Make Mum’s day with a lemon drizzle cake with poppy seed brittle, and a batch of irresistible sesame, pecan and date cookies

Lemon drizzle is a nostalgic cake for many of us, and reminds us of our childhood. And who made all those cakes, and all those memories? I used to think that cakes somehow just “appeared” almost out of thin air but, of course, there’s no such thing. A child’s day is made sweet by a whole lot of planning and stirring and baking. Why not turn the tables this year and make your mother a lemon drizzle cake? And, after all these years, it’s her turn to lick the bowl, OK?

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Upcycle wrinkly grapes and other elderly fruit into a lovely, sticky cake with a crumbly, streusel topping

When our grape bowl is past its best and the fruit is wrinkly and unappetising, this cake is our go-to for upcycling them into something truly special. (It can also be made with any fruit, such as tired berries, shrivelled figs or an abundance of rhubarb, say.)

The thought of devouring this super-sweet cake whips up a frenzy of excitement in our house, with my four-year-old daughter and I singing “black grape buckle cake” on repeat until it turns into a tongue-twister. By the time we are bored with that, we are usually both sitting down with a piece of cake in hand, eating quietly with pleasure.

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Devour these caffeine-laced morsels warm, especially if they’re dipped in chocolate spread or jersey cream

Freshly baked madeleines are magic. Always a crowdpleaser, they take minutes to bake once the batter is made. I used to think that the only way to enjoy a madeleine was warm, but have since grown to appreciate how soft and buttery they remain once cool. They can easily be embellished, too. I’ve had citrussy madeleines served with lemon icing for dipping, while at Maison François in London they feature on the dessert trolley, piped with a pistachio ganache centre and dipped in a delicate white-chocolate shell. Here, I’ve put coffee grounds in the batter and recommend serving them with bowls of chocolate spread and jersey cream.

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Cake depicts Swift wearing a sweatshirt of the Kansas City Chiefs – her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s team

A baker who has created a lifesize Taylor Swift cake for Sunday’s Super Bowl said it was the “perfect opportunity” to finally get around to making it.

The cake sculpture by Lara Mason, from Walsall in the West Midlands, has racked up more than 3m views on TikTok.

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A snowy coconut cake and an elegant pear dessert with chocolate sauce and cream

In the American south, coconut cakes are a Christmas tradition. There are myriad variations: some call for fresh coconut, some desiccated, some flaked, some toasted. I love the snowy appeal of a coconut cake in the winter, and it’s a welcome alternative to a rich fruit cake. Poire belle hélène, or poached pears with chocolate sauce, is both elegant and simple, not to mention refreshing after a large meal. These two desserts go surprisingly well together on the table – or even on the same plate.

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In Australia, households not in-the-know might give or receive sub-par panettone at Christmas. But if we learn to choose a good panettone, can this festive fruit bread’s reputation be redeemed?

In Italy, it’s not really Christmas unless there’s a panettone. But in many Australian households, this sweet, dome-shaped bread receives much less fanfare: it stays on shelves well past the season, or is given and regifted until it passes its use-by date.

Tuscan-based food writer Emiko Davies says it’s a “must-have Christmas tradition” all around Italy – stacked high in bakeries from late November, ready to be given to friends, neighbours and party hosts. So loved is this traditional Milanese bread that Davies says it has gone beyond its staple filling of candied fruits and sultanas to variations stuffed with gelato, studded with chocolate chips or filled with hazelnut, chocolate or pistachio creams.

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This baked French classic tempers the over-the-top sweetness of grapes

I love a grape, but they aren’t the easiest to bake with. They’re too sweet, you see; the sweetness of a batter will too often clash with that of the grapes, and I’m left feeling as if I’ve eaten an entire bag of Jelly Tots . The good news, however, is that, after a lot of trial and error, I’ve come up with something really special in this light yet indulgent grape clafoutis.

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Puff pastry is the perfect vessel for showing off the intense fruit in this elegant tart of peaches on a bed of frangipane with a basil-lime glaze

Summer fruit puddings, for me, are all about ratios. I want my tastebuds to be flooded with beautiful fruit first, then chased down with the merest hint of cream, pastry, crumble or whatever. The puff pastry tart boasts the largest surface area of all tarts, so lends itself perfectly to the job, in that you can cover every inch of the pastry with fruit. Stone fruits are best, and peaches are my favourite, especially when layered over a thin cardamom and almond frangipane, as they are in today’s recipe. When the peach roasts down, it tastes like a more intense and concentrated version of itself. Like summer, distilled.

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Ça a été prouvé à d'innombrables reprises : avec un vélo, et a fortiori avec un vélo électrique, on peut tout faire ! Y compris transporter des charges lourdes comme le démontre le nouveau modèle « utilitaire » du constructeur Cake.

Avec le nouveau vélo électrique de Cake, le transport de charges lourdes c’est du gâteau