The smell of baking not only makes our homes more welcome, but it keeps us smiling too. Waitrose has a wide range of products that are ideal for baking. These are now available at Arkadia in St Julian’s and Victoria. A good cup of brewed coffee or a steaming pot of tea alongside one of these home bakes certainly make up for any gloomy day.

Chocolate ganache and popping candy tarts

Yields 24 tarts

Ingredients
For the pastry
400g Essential Waitrose plain white flour
200g butter
150g sugar
2 eggs
Water

Ganache
300g milk chocolate
150ml cream
50g butter

Tor the topping
Heston Popping Candy

Method

To prepare the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, add the sugar and mix well. Beat the eggs and mix into the flour until the dough comes together. If a bit dry, add some water. Just bring the dough together and cover in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

To use, roll out on a clean, floured surface, roll to the thickness preferred and cut with a round cutter. Line a lightly floured muffin tray with discs of pastry and blind bake in a hot oven set on 180˚C until golden. Remove from tray once cooked and rest on cooling rack until the pastry cases cool off completely.

To prepare the ganache, warm together the cream, butter and chocolate in a large bowl over a pot of gently simmering water (bain marie). Mix together until melted and evenly combined. Remove from heat, and leave to rest for a few minutes before pouring into the cooled pastry cases.

Leave the filled tarts to set for a few minutes before sprinkling over some popping candy on each tart.

Wholemeal banana bread

Ingredients
300g Waitrose Organic wholemeal bread flour
100g Essential Waitrose plain white flour
1 tsp Waitrose bicarbonate of soda
3 tsps Waitrose baking powder
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon
100g walnuts
300g Demerara sugar
125g chopped dates
3 ripe bananas
Few drops of vanilla
3 eggs
150ml milk
170g melted butter

Method

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl, add the eggs, melted butter, vanilla and milk.

Add the latter mixture to the dry ingredients, mix well and pour into three (450g) loaf tins or a round cake tin (12”) that have been previously buttered and floured. Bake in a hot oven set at 180°C for about 40 to 50 minutes.

Home-made doughnuts with morello cherry

Makes 8 doghnuts

Ingredients
500g Essential Waitrose plain white flour
11g dried yeast (1 sachet)
150ml warm milk
3 small eggs
125g butter
60g sugar
Sugar and cinnamon to serve
Waitrose Organic morello cherry preserve to serve

Method

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and let stand for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, rub the butter into the flour, add the sugar and mix well. Beat the eggs, pour the yeast milk into the eggs, stir and add into the flour. Bring dough together and knead for 10 minutes. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm place until it doubles in size (about one-and-a-half to two hours).

Knock down and turn dough on to a floured surface. Roll out dough to about half-inch thickness. Use a large cutter or a small bowl to cut discs. Use another smaller cutter to cut the hole in the middle of each doughnut. Keep the holes and the rings too! Cover and let them rest until they rise (about one-and-a-half hours) before frying.

The oil should be moderately hot – about 170°C. If the oil is too hot, the pastries will burn on the outside and still be raw on the inside. A deep fryer is ideal; however they can be fried in a pot filled with vegetable oil that is regulated to the right temperature.

Heat the oil and gently drop one of the ‘holes’ in first to check the temperature and the cooking speed. You might burn the first two; however, this is necessary to get the right temperature and the hang of the whole process. When you have mastered the right temperature, fry the rest of the doughnuts until golden on both sides.

Remove from oil and into a bowl with a mix of castor sugar and cinnamon. Repeat until all doughnuts have been cooked. Serve warm and complement with some Waitrose Organic morello cherry preserve.