1 week Ago By Phoebe Cornish
Mary Berry has no shortage of recipe books and TV shows for budding home cooks to explore; she even has her ‘Complete Cookbook’, which houses over 650 delicious recipes. But the British icon is best known for her take on the classics: think Victoria sponge, casseroles, roast dinner items, and seasonal staples of every kind, be it Easter or Christmas. If you want to expand your home cooking abilities or fancy trying something new, Express.
co.uk have rounded up the best of Mary’s easy meals we’ve tried for ourselves. Some were surprisingly quick and even replaced supermarket favourites that seemed impossible to make from scratch.
From fluffy scones to speedy pasta dishes, here’s our pick of Mary Berry ’s simplest dishes. Mary’s easiest-ever chocolate cake recipe uses the all-in-one method and is filled with cream and jam. It’s perfect for those after a light and airy chocolate cake that’s not too rich.
This cake took just five minutes to prepare and needed 25 minutes in the oven. Mary recommends drizzling dark chocolate on the top of the finished banana loaf in a zig-zag pattern or topping it with nuts for optional decoration. The banana bread comes out of the oven in 30 minutes with a lightly crunchy top and a delicate spongey middle that's surprisingly light and fresh.
Just eight ingredients are required for Mary's lemon drizzle traybake recipe , and the cake is complete with a signature crunchy topping made from granulated sugar and fresh lemon juice. The lemon zest is also added to the cake for extra flavour. Mary's rocky road recipe notes state: “A super simple, no-bake fridge cake.
Rocky Road is a real crowd pleaser for kids, but also lovely for grown-ups served with a cup of coffee as a relaxed dessert after a meal.” The recipe couldn't be simpler, with six ingredients, including a crunchy honeycomb. Despite the cheesecake needing several hours to set, it takes less than 10 minutes to assemble.
Mary's recipe uses ginger biscuits and butter for the base, which Express.co.uk suggests doubling to create a thicker base.
Mary Berry makes her pancakes using just three ingredients , which makes them super quick. They are intended to be super thin, so there's enough pancake batter to make 12. However, Express.
co.uk found that this is best doubled to make the pancakes large enough to stretch a large frying pan. Sharing her creamy parma ham pasta dish , Mary said: “This is my standby pasta supper as it is so delicious, so quick, and everyone loves it.
“Great for everyday or for casual supper parties, too. Its base is a creme fraiche pasta sauce, topped with crispy parma ham, which gives tons of flavour and great texture.” Among popular baked goods, scones are uniquely delicious in their humble simplicity.
Mary Berry’s “easy” scone recipe is available at BBC Food. It notes that it makes 16 small scones, which take between 10 and 30 minutes to cook. Preparing the scones doesn’t take long either—this should be done in under 30 minutes.
Mary Berry has a range of Easter recipes she’s perfected over the years, from her Easter simnel cake and chocolate steamed pudding to her lemon pavlova and chocolate truffle pots. However, those recipes are more fitting for those with a sweet tooth as they are sugar-heavy. Mary's buttery lemon biscuits are easy to make and take little time.
The iconic cook described the flavours of her chicken chow mein as "gently spiced", and the recipe featured in her cookbook Mary's Foolproof Dinners. A bonus to making Mary's takeaway favourite at home is that any leftover ingredients count toward your home stock of goods, allowing you to recreate another dish later. Mary Berry is renowned for her baking creations - one of them being her chocolate and walnut cake recipe .
A coffee and walnut cake is a classic bake. It's two layers of fluffy coffee sponge dotted with chopped walnuts inside and out. This tasty sausage and potato traybake is a perfect fuss-free recipe for when you want some homecooked comfort food without too much effort.
Mary's recipe takes roughly eight minutes to prepare; all you have to do is peel and chop the vegetables, place everything in a dish and then put it in the oven. Mary Berry's chocolate traybake is topped with a milk chocolate ganache feathered with white chocolate. What stands out about this cake is how moist the sponge was.
This is down to the apricot jam Mary Berry recommends you add just as the cake is cooling. Mary Berry’s recipe requires just four ingredients, which you likely already have at home. This recipe is “foolproof” and can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Express.co.uk recommends altering Mary’s Victoria sponge cake recipe when making the whipped cream filling .
Mary says to whip the cream and add it to the sponge, but you can add a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar to tie the cake together. It isn’t too sweet but gives the cake a delicious flavour. Mary Berry's classic Mediterranean all-in-one chicken traybake recipe is a lifesaver when you're unsure what to cook and aren't fussed about spending too much time in the kitchen.
.
