Original subtitles

Baking really is one of the best things in life.

Who can resist the joy of a warm cookie...

And I can tell you, it is absolutely delicious.

..the pleasure of a creamy sponge...

That looks gorgeous.

..or the comfort of a roast dinner?

Sometimes it's the simple things that we love the most.

So in this series, I'll be celebrating the everyday.

Elevating ordinary bakes into extraordinary treats.

This bake is so easy, anyone can do it.

When I cook things that are really fast,

I feel really accomplished.

From family meals that let the oven take the strain...

If you are looking for an epic bake, you came to the right place.

..to fun packed weekend brunches...

All that delicious flavour. Just look at it!

..and the simplest of celebratory sweets.

That is the magic of baking.

Plus, go to favourites from some of the best bakers in Britain.

Because I love what I'm doing. It's bringing me joy.

This is baking for you, for me and the people you love

for every day of the year.

This time, easy delicious dishes for stress free celebrations.

My joyful rainbow twist on an everyday bake...

That is a party!

..a fabulous family feast...

This is going to be knockout.

..and a stunning, decadent celebration cake

that's surprisingly simple to make.

That, my friends, is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

But first, a playful people pleaser of a recipe that's so easy,

I'm tempted to party every day of the week.

If I'm having a celebration,

even if it's only small,

I want to make something spectacular.

And this seafood extravaganza is a feast for your senses.

# Clap your hands now

# People clap now

# Clap your hands now... #

My simple take on a classic Louisiana seafood bowl

is packed with flavour.

It's easy to make, super fun to eat and perfect for a special occasion.

First time I ever tried my very first seafood boil

was three years ago in Louisiana,

and it is a huge vat of boiling water,

where you dunk in fresh seafood, take it out,

cover it in butter and just all hands in.

This is my kind of celebration. It's not prim and proper.

It's all about kind of getting butter on your fingers all down,

kind of all over your face, just, like, this is my kind of food.

I'm not actually making a seafood boil as such,

it's more of a seafood bake.

I'm using the oven, and we still get all of those delicious flavours,

but much faster.

And you don't need a huge vat in the garden.

To get the party started, a base layer of veg all in one pan.

It couldn't be simpler.

I'm going to add coins of sweetcorn in there.

I like using baby potatoes, skin on, straight in.

Whole bulbs of garlic.

And this is one of my favourite bits of the boil that I remember.

Once it's cooked, it takes on a potato like texture.

Just delicious.

Two lemons...

..in half, they're going to add that citrusy flavour.

Already you can imagine how good this is going to taste.

Now whole spices.

Cinnamon, fresh bay leaves.

A good drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Then it's into the oven for 50 minutes at 170 degrees C.

We are going to get on to making our citrus butter.

And this is so easy.

Fresh seafood doesn't need much.

It's already naturally sweet and delicious.

But, I mean, if you can lather it in butter, why not?

250g in there.

Let it start melting.

Then we're going to add orange juice.

Now, just trust my experience

that orange juice and fish work really well together,

written in the stars.

That kind of connection.

Now to spice things up with some Louisiana inspired

store cupboard staples, chilli flakes,

cracked black pepper, celery salt.

This stuff is amazing.

It gives you that gorgeous flavour without actually adding celery.

Grated garlic for an instant flavour hit

and lots of fresh coriander.

That smells absolutely delicious.

Bring it to the boil, and that's the simple zesty sauce done.

Everything has roasted.

We have maximum flavour in here,

but it isn't a celebration without the seafood.

I've got prawns, langoustines, mussels and clams.

If you're nervous about cooking seafood,

this is a really good way to really get into cooking it.

It's quick, it's easy.

The trick really is the bigger the seafood, the longer it'll take.

So the prawns and langoustines are first in the oven.

Prawns, langoustines, they've gone that gorgeous coral pink.

Now just simply scatter your mussels and clams.

There are a few simple things when you're cooking with mussels,

when they're not cooked,

give it a tap and they should close.

And if they close, they're safe to eat.

Close before cooking, open after cooking.

That's it.

So, clams in, in, in, in.

Now pour over a generous amount of that lip smacking delicious

spicy, zesty butter sauce.

And back in the oven, it goes.

# Well, I'm only going to New Orleans

# Gonna see the Mardi Gras. #

Oh, my goodness.

# Yes, I'm going to New Orleans... #

This is the smug face of a person

who can still have their seafood boil and not go to Louisiana.

Yes, my husband knows this face well.

The mussels have opened up, the clams have opened up.

They are crying out for more of that spicy citrus butter.

And it's just going to drink it up.

Just to finish it off, some fresh chopped coriander.

I think it's time to get messy.

Sensational seafood enveloped in a supremely tasty

finger licking citrus butter sauce.

Simply the best way to get a party started any day of the week.

Fresh, sweet, succulent prawn,

and that butter, spicy, tangy.

Oh, my goodness.

Let me show you. Look at the garlic.

This is one of my favourite bits.

So soft, it's like potato.

Just like that.

If you're having a celebration and you want to do something

a little bit more fun, this is one of the tastiest things

you will ever, ever eat.

Come on, guys.

Succumb to the sweet seafood, and that's citrus butter.

Just do it.

Next, my celebratory spin on a super simple Eastern European sweet bread

that never fails to bring on the fun.

There are some celebrations that call for sprinkles,

and this joyful bake is ready to party.

# Shake your groove thing

# Shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah. #

A traditional babka loaf has twisted layers of pillowy,

soft, sweet, buttery bread.

And my version is dressed to impress with joyful rainbow sprinkles.

It's sure to steal the show at any special event.

I've made babka loads and loads.

It's such an easy recipe.

Sometimes they are swirled with chocolate, with cocoa,

sometimes with cinnamon.

They're just delicious.

What I love is it looking really complicated

and, really, it's not.

You are going to be surprised at how just a couple of rolls,

a couple of cuts and a couple of twists

can make something so beautiful.

It starts with a really easy enriched dough.

275g of plain flour.

5g of fast action dried yeast

to help the dough rise quickly.

Love this stuff.

One tip, if you want to make it last longer,

store it in the fridge.

20g of caster sugar and a quarter of a teaspoon of salt.

And let's give that a quick mix.

Now whisk two eggs into 50ml of whole milk

and pour it in.

A while ago, I went to Holland,

they have this thing called hagelslag,

which is white bread, butter and sprinkles.

I thought, "Wow, I could do this in a babka

"and it would be amazing."

And so I came back from Holland with this thing in my head,

sprinkles in tow, and that's where it began.

As soon as the dough comes together, add 80g of butter

one cube at a time.

Needs to be room temperature.

So it all melts in and incorporates really, really well.

Then sit back and let the machine do its thing.

Or if you're kneading by hand, ten minutes is all it takes.

Look at this. A soft, and smooth and glossy...

That is perfect. Just look at that.

Oh!

This is why it's really easy.

We're going to shape it, pop it into the tin,

and then we're going to prove it. It only needs to be proved once.

Roll the dough into a 20 by 30 centimetre rectangle

and just keep adding flour if it starts to stick.

Look.

30...by 20.

Now for a filling to get this everyday babka party ready.

This is the fun bit.

Mix 100g of softened butter and 100g of caster sugar,

then 70g of bake-able rainbow sprinkles.

It's like a clown fell into my butter.

Spread the fun filling evenly all over the dough.

It's making you smile. How can it not?

Then, because you can never have too much joy,

scatter another 70g of sprinkles on top.

And now it's time to roll.

So with the long end closest to you,

fold that first little bit over and then just keep going.

Now, the secret to that funky babka shape.

Cut lengthways all the way through.

Commit, commit.

Just look at that stripes of these gorgeous sprinkles.

Now you take one and you cross it over.

Easy.

Take these two, and then just cross them over.

And then take these two and then just cross them over.

That's it, right?

Tuck that end in.

Tuck that end in.

Pop it into a prepared loaf tin, cover with a tea towel

and leave somewhere warm to double in size.

Beautiful. That is a party!

All it needs now is baking, 180 for 15 minutes.

Then turn the temperature down for the rest of the bake.

Ta-da!

I always have loved the "ta-da" moment of baking.

Oh!

This is a party in a tin.

To finish, a sweet, shiny glaze that couldn't be simpler.

Mix three tablespoons of golden syrup

with a tablespoon of hot water

and brush it all over the babka.

Then, you guessed it, more sprinkles.

There is no such thing as too many sprinkles.

If this does not scream fun celebration,

"eat me right now", I don't know what does.

My beautiful babka bursting with rainbow sprinkles,

bringing maximum impact for minimal effort.

Everyday sweet bread transformed into the perfect sharing centrepiece

for any celebration.

The sweet enriched dough is light and pillowy.

It's delicious.

But what I love about it most,

there is fun in every single layer.

There's nothing I love more than baking for my family and friends.

And it's an obsession I share with award winning

macaron maker Naeem Mohamed.

Celebrations in my family are really big.

To be able to make something and everyone share it,

seeing the looks on their faces,

that, for me, is the most important part.

Naeem's Midlands based patisserie is a go to destination

for special occasion bakes,

like his massive macaron stack,

which super sizes that every day into an extra ordinary

celebration cake.

Today I'm actually making a lychee raspberry and rose macaron stack.

It's a wow celebration cake for any occasion.

It's got layers of lychee, rose and raspberry ganache,

fresh fruit, so bright and so colourful.

First job is to make the syrup for the meringue.

There's different methods of making macaron.

The French method, which actually uses dry sugar,

and there's the Italian method.

You actually end up with a chewier macaron.

Mix it into the egg whites.

People think macrons are tricky,

but it's something that you can easily make at home.

I got into making macarons just firstly having tried them.

I took a bite and I couldn't believe the amount of flavour

that was packed in such a small bite.

Since then, I've been obsessed with making them.

I've already made hundreds of thousands.

You can see the meringue is really nice and glossy.

You don't want to take out any air from the meringue that you've made.

You simply want to gently fold over the icing sugar

and almond mixture.

The liquid egg whites helps you get to the nice, glossy,

runny texture that you want.

Before I actually started selling macarons,

I invited a few people to pick them up and try them.

And that's when my now wife, Nyla, she turned up with her mum

and grandma in the car.

And it was weird because, straight away,

we were so excited about talking about cakes and bakes and macarons.

So it was really exciting to meet someone who had that same passion.

You want to see a ribbon of butter, give you a nice,

smooth macaron shell.

From making the first macaron to when we actually got married,

I'd probably say about six months, very quick.

She must have loved my macarons.

The only thing that differs when you're making small macarons

and larger macarons is the baking time and temperature.

The thing I like most about baking is the creativity,

the experimenting with flavours, and colours and visuals.

The raspberry actually works

because it adds that little bit of tartness,

and then lychee ganache takes it to another level.

Right now, we're making microns every day for a living.

It makes me feel really happy thinking about

my children and my wife.

That's how it began.

It was all over macarons.

Look!

Wow! I can't wait to try it!

Pick your favourite colour.

OK, yummy, yummy. Yummy.

Yousef, what's your favourite part?

All of them. All of them?

I love how Naeem effortlessly turns simple macarons into an epic,

flavourful celebration bake that looks sensational.

Now prepare for your taste buds to tingle

as I elevate an everyday family favourite to delicious new heights.

This curry is hugely comforting, and when I cook it for my family,

they know it's a special occasion.

# Hey pretty smiling people... #

My simple, slow-cooked lamb daleem is spicy,

aromatic and deeply packed with flavour.

It's a crowd pleasing, stress free feast for any momentous event.

Daleem is a dish that is often eaten around celebrations.

So Eid, or if a baby is born,

it normally sits on a stove for 8-9 hours.

So I've got a few tips and tricks that are going to give you

your delicious daleem, but much, much faster.

First thing we're going to do is toast our oats.

This is one of my favourite parts of making the daleem,

because it's such an unexpected ingredient.

It's going to really add a totally different layer of flavour,

and it creates a smooth texture within the curry that I love.

Such a good curry.

Some of my favourite food memories come from Bangladesh.

We lived out there for a whole year,

and it happened to be monsoon season,

and we got caught in the rain.

We were just lucky enough to find shelter.

There was this man cooking a huge pot of daleem.

It was one of the most amazing things I had ever eaten.

Being 11 years old, it stuck in my head.

The flavour, the memory, and it's...

Yeah, it's just, it's such a special recipe.

Once the oats are golden, move on to the base of the curry.

And that starts with a good glug of oil in the same pan.

It's time for the whole spices.

Cinnamon sticks,

bay leaves and fragrant cumin seeds, then chop three onions.

This is all starting on the hob,

but my top tip is that I'm going to throw it in the oven,

which saves hours of cooking.

So growing up in England, we never used the oven.

Baking wasn't a thing, like, my mum never baked, my grandma never baked.

My mum used her oven for storage.

I was 21 when I first started to use an oven.

I've taken recipes that would traditionally be cooked

on a cooker and put them in the oven,

and my mum's like, mm, slightly sceptical,

but she always comes round. She's like, "Oh, OK, that kind of works."

I'm like, "Thank you very much!"

Turn up the heat to get the onions nice and golden brown.

Add a good amount of salt and now for a time saving flavour hack.

Full blown easy.

Garlic out of a jar and ginger out of a jar.

We are not even going to peel any garlic.

Just because I'm taking the easy way does not mean

that I'm going to compromise on flavour. Absolutely not.

This is going to be knockout.

We are onto our dry spices.

First ground turmeric,

then chilli powder for some heat,

ground coriander for a lovely floral note

and super flavourful garam masala.

Look at our deep rich colour.

My goodness, it's going so good.

So I've got diced leg of lamb.

My parents will look at this and say,

"What did you do with the bones?"

Because it adds flavour, and if you're getting rid of them,

what you're doing with them, are you wasting?

But there's a world where you're Bangladeshi, but you're British,

and you're raising kids,

and you kind of want to make life a little bit easy.

So I'm sorry.

Don't hate me, don't hate me.

This is still going to have loads of flavour, I promise.

Now it's time for another store cupboard short cut.

I am fully cheating and using canned lentils.

We don't have to do hours and hours of cooking,

waiting for them to rehydrate.

None of that. This is the best kind of cheating.

Then the toasted oats.

Traditionally, in Bangladesh, the reason oats were added to curries

was to bulk it out,

to make the lamb go a really, really long way.

It's about feeding a whole family.

One of the reasons why I love this recipe so much

is that I know in years to come,

my kids will cook this during their celebrations,

and they will cook it for their families,

and it will be a memory that will connect us forever.

Water, one and a half litres, get that in here.

As soon as it starts to bubble, we'll turn it off.

Chill.

Chill!

Pop the lid on and it's over to the oven to do the rest of the work.

180 degrees C for three hours while you get ready to party.

Think, in Bangladesh somewhere, they are cooking it for 8-9

hours and we've done it in three.

Wait till you see it.

Oi.

Just, oh, my goodness, the lamb is soft.

It's velvety and it looks luxurious.

This is such a special curry.

My comforting, slow-cooked lamb daleem

topped with fresh ginger and chillies is fragrant and spicy,

but above all, utterly delicious,

elevating the every day to create a fabulous feast

that's sure to bring everyone together.

Oh, my goodness.

In terms of spice, it's got a little bit of everything,

but it's that texture for me.

The oats make it really velvety.

If you're looking for something warming,

and delicious and comforting to eat, daleem is perfect.

Last but not least, Victoria Sponge meets meringue

in a stunningly simple celebration mashup.

I always find ways of combining cream, fruit and meringue.

And I thought, well, why not cream, fruit, meringue and cake?

You know what happened?

Came up with a really yummy, scrummy cake that looks...

# It's not unusual to be loved by anyone... #

With luscious layers of cake, meringue cream and berries,

this ridiculously easy, ravishingly, beautiful party piece

takes every day baking to a whole new level.

# Its not unusual It happens every day. #

I love the idea that you can take something that's really simple,

really easy, really uncomplicated,

and still make it really beautiful, and elegant and special.

AS celebrations go, like, this is one of the best cakes.

It begins by separating four eggs.

We're going to put the yolks in the cake

and put the egg whites in the meringue.

This is how this cake was born,

out of my need to not waste.

So that's four egg yolks.

I'm going to leave the egg whites over here.

We're not even going to think about those right now.

Now we're just going to think about making our cake.

To my yolks, I'm adding 125g of butter,

100g of caster sugar,

125g of plain flour,

one teaspoon of baking powder,

one teaspoon of scrummy vanilla extract and two tablespoons of milk.

Adding milk just helps to thin the batter out

so it's easier to spread.

And now whisk.

What you're looking for is a cake batter that's glossy

and shiny and really well combined.

Simply divide the batter between two greased and lined cake tins

and smooth it out with the back of a spoon.

Now it's time to whip up my meringue.

So we've got four egg whites.

I'm adding cream of tartare,

and this will help us to create those peaks.

And those peaks are really, really important to make our

cake really special.

One teaspoon.

Next, 200g of caster sugar, one spoonful at a time,

and whisk until you have gloriously glossy, stiff peaks.

That is exactly what we want.

Divide the meringue between the tins

and spread it on top of the cake batter.

Easy-peasy, right?

On the bottom half, create a flat layer

to stack all of our cream and fruit.

I want my top to look extravagant,

and I want it to say I am here to celebrate.

So I've got a really easy trick up my sleeve.

Dip the back of your spoon in and just create

these gorgeous peaks.

I don't need a reason to celebrate.

I will find an excuse to make a cake for anything, like,

"Welcome back from your holiday" cake.

But this would be perfect for birthdays.

It would be great for, oh, my goodness,

an alternative Christmas cake.

It's already screaming fun, isn't it?

So into the oven they go.

# So glad we made it

# So glad we made it. #

Cake cooled.

This is already saying celebration to me,

and I haven't even done anything.

Not really, not yet.

Now it's all about the fabulous filling.

So I've got 300ml of cream

whipped with two tablespoons of icing sugar,

and I'm adding the zest of one lovely lemon.

I kept the flavours really, really simple.

Just cos it's a celebration, it doesn't mean

it has to be 600 ingredients.

You know, it just doesn't have to be.

So, this is about taking back ownership and saying,

"Hey, simple can be celebrated too."

Now for the fruit.

I'm using cherries and blueberries.

Gently fold it into your whipped cream.

We are going to put this together.

When the cake stand comes out, you know Mum means business.

That's it.

We're going to put our first layer on.

Pile your cream on.

We've got a gorgeous, very abundant layer of cream and fruit.

Place the perfectly peaked meringue cake right on top.

And because every crown needs jewels,

I'm embellishing this one with gold.

I've got this amazing gold lustre dust.

Can you see it? Look.

I love it, honestly.

This pleases ten-year-old me.

I feel like a pixie!

For a final fancy flourish,

I'm adding flecks of edible gold leaf.

This is where you take the simple and elevate it

and turn it into something really, really special.

# I got that sunshine in my pocket

# I got that good soul in my feet.

# Feel that hot blood in my body

# Then it drops. #

Layers of everyday easy cake and meringue

dressed up for a party,

with luscious, sweet, zesty cream and berries,

all topped off with edible gold.

Celebrations just got a whole lot more delicious.

# I can't stop the feeling

# So just dance, dance, dance. #

Fruit, cream, absolutely just delicate, simple flavours.

And we've ended up with something so sophisticated.

You don't have to sweat to make a celebration cake.

That, my friends, is a beautiful, beautiful thing.