Simple sweet treats, perfect for Mother's Day

Are you planning to host the family for Mother's Day or another event? Your sweet tooth will love our 5 favourite easy-to-make recipes.

Chewy chocolate cookies

Try our recipe for the ultimate chewy chocolate cookies, using chocolate spread and white chocolate chips for extra decadence.

We recommend making these for an occasion - there's less danger of eating it all yourself when you’ve got people to share it with!

Ingredients

• 125g chocolate spread
• 125g unsalted butter
• 90g soft brown sugar
• 90g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2-3 drops vanilla essence or extract
• 200g flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 150g white chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan)
2. Cream butter and sugar (both types) together
3. Slowly beat in the egg, then the chocolate spread and vanilla
4. Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a separate bowl and combine
5. Add to the chocolate mix
6. Bake for around 15mins

When you remove the cookies from the oven, they will seem undercooked, but they will harden as they cool and you’ll be left with a perfect chewy cookie!

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Chocolate Trifle

This delicious chocolate trifle is a simple but indulgent treat. This recipe serves 8 people, so if you need to make a smaller batch, simply adjust the ingredients accordingly.

Ingredients

• 225g dark chocolate
• 8 trifle sponges
• 4 tablespoons Cointreau, more if needed
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 600g Greek style yogurt
• Grated chocolate for decorating, white or dark or both

Method

Line a suitable bowl with the trifle sponges. Spoon the Cointreau over the trifle sponges, trying to coat them evenly. Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie, mix in the yogurt and milk. Spread over the soaked sponges and decorate with grated chocolate. Refrigerate overnight and serve.

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Carrot cake

This delicious but simple carrot cake recipe is a perfect treat to accompany a cup of tea or coffee.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 230ml vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ orange, zested
• 265g self-raising flour
• 335g light muscovado sugar
• 2½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 large carrots grated
• 100g sultanas or raisins

For the icing

• 100g slightly salted butter, softened
• 300g icing sugar
• 100g soft cheese
• Walnuts to decorate

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Oil and line the base and sides of two 20cm cake tins with baking parchment.
2. Mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl
3. Whisk the olive oil, eggs, vanilla and orange zest in a separate bowl
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Once mixed add the carrots and raisins to the mixture.
5. Once combined divide the mixture into 2 cake tins
6. Bake for 25- 30 mins. To check it’s cooked all the way through insert a skewer into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is ready, if not return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.
8. Icing – beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the soft cheese a little bit at a time.
9. Remove the cakes from the tins and sandwich together using half of the icing. Add the remaining icing to the top and use walnuts to decorate.

Best eaten at room temperature.

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Apple Cake

This delicious apple cake is the perfect accompaniment to your mid-morning cup of tea, or for an afternoon treat. This recipe makes a 10-inch tart.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 15 tablespoons self-raising flour
• 12 tablespoons caster sugar
• 9 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 3 eggs
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 3 cooking apples

For the topping

• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 3oz margarine
• 1 egg
• Cream to serve

Method

The cake

Grease a 10-inch cake ring. In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, oil, milk, eggs, baking powder and cinnamon to form a smooth batter. Peel and slice the apples thinly, then place in the dish, overlapping onto the batter. Bake for 20 minutes at 180oC.

Topping

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and the melted margarine. Whip the egg white and add to the mixture. Pour onto the cake and bake for a further 20-25 minutes at 180C.

Top tip: serve warm and with cream.

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For more recipes, visit the Mayfield retirement blog.

Find more recipes here on our Mayfield retirement living blog.