This chocolate fudge cake is the ultimate bank holiday baking project
Fill your house with the smell of freshly-baked cakes and have something to look forward to digging into this bank holiday.
Want to whip up a speedy bake? Try some simple biscuit recipes or a savoury scone. Have a bit more time on your hands? Delve into an impressive next level trifle or an intricate tear & share.
For even more inspiration, see our complete collection of bank holiday recipes including mains, desserts and sharing dishes. We also have our best bank holiday drinks to make your long weekend even more enjoyable.
1. Cassie’s favourite chocolate fudge cake
Cassie Best’s chocolate fudge cake is a real showstopper, made with a rich cocoa sponge and a glossy chocolate ganache. The cake is moist and deeply chocolatey, offering a satisfying texture that pairs perfectly with a pot of tea. Give it a go this bank holiday for a bake that delivers a classic, crowd-pleasing result.
See our best-ever chocolate cakes for more ideas.
2. Strawberry cake
This pretty pink cake is bursting with fresh fruit, using juicy strawberries both in the sponge and as a topping. The end result is a bake which is light and fluffy, with a lovely seasonal sweetness. It makes for a colourful centrepiece at a gathering and makes a welcome alternative to chocolate cake, too.
Take a browse through more of our strawberry desserts, including a cheesecake and pavlova.
3. Canned peaches cake
This cake makes brilliant use of tinned peaches, making it a convenient choice when fresh fruit is not available. The soft sponge is complemented by the sweet, syrupy peaches, giving a moist and tender crumb. It’s super easy to assemble and bakes to a golden finish, perfect for a fuss-free dessert.
Discover more peach recipes, such as this peach & raspberry almond crumble cake.
4. Chocolate peanut butter flapjacks
These flapjacks combine the nutty richness of peanut butter with the indulgence of chocolate and salted butter, creating a chewy and satisfying treat. The recipe is straightforward, requiring only a handful of ingredients and minimal preparation time. The finished bars are perfect for snacking or packing into tupperwares for a party.
Discover more peanut butter bakes in peanut butter recipe collection, including these peanut butter cookie cups.
5. Malty NYC-style choc chunk cookies
These cookies are inspired by the famous New York-style, featuring a malty dough packed with generous chunks of chocolate. The result is a cookie with a crisp edge, chewy centre and a deep, dark chocolate flavour. They’re easy to make and deliver an impressive bakery-style finish at home.
Satisfy your cookie craving with our easy cookie recipes.
6. Easy carrot cake
This easy carrot cake is the ultimate weekend bake to enjoy with an afternoon cuppa. The sponge is lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and a hint of orange zest. Spread a generous dollop of frosting over the top and decorate with chopped walnuts.
If you’re plant-based, fear not: we also have our vegan carrot cake with coconut and cashew icing to please you. Or find more fun carrot ideas with our collection of carrot cake recipes.
7. Easy cornflake tart
Whip up an easy cornflake tart that’ll please the whole family. It’s made using simple storecupboard ingredients and shortcuts, such as shop-bought pastry, so it’s quick to prepare. Try more sweet tart recipes.
8. Banana oat muffins with mix & match toppings
Kids can get involved with making these easy oat muffins topped with their choice of blueberries, raspberries, date slices or chopped nuts. They make a great addition to a lunchbox, too. Try more budget-friendly lunchbox ideas.
9. Sticky ginger loaf cake
Taking just 15 minutes to prep, this loaf cake is an easy solution for when you need cake in a flash. The stem ginger, honey and treacle ensures a moist and flavourful sponge. Discover more warming cakes with ginger.
10. Raspberry honey flapjacks
Made with just five ingredients, this treat can be ready at a moment’s notice. They’re freezer-friendly too, so you can can keep some on hand for a sweet pick-me-up at a later date. Discover more flapjack recipes.
11. Vegan banana bread
Use up some blackening bananas with this simple, vegan recipe. Toast thick slices and spread with peanut butter or jam to keep you going over the long weekend.
We also have our classic banana bread if you want to keep things traditional, as well as our collection of banana bread recipes including an indulgent sticky toffee hybrid.
12. Chocolate fudge crinkle biscuits
Our top-rated chocolate fudge crinkle biscuits are brilliant for emergency sweet cravings – they’re simple, quick and use storecupboard ingredients. The crinkle effect comes from coating the cookie dough in icing sugar before baking.
For more speedy and simple treats, check out our quick cake recipes, including a microwave coffee & walnut cake and easy chocolate cupcakes.
13. Easy blondies
A batch of these foolproof blondies are guaranteed to brighten the long weekend. The gooey, golden squares are made extra special with moreish chunks of white chocolate dotted throughout. They’ll keep in an airtight container for three days or you can freeze them for later.
If you’re more into the brownie variety, take a browse through our collection of brownie recipes – it’ll be hard to resist making our gooey salted caramel brownies.
14. Classic cheese scones
Switch up the sweet bakes for these savoury cheese scones. Our highly rated recipe is guaranteed to be a hit with the whole family. Use mature cheddar and add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a subtle warming kick. They’re great served alongside soups and you can freeze them for later use.
If you’re an afternoon tea addict, we’ve got our favourite non-traditional scone recipes which you’ll fall in love with. We do of course have our ever-popular classic scones, piled high with jam and clotted cream.
15. Caramel apple cinnamon buns
Channel the flavours of a toffee apple with these decadent cinnamon rolls, topped with soft cheese frosting and salted caramel. Spread a simple dough with cinnamon butter and stewed apple pieces. Roll into a tight spiral, cut into slices and bake until golden brown.
If you like the sound of the above, we have plenty more sticky and sweet bun recipes for you to enjoy: see our cinnamon pecan sticky buns, sourdough cinnamon buns and sticky date buns.
16. Easy lemon layer cake
Lemon cake was made for afternoon tea on a bank holiday weekend. Golden, citrussy sponge is drenched in lemon drizzle and topped with creamy, sweet soft cheese icing and candied lemon zest.
If you’re a big fan of lemon-flavoured desserts, we have plenty more lemon cake recipes for you to try, including these fluffy lemon & poppyseed cupcakes.
17. Chewy chocolate chip cookies
You don’t need many ingredients to make this simple cookie dough, which is best left overnight before baking for the optimum flavour and texture. Ten minutes in the oven and you’re rewarded with crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside cookies.
If you like the look of the above, check out these chocolate chunk pecan cookies and vegan peanut butter cookies.
18. Easy caramel cake
This gorgeous caramel cake screams ‘long weekend’. Fabulously foolproof and irresistibly indulgent, it’s also quick and makes use of storecupboard ingredients. For chocolate lovers, add three tablespoons of cocoa to the cake batter and drizzle over melted and cooled chocolate instead of caramel.
For more gooey caramel bakes, check out our collection of the best caramel bakes including our epic caramel-drizzled banoffee bake and caramel passion fruit slice.
19. School-days sprinkle sponge
This bank holiday, take a trip down memory lane with a classic school-days cake, topped with coloured sprinkles and served with a dollop (or two) of warm custard.
We have plenty more nostalgic retro cakes for you to re-discover: how does this black forest arctic roll sound?
20. Cheese & pesto whirls
These cheesy tear & share whirls are ideal for packing into a picnic. Fill the dough with fresh pesto, sundried tomatoes, grated mozzarella, parmesan and a handful of basil leaves.
Take a look at more of our savoury baking recipes, covering all manner of cheesy bakes such as our cheesy sausage rolls and gruyère & onion tear & share.
Looking for more inspiration? See more ideas…
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