I’ve mentioned it in passing before, but I’ve decided that it’s about time Bake a Difference had its own post, and as Easter approaches, now seems like the perfect moment!

It is the recipe book that I use all the time. As a fan of baking, and a beneficiary of 13 chickens, I make cakes and desserts fairly regularly and when I do, I almost always turn to this book. Everything I’ve tried in it has been simple to make, uses mainly store-cupboard ingredients, and is delicious!

Last night I tried the Chantry Chocolate cake and blimey is it good! I had all the ingredients in the cupboard and it tastes so fudgy and chocolatey! It would make the perfect birthday cake.

‘Auntie Glad’s Lemon Cake’ and the coconutty Chocolate Squares are firm favourites, both of which are easy to whip up fairly quickly.

The White chocolate and Walnut Blondies went down well on my sister’s birthday one year and the Tiramisu Cake made a change from a conventional cake for a friend’s birthday.

Perhaps my favourite of the cakes, and one I tend to make for no occasion at all other than that I fancy a slice, is the Honey Cake. I make it with Traidcraft’s Guatemalan Honey and it is the loveliest. It is really good still warm with a scoop of ice cream or cooled with a cup of coffee.

Then there are the desserts! I love the Honeyed Pear Pie. Sometimes I just do the pears in the honey syrup as directed and forget about the pastry, but the pie as a whole makes a delicious dessert, especially when served with Devon clotted cream.

Another dessert from this book that I make a lot is the Chocolate Pots, which are so simple and always well received. I devised my own, layered version, which I shared here, but the best way is the simple way, as shown in the book.

There is also a great recipe for Rosemary Foccaccia. I’m always a little nervous about bread making, but this turned out beautifully.

The book was compiled by Traidcraft to promote the use of Fair Trade products and I think it demonstrates how easy and cheap it is to incorporate some Fair Trade items into your regular cooking. For example, for the chocolate pots I buy Sainsbury’s own brand Fair Trade chocolate which is very good value and works well. You can also buy Fair Trade lemons, honey, coffee, cocoa and castor sugar in most supermarkets at sensible prices.

This Easter, why not invest in this book for yourself or give as an alternative Easter present?

You can buy it here, or if you are local to me let me know and I’ll order it for you with 10% off and free postage.