March brings Mothering Sunday (11th) and the Easter bank holiday weekend (30th), so what better excuse do you need to get creative in the kitchen? Whether you’re a beginner or budding Bake Off champ, we’ve got four great recipes for you

Bea Vo’s carrot and cheesecake layer cake, p74

RECIPES: BEA VO, JOHN WHAITE, CHETNA MAKAN, LOTTIE COVELL. PHOTOGRAPHS: GARETH MORGANS, MAJA SMEND. FOOD STYLING: LOTTIE COVELL, REBECCA WOOLLARD. STYLING: DAVINA PERKINS, TONY HUTCHINSON

sweet things.

Chetna Makan’s chocolate & marshmallow mini egg traybake, p72

The alternative simnel cake

Since winning Bake Off, John has trained in patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu, written two cookbooks and launched his own cookery school in Lancashire

Caramelised white chocolate, burnt butter and tahini cake By Bake Off champ John Whaite

SERVES 20. HANDS-ON TIME 1 HOUR 40 MIN, OVEN TIME 1 HOUR 20-25 MIN, PLUS CHILLING

Caramelised white chocolate reminds me of the Caramac bars I enjoyed as a child. The sweetness lends itself to more bitter notes, and after playing around with a few things (including Marmite – unsuccessfully) I discovered that tahini’s nuttiness was just right.

MAKE AHEAD

This cake is best on the day it’s baked but you can wrap the sponges in cling film and freeze for up to a month.

• 150g white chocolate (we used Waitrose Belgian white chocolate), chopped

• 300g unsalted butter, diced

• Grated zest 1 lemon

• 300g caster sugar

• 300g self-raising flour

• 6 large free-range eggs

FOR THE SESAME SEED BRITTLE

• 100g caster sugar

• 100g liquid glucose (from the baking section of supermarkets)

• 200g mixed white and black sesame seeds (or use all white)

FOR THE TAHINI BUTTERCREAM

• 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 100g tahini

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract

• ½ tsp salt

• 300g icing sugar

FOR THE CHOCOLATE TOPPING

• 200g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)

• 1 tbsp golden syrup

• 50g unsalted butter

YOU’LL ALSO NEED…

• 3 x 20cm sandwich tins, greased, bases lined with non-stick baking paper; piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle; palette knife

1 Heat the oven to 120°C/100°C fan/ gas …Put the white chocolate on a baking tray and put in the oven for an hour. Every 15 minutes or so, give the chocolate a stir with a spatula. It will start to turn a little darker in colour and chalky in consistency (don’t worry – it will be fine). After an hour the chocolate should taste caramelised. Take out of the oven and put in a heatproof mixing bowl.