This easy cake recipe calls for the ripest banana you’ve got. Simple yet gorgeous, this banana fudge cake also includes lots of little bits of chocolate fudge bar and dried banana chips in the mix, with delectable melted dark chocolate and more fudge and dried banana on top.

Will the cute whoopie cake steal the crown from the mighty cupcake? The ingredients are similar – a combination of sponge cake and buttercream icing – but whoopie cakes present exciting new opportunities for creative decorating and artistic flair. You can have so much fun baking these and decorating them. These keep well in a sealed tin for a couple of days.

Michelin-starred French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli is behind these honey and lemon cupcakes recipe. These beautiful cupcakes pair the sweetness of the honey with tart lemon zest in an indulgent bite. Although they look tricky to make, let the piping bag do the work for you and you'll be able to whip up a batch of these rose-decorated treats in no time.

Float away with this dreamy lemon cloud cake. If you need a cake to impress someone, this is a great option. And if you have a blowtorch, you can make it look even more attractive (though don't worry, this is optional).

These black forest cupcakes from Nielsen Massey are great for an indulgent treat or impressing friends and family. 

This peanut honeycomb banana cake from the Great British Bake Off star won't last long once it's on the table. It's a twist on banana bread with peanut butter icing and homemade honeycomb.

Big, soft and chewy, these classic chocolate chip cookies are a treat for kids – and big kids! Paul Hollywood's best-ever chocolate chip cookies recipe will give you delicious cookies that are much better than any shop-bought version. The secret to the flavour is to use the best dark chocolate chips you can find.

"These cute little owl cupcakes will amuse and delight all children," says Jo Wheatley. "I can’t wait to try them out with the light of my life, my grandson Harley."

For this classic carrot and walnut cake recipe, it’s important to use full-fat cream cheese for the icing, according to Mary Berry; if you use a low-fat version, the icing will just run off the cake. Carrot cake is beautifully moist, so keeps well. If your kitchen is warm, store the cake in the fridge.

Mary Berry's malted chocolate cake is the perfect family treat and a real crowd pleaser. Because who can say no to all that chocolate?

These lovely little iced lemon and poppy seed cakes from Miranda Gore Browne are sure to hit the sweet spot. 

This no-bake chocolate cake is a great recipe if you either don’t have an oven or simply just enjoy delicious food. It’s more of a terrine than a cake, and it’s basically just a matter of melting and combining all the ingredients and setting it in the fridge. It will become quite hard once it’s chilled, so when you turn it out to serve, get a big knife and run some hot water over it to make cutting it easier.

Enjoy this espresso and cocoa nib banana bread from The Boy Who Bakes, Edd Kimber.

Tip from Ed: "If you want the coffee flavour to really punch you in the face then I would suggest adding two tablespoons of hot water to the coffee and stirring together before adding to the wet ingredients; this way the flavour will soak into the bread a lot more."

These dark chocolate and parsnip cakes taste delicious and have a wonderful rich texture thanks to the secret ingredient: parsnip!

"This is a wonderfully creamy cake infused with coconut – it’s one of my personal favourites," says Mich Turner of her coconut cake. "It keeps well and can be enjoyed with the addition of lime curd or lime buttercream. I have chosen to decorate this cake with fresh coconut shavings. Coconuts can be hard to find, and labour-intensive to shave! As an alternative, toast desiccated coconut and sprinkle over the top and sides of the cake."

Everyone loves a classic lemon cake, but sometimes you want something a little different and this orange and passion fruit cake has just that twist. This moist and not-too-sweet orange loaf cake has a fresh and fragrant passion fruit glaze, and is perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

This gorgeous almond brittle cake recipe from Rachel Allen, rich with almonds and vanilla, then topped with almond brittle and filled with almond butter icing.

That chewy, gooey milk chocolate chip cookie from childhood could be yours again. And just think, in only an hour, you could be running your fingers through that leftover batter.

Bill Granger’s simple melt and mix chocolate coconut traybake works as well after dinner as it does on the cake stall.

Financiers are small French almond cakes traditionally baked in rectangular moulds. There's no need to buy a special tin – a mini muffin tin will work just fine and you can add seasonal berries, stone fruit, or flaked almonds to the mixture before baking. These are wonderful served hot from the oven but can be cooled and eaten later.

Eric Lanlard's fresh and zesty key lime cupcakes make great summer treats. You could add some chopped fresh mint to turn them into Mojito cupcakes, and a cup of roasted coconut in the mix works very well, too. Its a good idea to make the crystalized lime peel decoration the day before you want to serve these cakes.

It seems like salted caramel has been the flavour of the year for the last few years, but it's easy to see why when cakes like this chocolate salted caramel marble cake are served.

"This raspberry, lemon and yoghurt tea loaf is one of the most popular treats at our tea rooms," says Sarah Mayor of Yeo Valley. "We make it with summer fruits as they appear. All you need on the side is a good strong cup of tea."

A low fat cupcake – does it get any better than this? Angel food cake has got to be a dieter’s dream. It has no fat in it and means you get to have a sweet treat for only a few calories. Fabulous. Too good to be true? Not in the case of Gizzi Erskine's blueberry cupcakes. 

Jo Wheatley whips up a batch of coconuty, oaty biscuits originally made to send to the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) serving in Gallipoli.

For your adventurous eaters: Try these kale and orange cupcakes with orange icing. Make sure you're getting all your vitamins by eating cake. Awesome!

This delectable rhubarb crumble tray bake cake makes the most of fresh, seasonal rhubarb and is just as delicious when served warm (with cream), as it is when eaten cold for afternoon tea.

Festive-themed chocolate snowman cupcakes decorated with desiccated coconut, chocolate and sweets.

"These chocolate-dipped orange shortbread biscuits are incredibly easy to make and you can cut them in to whatever shapes you’d like," says Rachel Allen. "I’ve taken the small extra step of dipping them in melted chocolate, they look lovely when set and the chocolate of course goes really well with the orange zest." If you want to mix things up with your biscuits you could always try using milk chocolate or white chocolate.

Bea Vo, of the famous Bea's of Bloomsbury, shares her delectable vanilla layer cake recipe with us.

Muffins can be baked with a variety of fillings, so why not mix-up this recipe with grated courgette (zucchini), sweet potato, olives or crispy bacon. Try these cheddar, chive & ham muffins. 

A little more grown up in flavour, these cute coffee cardamom walnut cakes are floral with floaty cardamom, and anchored by earthy coffee and walnut.

Try these almond cakes studded with blueberries topped with flaked almonds. Kept in a sealed container these little cakes will keep for up to three days.

A red velvet cupcake recipe is essential to any baker's repertoire. This one from Hummingbird Bakery in London makes intensely chocolaty cupcakes with a rich cream cheese frosting.

"These original chai tea cupcakes have a great flavour," says Eric Lanlard. "I tried them first in New York with a vanilla base, but I much prefer this chocolate one. Chai is a mixture of tea leaves and spices (cinnamon, fennel, cloves, etc) originally from India."

Moist and sticky with crunchy cocoa nibs and an aromatic sweet-spiced syrup, these muscovado chocolate cakes from Paul A Young are the perfect dessert served warm with real vanilla ice cream or cold with rooibos or Earl Grey tea.

This recipe for Hummingbird Bakery's sugar cookies forms the base for a perfect cut-out cookie to suit any occasion. Roll out the dough and use shaped cookie cutters to make your own festive cookies.

 Gooey, chocolatey, but without the gluten, wheat or sugar. These gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are even better the next day and should be enjoyed with a glass of cold hazelnut milk.

The swirled, two-toned icing makes Mary Berry's vanilla cupcakes really distinctive, and you can achieve the effect using a regular piping bag. Make them even more special by experimenting with the huge range of coloured and patterned paper cases and sprinkles available.

The gentle heat of ginger with a few mild spices, Rachel Allen's ginger snaps are the ideal companion to coffee or tea. 

Rachel Allen's chocolate marshmallow biscuit cake bars are chock-a-block with mini marshmallows, ginger nut chunks, honeycomb and chocolate.

For a special tea-time treat try Mary Berry’s marbled coffee ring with coffee icing.

This spiced pumpkin, olive oil and orange cake is a recipe you can turn to when you need to lift your mood as, while it bakes, it fills the kitchen with the uplifting scent of sweet pumpkin married with the warming fragrances of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It is a dense and supremely moist cake, using olive oil instead of butter for a wonderfully soft, tender crumb.

Start with a good-quality spiced rum you really enjoy, because it flavours this rum raisin caramel cake. Caramel lends both bittersweet notes and amber colour – the darker you cook your sugar, the deeper the colour will be.

This indulgent hot chocolate cake is a little out of the ordinary! Not only is it dairy free, but it also contains no eggs and can be made with gluten free flour. However what doesn’t hit you until you eat it is the addition of Tabasco. For those of you who love the combination of chocolate and chilli this cake is perfect, plus it’s so simple to make!

West Country man Martin Blunos uses traditional cider and apples in this light, delicious Somerset cider and apple cake. For extra West Country-ness serve with clotted cream. 

Good lemon drizzle cake tastes heaven-sent and this particular gluten-free version is worth its weight in sugary, lemony gold. Serve it on a warm afternoon with a pot of tea and lots of friends to ooh and ah over it.

An amazing looking West country cake with apples and strawberries that will delight everyone.

"Dark chocolate and stem ginger are perfect partners in every possible way," says Paul A Young. "In this recipe I have used the classic combination but added deep, earthy cardamom and strong Assam tea. The result is a moist ginger, tea & chocolate cake packed with juicy pieces of stem ginger, handfuls of chocolate chunks and a caramely muscovado top."

With a layer of sweet apples and raisins in-between gorgeous golden honeyed oats, Rachel Allen's apple and raisin honey squares are absolutely perfect with a cup of tea.