Why The Great British Bake Off has inspired me to list my 11 favourite cakes

It’s only a few sleeps until the 15th series of Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off (GBBO). Try not to eat your pillow, while dreaming of croquembouche.

Personally, I probably won’t be watching every instalment, with the first airing on Tuesday, September 24 at 8pm. 

I only ever indulge in little petit-four-sized catch-up bites, like the judging bit, to see if anyone cries or splats their custard pie into Paul Hollywood’s face, and the signature challenge, which usually involves a cake-within-a-cake-within-a-cake. I also want to see what colour of glasses Prue Leith is wearing this time round.

Woman eating cakes | wayhome.studio - stock.adobe.com

Anyway, I’m judicious with my watching, as I find it really hard to look at food, without the gratification of being allowed to eat any of it.

I’m the same with all cooking shows. It’s torture and they actually upset me. I go full Pavlov’s dog, and end up whining and going to my bed to chew on a stick.

It’s especially difficult to watch during the week, when I try to restrict my cake intake and eat my five-a-day instead. (Though, the treat paradox means I desire gateaux more when I can’t have them, and crave them less at the more permissive weekend). 

Anyway, the impending new series has got me fantasising about my favourite cakes and pastries. I can be quite mercurial with sweet stuff, so this list is subject to change. Perhaps one day, I will get excited about carrot cake again. Maybe, I’ll forgive brownies for making me sad. We’ll see.

Matty Edgell, left, won the 2023 Great British Bake Off while Scottish baker Peter Sawkins, right, won in 2020. | Getty Images & PA /C4/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon

These are my current top 11.

1 Cinnamon bun. This is a recent autumnal obsession, though there is so much variability in the category. The worst ones are heavy and bready. I love Scandinavian cafe Soderberg, with branches in Edinburgh and Glasgow, as their creations - they do an excellent cardamom bun, too - are light and fluffy.

Edinburgh bakery The Pastry Section also does an absolute humdinger. It’s the size of a sleeping kitten and is topped with a ladleful of buttery icing. They sell fast, but I bagged one last weekend, before lugging it to the cinema to see The Critic, which was a bit rubbish, despite an excellent turn from Sir Ian McKellen. This cake was so giant that I had to buy its own ticket, and ended up getting crumbs down my top and cinnamon smeared across my cheek. It was pitch dark though, so my public dignity was spared.

2 Buns in general. Not a cinnamon one, but an iced or currant one. I think they’re a very underrated treat. The other day, I had an amazing sugar-dusted version, after I accidentally stumbled into a lovely bakery in Crieff called Damsel. This example was flavoured with orange blossom and anise, and was as soft and puffy as a tumble-dried chinchilla. 

3 Chocolate cake. Ah, it’s a classic. One of my favourites is Scottish author Jessica Elliott Dennison’s recipe for flourless chocolate cake. Who needs flour anyway? It’s an overrated ingredient that takes up space that could be better filled by chocolate, sugar or cream. Also, I know everyone loves brownies, but they’re SO often disappointing. Thus, I’m no longer a fan. Brownies can get in the bin.

3 Courgette and lime cake. My husband makes this for me every year, on my birthday. He found the recipe online one year, on the BBC Good Food website. It’s got cream cheese icing, but sometimes he whacks a bit of creme fraiche in there too, then slathers this mixture on top of the sponge like Francis Bacon doing a portrait in oils. And don’t worry, you can’t even taste the courgettes. 

4 Pineapple upside-down cake. I have been thinking about this juicy retro classic a lot recently, and I might just make myself one, with glace cherries included. I’m sure there could be a Stranger Things themed version of this dessert. Maybe, in the Upside Down, they serve right-way-up pineapple cake. 

5 Almond croissants. Edinburgh’s Twelve Triangles is the OG when it comes to these. I still remember when I discovered there was something better than a standard croissant and that it had scales like an armadillo and frangipane in the middle. That was a good day.

6 Dundee cake. I can get very patriotic, when it comes to cakes. I love this sturdy option, with a cup of tea. Either this, or an equally raisin-centric flies’ graveyard, which was always my late dad’s favourite. I’ll take a slice of Selkirk bannock, too.

7 Lemon drizzle. It has to be very syrupy though and I like it when the icing is all crystallised.

8 Basque cheesecake. Other cheesecakes are for cake-eating amateurs. Especially the Oreo ones. Why do people even like Oreos? Bleurgh.

9 Orange polenta cake. Another syrupy favourite. 

10 Coffee and walnut cake. Nobody else likes it, so there’s all the more for me. 

The banana bread recipe | Contributed

11 Banana bread. Another one that my other half occasionally bakes, using his late mum’s recipe. Just when a banana is in the dimming twilight of its life and going gangrenous, as it languishes in the fruit bowl beside the perky peaches, it is reincarnated, as this beautiful loaf.

Sometimes I try to get him to add chocolate to the mix, or icing on top, but he’s a purist and sticks to the original. However, that works out well for me, as, because it’s not officially a cake and contains fruit, this treat circumnavigates my weekday eating rules. Maybe I shall watch GBBO after all.