g butter, very soft
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder

For the filling
  • 400ml whipping cream
  • 500g mascarpone cheese
  • 300g icing sugar
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 packets of lemon Dip Dabs (sherbet only)
  • icing sugar, to dust

Essential equipment
  • two 20cm loose-bottomed round cake tins, greased and lined with baking paper
  • cake stand at least 20cm across
  • disposable piping bag €fitted with 12mm nozzle

For the lemon topping, use a potato peeler to pare thick strips of peel from the lemons: if you get any white pith, scrape it off„ with a knife. Chop lemon peel into thin matchsticks, then place in a small saucepan with 200ml water. Bring to the boil, then drain water, place zest back into the pan with another 200ml water and repeat. Drain again then repeat. Bring lemon zest to the boil 3 times in total. Set the drained lemon zest matchsticks aside. Place the 100g sugar and the 100ml water in the saucepan; bring to the boil until sugar is dissolved, then return lemon zest and allow to poach for about 5 mins. Drain. Place the 75g caster sugar in a bowl and add the lemon matchsticks. Toss in the sugar then arrange on a baking sheet and allow to dry out for a few hours (overnight is better).

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Place the ingredients for the cake into a mixing bowl and beat together until well incorporated and smooth. If you have a freestanding electric mixer, use the paddle attachment. Divide the batter between the two prepared tins and bake for 20-25 mins, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, before removing from the tins and turning on to a cooling rack until completely cold.

Meanwhile, for the filling, whip the cream to very soft  floppy peaks. Fold this into the mascarpone along with the sifted icing sugar and the zest until smooth. Quickly beat in the lemon juice – don’t overbeat, as you don’t want the mixture to split.

When the cake is cooled, and the candied lemon is dry, slice each cake in half horizontally to give four layers. Place one on the cake stand. Fill the piping bag with the filling and pipe little blobs around the edge of the cake, then a spiral of € lling in the centre. Sprinkle over a third of the sherbet, then top with another slice of cake. Repeat this until you have four layers of cake and three layers of cream and sherbet. Sift a layer of icing sugar over the top, then scatter over the candied lemon matchsticks.

John Whaite recipes
LAMB LAHMAJUN

Makes 6

For the bread
  • 400g white bread flour
  • 7g salt
  • 7g fast-action yeast
  • 10g sugar
  • 280ml tepid water

For the topping
  • 250g minced lamb
  • 2 cloves garlic, €finely minced
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 2 tsp sumac
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 1 tsp cracked black pepper
  • small handful each fresh coriander and mint, €finely chopped
  • leaves from 4 sprigs thyme
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 fat red chilli, deseeded and €finely chopped

For rolling
  • flour
  • ground polenta or semolina

To assemble
  • 6 tbsp hummus
  • 90g feta cheese
  • seeds of 1 small pomegranate

Essential equipment
  • pizza stone (or baking sheet)
  • baking sheet

Make bread dough by mixing together flour, salt, yeast and sugar. Add the water and bring together into a scraggy ball of dough. Turn out onto the counter and knead for 10 mins, or until smooth and elastic, or use a freestanding mixer with dough hook attachment, on medium speed for 5 mins. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, rolling it in the oil to coat it, then allow to rise until doubled in size – about 1-2 hours, depending on the heat of the kitchen.

For the topping, mix all the ingredients in a bowl – I just get my hands in there and squeeze everything together until well combined.

Place the pizza stone (or baking sheet) in the oven and heat to 250C/220C fan (gas as high as it will go).

When the dough has risen, remove from the bowl and divide into 6 equal portions – weighing if necessary. Dust worktop liberally with  our and polenta or semolina, and roll out a dough portion to about 18cm diameter. Dust a baking sheet liberally with more  our and polenta/ semolina, then place the disc of dough on it – I make sure that the disc of dough moves freely and doesn’t stick to the sheet before continuing.

Spread 1 tbsp hummus over the dough disc, leaving 1cm free around the edge. Take one-sixth of the filling and spread on top of the hummus. Crumble over onesixth of the feta cheese, then slide lahmajun o„ the baking sheet and onto hot pizza stone/baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 mins, or until the edges have pu„ ed up and the base is done. Repeat with the remaining dough, € lling and cheese.

Scatter the baked lahmajuns with pomegranate seeds. To get the seeds out, slice fruit in half, then bash each half on the back with a wooden spoon, to allow the seeds to fall through your € ngers into a bowl.